Well, political realities mean this probably won't go very far, but Sen. Mike Bennett just dropped a little bombshell while explaining his bill to let private property insurers charge whatever the market dictates.

Bennett, the Bradenton Republican who is no fan of the state-run Citizens Insurance or of Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, plans to file legislation for the 2010 session that would "sunset" (i.e. abolish) Citizens after a certain period if it doesn't become "actuarially sound."

Data show that if a 100-year storm were to hit a major population area, neither Citizens nor the CAT fund would have the money to cover claims.

Still, sunsetting Citizens would be a rather, um, large change -- given that Citizens writes some 1 million policies.

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