The Money Party vs. The People Party

This Associated Press story about the prospects for pharmaceutical importation legislation came out just a few hours after I wrote my post on how calls for “bipartisanship” between Republicans and Democrats hide the real power equation in Washington between the Money Party and the People Party. This piece shows exactly what I’m talking about.

The piece says that most Democrats support allowing Americans to buy cheaper, FDA-approved medicines from places like Canada. It also notes this:


“Things were headed in the right direction with reimportation to begin with, but the election will speed up that process because it’s removed leadership that was opposed to reimportation. I am a Republican and support leadership in general, but on reimportation they were opposed to it,” said Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana. Vitter and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., recently sponsored legislation to halt the seizures of imported Canadian drugs for personal use — something the government now allows only on a limited basis. And Vitter continues to block confirmation of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, President Bush’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, until federal drug import laws are further relaxed.
[…]
“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, it’s just the Democrats,’ but it’s not. It depends on where you’re from, and who are your constituents,” said Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (news, bio, voting record), R-Mo., a key sponsor of previous reimportation legislation.

Still, Emerson says the issue will have a “fighting chance” in the new Congress, even without a veto-proof majority. Others are less sanguine.

“This is one of those things where I think that the conventional wisdom may not be accurate. I personally think reimportation has a much tougher prospect of moving with the Democrats in charge, particularly in the House,” said Ira Loss, an analyst at Washington Analysis.
Loss points to the potential opposition of Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who will take over as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that oversees the FDA. Dingell previously has warned of the safety risks posed by imported drugs — as do both the FDA and pharmaceutical industry.

So, in other words, there are Democrats and Republicans like Vitter and Emerson willing to stand up for the People Party on this critical issue, but there are people like Democratic Rep. John Dingell who may use a patently fake argument about imported drugs being unsafe in order to defend the Money Party.
The New York Times also gets in on the action, with reporter Robert Pear going even further to show the Money Party vs. People Party divide in his story about the drug industry developing strategies to stop Democratic reforms in Congress:
Billy Tauzin, president of [PhRMA], a lobbying organization for brand-name drug companies, recently urged Representative Edolphus Towns, Democrat of New York, to seek a position as chairman of a powerful House subcommittee, said Karen Johnson, a spokeswoman for Mr. Towns. The subcommittee has authority over Medicare and the Food and Drug Administration. Democrats have yet to decide who will head the subcommittee.

[…]

Amgen, the biotechnology company, recently disclosed that it had retained as a lobbyist George C. Crawford, a former chief of staff for Representative Nancy Pelosi of California.

[…]

Amgen is also seeking strategic advice from the Glover Park Group, a consulting firm whose founders include Joe Lockhart, a former press secretary for President Bill Clinton.
Other major drug companies have been snatching up Democratic former-aides-turned-lobbyists. Merck recently has hired Peter Rubin, a former aide to Representative Jim McDermott of Washington, one of the more liberal House Democrats. Cephalon has hired Kim Zimmerman, a health policy aide to Senator Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat of Nebraska.
The Biotechnology Industry Organization has retained Paul T. Kim, a former aide to two influential Democrats, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Representative Henry A. Waxman of California.

This is the real divide that matters in politics - not Republicans and Democrats, but Money vs. People. Don’t let the pundits’ calls for nebulous “bipartisanship” fool you. Don’t let the pledges of “civility” from politicians divert your attention. There is too much bipartisanship in pursuit of selling out, and too much civility that hides a very uncivil class war that Congress has waged - and may continue to wage - on middle America.

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posted 11/24/2006 by David Sirota @ 10:24 am Permalink

http://davidsirota.com/index.php/2006/11/24/the-money-party-vs-the-people-party/