For today’s bought-off GOP (and a handful of bought-off “problem solver” Democrats), as long as Republicans on the Supreme Court keep the corrupt payola machine running, there simply is no bottom…
This is just a great article focusing on one industry among several ripping all of us off. I’m fortunate that I’m relatively healthy for my age so I have limited medical prescription costs with retiree benefits but I can imagine the overall cost for those Americans that rely on multiple medications to survive. As an elderly friend said it’s a daily fight for survival deciding on buying food or paying for medical costs in 2023 America. It’s truly disgusting that these corporations hold such malevolent power over our daily lives. Not only big pharma, but other types of insurance companies are ripping us off for homeowners and fire in my part of the country ( I’ve heard other states also are being punished for disaster coverage) and I’m paying out exorbitant fees for fire coverage that I’m almost to the point of dropping my homeowners’ to “save” monthly costs but then add car insurance, etc. When do we ever get a break ? So let’s go ahead and elect the party that wants to glorify capitalism and deregulate industries as well as kiss the behind of fossil fuel donors! I just saw a clip about California Governor Newsom’s lawsuit against the big fossil fuel corporations alleging lying and subverting studies about environmental damage and health impacts from fossil fuel usage. Hopefully that will bring some attention to corporate greed vs. well being of consumers. But Americans aren’t figuring it out that there is only one party that is trying to help all Americans ( admittedly some flawed Democrats exist that block advances we need) and unfortunately the complicit MSM isn’t about to enlighten viewers to the facts. The networks must have their “both sides “ narrative muddying up reality just for clickbait profit.
It's important to note that big pharm is largely not interested in curing diseases, rather just developing therapies that make us dependent on repeated use to address their symptoms. The government really needs to take the lead on finding cures and we should make it more accountable for doing so. With regards to outlandish pharmaceutical prices, might there be another way to skin this cat? How about patent reform? Limiting the duration of a patent on pharmaceuticals to a dollar amount of gross profit. That would provide the incentive for research and development and take the free market argument away from corrupt politicians.
Add to the list of almost all Senate Republicans on the take from PhRMA, Menendez D-NJ, PhRMAs rep in the Senate. This is not a both sides do it, but PhRMA does contribute to Democrats as well as Republicans. Highlighting the real problem. We gave the best government money can buy, and I do not see an end to money in politics, because politicians are addicted and beg for the money. No money and no re election campaign.
Which causes me to ask cui bono, who benefits. More accurately Reps and Senators really don't get paid that much.
Position Salary per annum
Senators and House Representatives $174,000
Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico $174,000
President pro tempore of the Senate $193,400
Majority leader and minority leader of the Senate $193,400
That's seems like a lot, to those who labor for $25,000 to $100,000 a year, they also get per diem With their families they have to support two households, their home district or state, and themselves in DC.
Many chip in and rent large houses or multi storied apartments. They have to have money for dining and entertaining or meeting in fashionable restaurants, and an appropriate wardrobe, not to mention transportation
Now consider that, and consider that so many are lawyers. Granted that many are incompetent and lazy lawyers, but lawyers make much more than a Congress persons salary. So why leave a lucrative profession for public office, unless there is a pay off.
MTG is rich in her own right, her and Boebert have one thing in common ; ATTENTION WHORES., and IMHO, a quality shared with many if not most politicians.
Great article and thank you for putting it forward. Medicare rightly deserves the price breaks that have been created with this small handful of drugs. I say, keep going, get more drug prices lowered. Every big business that does business with our government rips off the government!!! And we know who pays for that, US, the taxpayer!
Once again an appalling overreach for bribes from Republicans who want us to think they’re( helping us???)
There is nothing in my mind from information thats pretty factual , to tell me of one positive thing Republicans have done or want to do for regular Americans . Nothing.
Its a plethora of one lie after another to pretend to be helpful to us ( the people) , when in reality its their payoffs from Big Pharma, Oil and Gas, Corporations in general that handle the Republicans benefits . Also wannalook like Democrats , Manchin , Sinema .
Im not saying Democrats are not benefitting but nothing like the Republicans devotion to Corporate Welfare and its spoils.
The Supreme Court Conservatives. Engaging on slightly higher level bribes , trying also to lie their way out . The chaos created by routinely lying about what we can see clearly thats happening in dissonance with their stories. They protect the avarice of Republicans and republicans protect this group on supreme court. What a lovely arrangement . All but the wealthiest are expendable w/ both .
