Republicans and Democrats Continue to Block Drug Reimportation After Publicly Endorsing It
invite response
2017 Jun 3, 2:47am 3,053 views 10 comments
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curious2
2017 Jun 3, 3:39am
On this topic, as Gore Vidal said in a different context, "essentially, there is no difference between the two parties." Both get their money from the same sources, and both advocate maximizing mandatory spending on their revenue-maximizing patronage networks.
Even generic drug prices have increased dramatically since the enactment of Obamneycare. That could easily be solved by repealing the Rx requirement and allowing people to buy/import whatever generics they want.
Shaman
2017 Jun 3, 4:50am
Trump needs to follow through on this campaign promise if he wants to run again in 2020. Cave too many times in favor of the plutocrats and wealthy elite and people won't believe you when you say you're on their side.
Tenpoundbass
2017 Jun 3, 7:23am
Cave too many times in favor of the plutocrats
He embraces them to pull them in, so that they self destruct on live Television.
Look at Iger he pulled him in on Labor(a guy that forces American employees to train his HB1 visa replacements).
Trump turned the idiot lose on Labor now he's ended up being invested gated for abusing Visa laws and there's an open fraud investigation.
That will punctuate Trump's resolve now when he does some unilateral executive action. The pissheads heads will explode again.
Says he's but hurt because Elon Musk wont continue to get billions of my tax dollars to blow up shit on the launch pad.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/06/02/disney-ceo-bob-iger-quits-trump-advisory-council-paris-agreement-withdrawal/
But in reality he's in deep deep deep shit.
http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/06/02/disney-investigation-h-1b-abuse-say-feds/
He embraces them to pull them in
I very, very, very strongly doubt it. He probably already is in the pocket of Big Pharma. My contacts there like him a lot.
Tenpoundbass
2017 Jun 3, 10:28am
drBu the very smart man with the inside guys in the Know. Come back around when Trump actually signs any legislation put on his desk "AS IS" delivered to him.
Trump does everything with the ropey dope suprise. He always pulls them in, gets the left whipped up into a froth, how he let his voters down. The guy that Trump sets up to fall, goes on a interview tour on what a big fat piss head Trump is and how he's going to stop Trump. Then the Voters start making noise, and BOY do we make NOISE. Then the next thing you know that talking tour Moron get's a Tweet that he's fired while he's right in the middle of telling everyone how cunning he is.
Seen this movie a thousand times you idiots never learn. LOL!
I do not think Trump is any different from other politicians. I will be very pleased if he in fact is different. His current behavior says otherwise. For example, so-called Muslim ban did not ban citizens of country which supplied 79% of 9/11 terrorists. Furthermore, and I might be wrong about it, but allowing drug imports from Canada might require only an executive order. Where is it?
inside guys in the Know
Some of it is public knowledge. For example:
But in a meeting Tuesday with pharmaceutical executives, Trump's words were less clear. The executives say, behind closed doors, Trump never brought up government intervention on drug pricing.
But yeah, let's believe in honesty of politicians, existence of unicorns, and Mohammad's flying horse.
anotheraccount
2017 Jun 3, 3:42pm
much like the way Logan manhandles you
Ok, I don't think Logan has ever manhandled anyone on here. Logan's all arguments come back to demographics which will be less and less important in automation world where rich have all the money.
MisdemeanorRebel
2017 Jun 10, 1:02pm
Can Progressives Afford to Protect and Defend “Fake Progressive†Senators?
This is what Russia, Russia, Russia! is all about. Distracting, and trying to put off, a debate about "Third Way" Clintonista Neoliberals and actual Progressives.
That's the major purpose of Muh Russia.
77 percent say drug prices are "unreasonable" – and 71 percent of respondents favor allowing the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada.
How's that voting D & R working out?
The one true bipartisan instinct in Washington? Caving to rich industries. Amidst all the angst and acrimony of last year's trench-warfare presidential campaign, there was one area in which the two major-party candidates purported to agree. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump favored allowing the importation of cheap drugs from Canada.
Drug reimportation would be a no-brainer policy move if actual human beings ran our government. Disgust with high prescription drug prices is nearly universal – 77 percent say drug prices are "unreasonable" – and 71 percent of respondents favor allowing the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada.
The entire pharmaceutical industry is floated by a protectionist racket. Drugs that are in fact very cheap to make are kept artificially expensive – we have drugs that cost $1,000 a pill here in America that sell for $4 in India, for instance.
The means of keeping prices high vary, but include lengthy patents to push production of generics into the future, the barring of foreign competition (usually on "safety" grounds), and the prohibition of negotiations to lower prices for bulk purchases by both the federal and state governments. Without government intervention, the pharmaceutical industry would be profitable, but it wouldn't be the massive cash factory it is now. In 2015, for instance, the 20 largest drug companies made a collective $124 billion in profits.
All the industry needs to protect those sums is the continued cooperation of Congress.
So naturally it spends money – not a lot by industry standards, but a ton by the standards of the ludicrously cheap dates we call federal politicians – to make sure they always have just enough dependable people in office to block change.
Which brings us back to drug importation. Trump announced early in the race that he was in favor of bringing in cheaper drugs from Canada and made it a big stump theme. I remember in New Hampshire last year listening to Trump ridicule Jeb Bush for having a Big Pharma honcho as his campaign finance chairman.
"The head of Johnson and Johnson [Woody Johnson] is Jeb Bush's top fundraiser," Trump crowed. "Do you think Jeb Bush is going to make drug prices competitive?"
Trump continued this theme throughout his candidacy. He said "allowing consumers access to imported, safe and dependable drugs from overseas will bring more options." Even after the election, in December, Trump sent pharma stocks tumbling when he vowed in Time to "bring down drug prices."
The Democrats, meanwhile, put allowing importation of drugs from countries like Canada in their platform last summer. There were some ominous caveats in the language ("with appropriate safety protections"), but Clinton seemed to make bringing pharmaceutical prices down a priority in her rhetoric as the campaign progressed.
Full Article: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/taibbi-on-republicans-and-democrats-blocking-drug-reimportation-w485638
#Medicine #DrugImportation #Politics #WeDontReallyMeanWhatWeSay