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Obama [Hearts] Big Pharma
By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist
10/16/09 2:20 PM EDT
Remember this rhetoric from candidate Obama?
The reason that we're not getting things done is not because we don't have good plans or good policy prescriptions. The reason is because it's not our agenda that's being moved forward in Washington—it’s the agenda of the oil companies, the insurance companies, the drug companies, the special interests who dominate on a day-to-day basis in terms of legislative activity. [emphasis added]
And this ad:
Well, President Obama hasn't quite governed as the scourge of the drug companies. The latest evidence is this Politico story
At a meeting last April with corporate lobbyists, aides to President Barack Obama and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) helped set in motion a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign, primarily financed by industry groups, that has played a key role in bolstering public support for health care reform.
In short, drug companies aren't simply tagging along with the "reform" push in health-care -- they are working hand-in-hand with the White House. This isn't news -- the L.A. Times reported in August about West Wing deals between Rahm Emanuel and Billy Tauzin.
That industry is driving "reform" is only surprising if you believe Obama is pushing reform as a way of sticking it to the special interests -- which is what Obama wants you to believe.
The Politico story confirms my prediction in my column today: "reform" will be a boondoggle for industry.
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