As long as we have a failed Press, which is what we have, we cannot count on the people to even understand what is going on. The press should be regulated and have to live by standards, but as it is right now, they just make up stuff, call it an opinion, or call themselves pundits, and get away with influencing millions of Americans with their lies. So few people can even tell the truth anymore, or understand the real problems that we are in a bad position when voting is our superpower and too many people squander it with ignorance or inaction. Read this piece from the Daisy Koz about the interview of Trump that is much talked about. This shows how deeply troubled our press is. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/18/2193974/-NBC-MAY-HAVE-ALREADY-LAUNCHED-INVESTIGATIONS-INTO-WELKER-TRUMP-INTERVIEW-FOR-NEWS-RULES-VIOLATIONS?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
"Pay the capitalist, or die" The GOP do believe in freedom of choice. Government ownership of medical, food, housing and clothing is needed in order to save trillions of dollars and provide more financial security and have less lunatics running around stealing stuff and using drugs.
In a capitalist society it is guaranteed that you're going to have to pay a lot of bills,
but you are not guaranteed a job that pays enough to pay the bills. With an overpopulated planet, children that are born into this kind of a society, will just be chewed up by law enforcement. Eventually it will implode, which America is currently doing. FDR was the only great leader, and the right wingers hate it him and put in term limits,
First mistake was letting the drug industry advertise and literally take over a large percentage of TV airtime. We are paying every penny of that, not to mention the commercials are nauseating and crafted to brainwash you.
Our society needs to get some perspective on management and CEOs in general. There is no ONE person right for any given job. Education and skill-sets do make a difference, but there is no magic in any of it or any one person. So why give one person the lion's share? It's because the boards of the big corporations are corrupt as well as morally bankrupt, AND THEY ARE INTERCONNECTED.
Look-up this article by Visual Capitalist: "Visualizing How the 50 Largest U.S. Companies are Connected". The diagram is mind-blowing!
Where did I initially learn that "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" exists? I believe it was from Thom Hartmann.
"The pharmaceutical industry has traditionally favored Republican candidates, giving 55 percent on average to Republicans, since 1989. This trend was reversed in 2020 when Democrats received 61% of all pharma/health products contributions — the highest proportion they had received in at least the last 30 years. "
Now, 4 of the 5 largest individual recipients of industry donations are democrats, and 13 of the top 20 recipients are democrats.
Open secrets combined pharma with health care products for purposes of calculating industry spending.
From open secrets:
Party Split:
Dems: Dems: $15,193,108 $15,193,108
Repubs: Repubs: $11,002,100 $11,002,100
Others: Other: $127,915 $127,915
All Candidates:
Total to All Candidates: $26,323,123 $26,323,123
Incumbents Only:
Total to Members: $22,314,956 $22,314,956
House # of Members Average Contribution Total Contributions
Can We Stop the GOP’s Big Pharma Rip-Off?
This is just a great article focusing on one industry among several ripping all of us off. I’m fortunate that I’m relatively healthy for my age so I have limited medical prescription costs with retiree benefits but I can imagine the overall cost for those Americans that rely on multiple medications to survive. As an elderly friend said it’s a daily fight for survival deciding on buying food or paying for medical costs in 2023 America. It’s truly disgusting that these corporations hold such malevolent power over our daily lives. Not only big pharma, but other types of insurance companies are ripping us off for homeowners and fire in my part of the country ( I’ve heard other states also are being punished for disaster coverage) and I’m paying out exorbitant fees for fire coverage that I’m almost to the point of dropping my homeowners’ to “save” monthly costs but then add car insurance, etc. When do we ever get a break ? So let’s go ahead and elect the party that wants to glorify capitalism and deregulate industries as well as kiss the behind of fossil fuel donors! I just saw a clip about California Governor Newsom’s lawsuit against the big fossil fuel corporations alleging lying and subverting studies about environmental damage and health impacts from fossil fuel usage. Hopefully that will bring some attention to corporate greed vs. well being of consumers. But Americans aren’t figuring it out that there is only one party that is trying to help all Americans ( admittedly some flawed Democrats exist that block advances we need) and unfortunately the complicit MSM isn’t about to enlighten viewers to the facts. The networks must have their “both sides “ narrative muddying up reality just for clickbait profit.
It's important to note that big pharm is largely not interested in curing diseases, rather just developing therapies that make us dependent on repeated use to address their symptoms. The government really needs to take the lead on finding cures and we should make it more accountable for doing so. With regards to outlandish pharmaceutical prices, might there be another way to skin this cat? How about patent reform? Limiting the duration of a patent on pharmaceuticals to a dollar amount of gross profit. That would provide the incentive for research and development and take the free market argument away from corrupt politicians.
Add to the list of almost all Senate Republicans on the take from PhRMA, Menendez D-NJ, PhRMAs rep in the Senate. This is not a both sides do it, but PhRMA does contribute to Democrats as well as Republicans. Highlighting the real problem. We gave the best government money can buy, and I do not see an end to money in politics, because politicians are addicted and beg for the money. No money and no re election campaign.
Which causes me to ask cui bono, who benefits. More accurately Reps and Senators really don't get paid that much.
