Big Pharma broke down the Democratic Party’s front door and started buying up Democratic Congresspersons just in time to keep its American profits safe — from you.
In the year since they took over on Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders have been unable to pass either a bill allowing reimportation of drugs from Canada or a measure requiring negotiation of drug prices under Medicare. Neither is likely to reach the president’s desk this year. Lawmakers on both sides of these issues say the primary reason is the influence, now redirected, of the drug lobby.
Drug companies have gone on a hiring binge, retaining Democratic lobbyists in dozens of major firms. This strategy, which K Streeters call “clogging the system,” prevents adversaries from hiring anyone from those consultancies. […]
The Democratic takeover of Congress means “we just have more friends than we used to have,” said PhRMA President W.J. “Billy” Tauzin, a former Republican congressman from Louisiana. “We’re trying to find more.”
And guess who’s also a big friend to Big Pharma? Go on, I’ll give you three chances. Give up? Ok, here’s the answer in a NY Times article published in 2006:
As she runs for re-election to the Senate from New York [in 2006] and lays the groundwork for a possible presidential bid in 2008, Mrs. Clinton is receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from doctors, hospitals, drug manufacturers and insurers. Nationwide, she is the No. 2 recipient of donations from the industry, trailing only Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a member of the Republican leadership. […]
Senator Clinton has received $150,600 in contributions from insurance and pharmaceutical companies, which she accused in 1993 of “price gouging” and “unconscionable profiteering.” […]
Separate analyses by the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent group that tracks campaign finance, and by The New York Times show that Senator Clinton has received $854,462 from the health care industry in 2005-6, a larger amount than any candidate except Senator Santorum, with $977,354.
But that was years ago, you say. How true. So, is she still taking Big Pharma’s money for her presidential campaign this year? Why yes — yes, she is:
The pharmaceutical industry has increased campaign contributions to Democratic candidates in the current election cycle, a change from recent years, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. In the current election cycle, Democratic candidates have received 51% of campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, and Republicans have received 49%, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Among presidential candidates, Clinton ranks first in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, and McCain ranks fifth.
I guess we know who the Pharmaceutical industry was betting on winning the Presidential race. But rest assured, if Obama gets the nomination, I’m sure they’ll make up for their past failures in this department. It’s not like he has turned down their money in the past, after all. Because the more politicians promise change, the more they do the same old thing. America, the best democracy money can buy!
