The insurance industry's enormous clout in Sacramento is tied to their political contributions, like those they gave to Mr. Vargas.

I gave him some of my thoughts, he gave me some of his thoughts. He was really amenable to doing whatever we needed him to do. He just wanted to know, as most players do, how to prepare.

There are a lot of other businesses tied to construction, such as title companies, insurance companies and architects. So a slowdown in construction would have an impact on the overall economy.

Sanctions and boycotts would be tied to serious political dialogue.

There's just such an enormous demand from pension funds and insurance companies to match their assets with the liabilities of the boomer generation.

In Sacramento, the sense of urgency is what often compels them to do anything and the sense of urgency is now gone.