Position Salary per annum
Senators and House Representatives $174,000
Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico $174,000
President pro tempore of the Senate $193,400
Majority leader and minority leader of the Senate $193,400
That's seems like a lot, to those who labor for $25,000 to $100,000 a year, they also get per diem With their families they have to support two households, their home district or state, and themselves in DC.
Many chip in and rent large houses or multi storied apartments. They have to have money for dining and entertaining or meeting in fashionable restaurants, and an appropriate wardrobe, not to mention transportation
Now consider that, and consider that so many are lawyers. Granted that many are incompetent and lazy lawyers, but lawyers make much more than a Congress persons salary. So why leave a lucrative profession for public office, unless there is a pay off.
MTG is rich in her own right, her and Boebert have one thing in common ; ATTENTION WHORES., and IMHO, a quality shared with many if not most politicians.
Great article and thank you for putting it forward. Medicare rightly deserves the price breaks that have been created with this small handful of drugs. I say, keep going, get more drug prices lowered. Every big business that does business with our government rips off the government!!! And we know who pays for that, US, the taxpayer!
Once again an appalling overreach for bribes from Republicans who want us to think they’re( helping us???)
There is nothing in my mind from information thats pretty factual , to tell me of one positive thing Republicans have done or want to do for regular Americans . Nothing.
Its a plethora of one lie after another to pretend to be helpful to us ( the people) , when in reality its their payoffs from Big Pharma, Oil and Gas, Corporations in general that handle the Republicans benefits . Also wannalook like Democrats , Manchin , Sinema .
Im not saying Democrats are not benefitting but nothing like the Republicans devotion to Corporate Welfare and its spoils.
The Supreme Court Conservatives. Engaging on slightly higher level bribes , trying also to lie their way out . The chaos created by routinely lying about what we can see clearly thats happening in dissonance with their stories. They protect the avarice of Republicans and republicans protect this group on supreme court. What a lovely arrangement . All but the wealthiest are expendable w/ both .
As long as we have a failed Press, which is what we have, we cannot count on the people to even understand what is going on. The press should be regulated and have to live by standards, but as it is right now, they just make up stuff, call it an opinion, or call themselves pundits, and get away with influencing millions of Americans with their lies. So few people can even tell the truth anymore, or understand the real problems that we are in a bad position when voting is our superpower and too many people squander it with ignorance or inaction. Read this piece from the Daisy Koz about the interview of Trump that is much talked about. This shows how deeply troubled our press is. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/18/2193974/-NBC-MAY-HAVE-ALREADY-LAUNCHED-INVESTIGATIONS-INTO-WELKER-TRUMP-INTERVIEW-FOR-NEWS-RULES-VIOLATIONS?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
"Pay the capitalist, or die" The GOP do believe in freedom of choice. Government ownership of medical, food, housing and clothing is needed in order to save trillions of dollars and provide more financial security and have less lunatics running around stealing stuff and using drugs.
In a capitalist society it is guaranteed that you're going to have to pay a lot of bills,
but you are not guaranteed a job that pays enough to pay the bills. With an overpopulated planet, children that are born into this kind of a society, will just be chewed up by law enforcement. Eventually it will implode, which America is currently doing. FDR was the only great leader, and the right wingers hate it him and put in term limits,
First mistake was letting the drug industry advertise and literally take over a large percentage of TV airtime. We are paying every penny of that, not to mention the commercials are nauseating and crafted to brainwash you.
Our society needs to get some perspective on management and CEOs in general. There is no ONE person right for any given job. Education and skill-sets do make a difference, but there is no magic in any of it or any one person. So why give one person the lion's share? It's because the boards of the big corporations are corrupt as well as morally bankrupt, AND THEY ARE INTERCONNECTED.
Look-up this article by Visual Capitalist: "Visualizing How the 50 Largest U.S. Companies are Connected". The diagram is mind-blowing!
Where did I initially learn that "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" exists? I believe it was from Thom Hartmann.
.
Acc to Open secrets:
"The pharmaceutical industry has traditionally favored Republican candidates, giving 55 percent on average to Republicans, since 1989. This trend was reversed in 2020 when Democrats received 61% of all pharma/health products contributions — the highest proportion they had received in at least the last 30 years. "
Now, 4 of the 5 largest individual recipients of industry donations are democrats, and 13 of the top 20 recipients are democrats.
Open secrets combined pharma with health care products for purposes of calculating industry spending.
From open secrets:
Party Split:
Dems: Dems: $15,193,108 $15,193,108
Repubs: Repubs: $11,002,100 $11,002,100
Others: Other: $127,915 $127,915
All Candidates:
Total to All Candidates: $26,323,123 $26,323,123
Incumbents Only:
Total to Members: $22,314,956 $22,314,956
House # of Members Average Contribution Total Contributions
Democrats 211 $39,208 $8,272,901
Republicans 203 $32,221 $6,540,996
Independents 0 $0 $0
TOTAL 414 $35,782 $14,813,897
https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?cycle=2022&ind=H04