This photo was easily my favorite of the week. Say whatever you want about Bill Clinton, but nobody plays the role of ex-president better than him. In the photo, Bill is Snow White with Kim as Grumpy; the two of them and the other six dwarves seem to be posed in front of the evil witch’s mirror gone hi-def. Or is that a scene from Fantasia behind them? Sorry to mix my movie metaphors.
I don’t understand what all the fuss was about. Bill will go to the opening of a car wash if the money is right, so in this case he got paid in his favorite currency – attention – and he brought home the bacon. Speaking of the bacon, why has no one asked, “what were those women doing strolling along (or over) the border of North Koreas?” Hadn’t they heard it was dangerous there? I’m glad they got home, and I’m glad we made the effort to get them, but isn’t the appropriateness of their own behavior worth examining here?
I’d call the response to last week’s post “general agreement” with the premise that Congress is corrupt, but it fell short of an outcry to light the torches and grab the closest pitchfork. In the meantime, Billy Tauzin, who was formerly a US Congressman who oversaw the drug industry, and is now the $3 million a year hear of PhRMA, the drug industry lobby group, took President Obama to the cleaners. Billy is the guy who got Congress to insert a provision into the Medicare part D legislation enacted under Bush II, which prohibited the government from negotiating for the best price with prescription drug manufacturers.
Last week, in closed-door meetings with administration officials, he got them to agree to prevent Congress from rescinding that law in gratitude for the $80 billion in savings Billy’s group already offered to cut from drug expenses over the next 10 years. Never mind that independent audits say the provision is costing the government $20 billion a year in foregone savings. Another case of democracy in auction.
Because of his former position in Congress, BT isn’t even supposed to engage in lobbying but what’s a minor detail like that to important people like him?
If you want more examples, read Frank Rich’s column from last Sunday to see who big pharma and the insurance industry is paying off now. According to the Congressional Quarterly, in the first half of 2009 the 18 members of Congress overseeing health care reform got an average of $100,000 each – including Nancy Pelosi. But I’m sure that won’t effect their decisions.
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