Berkshire's In for a Bruising

Someone please tell Eliot Spitzer that no one -- not even the nation's second-richest man -- should receive preferential treatment under the American system of justice.

One of the most glaring and disconcerting features of the current insurance scandal is New York Attorney General Spitzer's insistence that Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA Quote), is merely a witness in his insurance probe -- and not a target. Just this Sunday on ABC's This Week, Spitzer said that Buffett was "not a subject or a target of our investigation," even though Buffett knew about a Berkshire deal that is being examined by Spitzer and other regulators.

The deal, which Berkshire subsidiary General Re did with insurance giant AIG (AIG Quote), is a type of finite reinsurance, a product that regulators are targeting because it is often used to give a fake boost to the financial statements of insurance companies. ...