PHARMACEUTICALS AS A PUBLIC UTILITY UNIT III: PRIVATE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY – HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH

“Following the lead of pharma-friendly Rep. Richard Neal, Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee this week crushed several progressive amendments to a House drug pricing bill that would have expanded the number of medicines covered by the legislation and extended lower costs to the nation’s tens of millions of uninsured.

The Intercept reported Wednesday that Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, warned his Democratic colleagues against offering any amendments to the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 (H.R. 3) during the committee’s markup of the legislation on Tuesday.

“We intend to stick with the measure in front of us,” Neal told The Hill.

But Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), the author of a more ambitious drug pricing bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in April brushed aside in favor of the more moderate H.R. 3, introduced amendments anyway during the marathon hearing.”     – –  Common Dreams writer Jake Johnson, Oct. 24, 2019

According to Kaiser Health News, since 2007 (in 2008 Obama became president and the Democrats had majority control of the legislature) Democratic Representative Neal has taken $670,100 from the pharmaceutical industry and Democratic House Speaker Pelosi has taken $205,300.

This article had originally been intended to expose corruption and fraud in the pharmaceutical industry. Of course, it is rampant. From foisting unsafe drugs on an unsuspecting public, to preventing lifesaving drugs from being available to dying people, to price gouging and cheating in every way imaginable, to offshoring profits to avoid legitimate taxes, to fraudulently overcharging Medicare/Medicaid, the private pharmaceutical industry places outlandish “profits” and exorbitant CEO pay above any sense of decency, above any sense of concern for one’s fellow man, above even the deaths of children.

But “big pharma’s” blood money buys accomplices, it buys the rule makers who could stop the deaths of children, who could stop the deaths of diabetics who can no longer afford insulin, who could have stopped the OxyContin addiction ravaging and ending the lives of hundreds of thousands of our people, our youth. But the money is too enticing – it “wins” elections. Yet it is blood money just the same, no matter how one tries to make it look pretty, to sanitize it. And the blood is on the hands of each and every legislator who takes this money no matter how they try to justify it.

One is reminded of the words of the late Bishop Fulton J. Sheen: “Wrong is wrong even if everybody is wrong. Right is right even if nobody is right.”

Scroll slowly down through the “Democratic” legislators below and the dollars they have taken from “big pharma” since 2007 according to research done by Kaiser Health News. And this is just the Democrats. The Republicans are equally complicit.

You are scrolling through corruption. You are scrolling through children sacrificed to win elections. You are looking at why nothing is done for the average working people of America. You are looking at why, in desperate exasperation, these same working people put a Donald Trump in office because they intuitively knew their “career” politicians cared nothing about them, or their children, or their families. You are looking at blood money and until the truly decent working people of America rise up against the rot this represents in “our” government, nothing will change. And this is just the blood money of one among many oligarchic, plutocratic predators destroying what little we have left of our nation, our democracy.

 

Pharmaceutical Money Taken By Democratic Politicians Since 2007

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA)                   $63,000

Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA)             $45,000

Rep Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)           $44,000

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)            $59,500

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)          $53,289

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)           $375,485

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO)           $534,000

Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA)                    $52,000

 Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)    $127,500

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)      $44,500

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH)                $34,750

Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA)             $35,500

Rep Cheri Bustos (D-IL)                    $97,500

Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA)                       $185,942

  Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)                  $225,000

Rep. Donald Beyer (D-VA)               $31,500

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA)             $101,000

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)   $37,000

Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD)         $20,000

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)                  $105,500

Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE)             $680,110

  Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)              $1,153,947

Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO)            $39,000

Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)                      $18,000

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)       $28,000

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX)               $18,000

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL)                 $20,000

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY)               $80,000

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT)                $187,256

Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA)                $536,700

Rep. André Carson (D-IN)                $70,500

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA)             $92,500

  Sen. Christopher Coons (D-DE)      $549,000

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX)            $31,500

   Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-CA)            $206,500

  Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA)         $210,850

Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA)                    $37,500

Sen. Catherine Masto (D-NV)          $49,000

 Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL)                  $131,400

  Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)            $468,659

 Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)              $68,000

Rep. Michael Doyle (D-PA)              $66,000

 Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)                    $113,500

Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA)                    $58,500

Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA)             $119,436

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)         $51,500

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI)               $35,000

  Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY)                      $188,000

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA)                    $758,100

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)           $212,500

Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL)                         $67,546

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH)                $129,500

 Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)         $259,498

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)               $17,000

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)            $38,500

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA)                $17,000

    Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)                  $1,077,250

Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY)                  $21,000

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI)                   $65,000

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM)            $197,604

Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT)                        $217,545

Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA)                   $33,500

Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV)            $20,000

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA)               $26,900

Sen. Margaret Hassan (D-NH)          $19,000

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA)                $61,000

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)             $31,000

Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL)                      $42,500

Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI)                          $663,720

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ)               $23,500

  Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA)                     $103,500

  Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-MA)       $231,994

 Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA)                 $133,000

Rep. Ann Kuster (D-NH)                     $36,000

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA)                        $144,500

Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL)                       $174,500

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)       $27,000

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)                  $201,250

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)                     $94,999

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)                    $168,750

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY)                     $50,900

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)                    $99,500

  Rep. John Larson (D-CT)                   $230,262

 Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI)                  $23,000

Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA)                   $40,500

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA)             $34,700

Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL)                 $17,500

Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA)                $24,500

 Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM)              $311,678

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA)                          $36,000

  Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA)            $308,050

 Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA)              $124,500

 Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)          $659,000

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)                $770,786

 Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)              $183,000

 Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA)                  $232,700

Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA)             $31,604

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)                   $31,000

  Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-WV)            $155,500

Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY)                $35,000

Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY)                    $21,500

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA)                $86,000

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL)          $78,500

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)                $18,000

  Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA)                  $670,100

Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA)           $20,500

Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ)             $84,500

Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ)              $18,000

  Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ)                  $928,300

  Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)                      $408,000

 Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)                   $205,300

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN)             $62,500

  Rep. David Price (D-NC)                     $130,500

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO)                 $59,216

Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI)                      $177,545

Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ)                  $71,000

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI)                     $25,500

  Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA)                     $350,000

Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI)                 $26,000

Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)                $19,000

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)                     $19,500

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)                           $83,500

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)     $47,000

Rep. D. Ruppersberger (D-MD)         $17,000

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH)                         $34,000

  Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA)            $156,000

 Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA)                         $187,762

                                                                 Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV)                     $31,500

 Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)               $534,400

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA)                   $24,000

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA)                     $124,356

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)             $123,500

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)                       $42,000

Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA)                   $431,200

Rep. David Scott (D-GA)                        $56,500

Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ)                           $62,000

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA)                      $180,500

Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR)                    $477,678

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)                $73,494

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL)                         $115,000

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL)                    $169,600

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)                  $141,236

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)                      $193,500

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)                         $18,000

Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL)                         $34,000

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ)                      $28,500

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS)            $226,429

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA)                $319,400

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)                          $323,500

Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY)                         $76,098

Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA)                    $37,500

Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM)                         $33,500

Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY)               $29,500

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)                $97,500

Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA)                         $29,500

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX)                       $89,500

Rep. Filemon Vela (D-TX)                       $27,100

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)                         $443,117

Rep. Debbie W. Schultz (D-FL)              $184,957

Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT)                        $55,000

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)          $123,200

                                                                Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA)                    $232,750

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)              $8500

Rep. Bonnie W. Coleman (D-NJ)          $116,000

 

Unit IV will discuss: Making Pharmaceuticals a Public Utility