Although I have voted for Senator Patty Murray each time she has been
up for election, I have never believed that she was more than a
moderate Democrat. Because of the DNC's underhanded treatment of
Bernie Sanders, whom I also voted for in our primary, but never
believed he was the raving radical the "In Crowd" claimed him to be, I
informed Senators Murray and Cantwell that I no longer considered
myself to be a Democrat, but would continue supporting the two of
them. Naturally I vote for the two democratic senators. If you all
lived here, you would run screaming when confronted by some of the
strange men being put up against them. But I feel that as a citizen,
I have a responsibility to let them know my views. Oddly enough, only
Maria Cantwell has had a staff person contact me regarding a
disagreement I expressed.
And don't forget our Lieutenant Governor, Cirus Habib. A rather
progressive blind man with a brilliant mind. Still, he doesn't always
agree with me. But at least he discusses his reasons. And since he
is a mere lad, compared to me, I cut him some slack.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/2/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
So much for your lovely Sen. Murray in Washington State.
Miriam
Sanders at a November rally on Capitol Hill for economic and social
justice.
(photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Bernie Sanders' Bill to Allow Import of Prescription Drugs From Canada
Would
Save US Government $6 Billion
By David Sirota and Alex Kotch, International Business Times
01 August 17
Alowing Americans to purchase lower-priced medicines from other countries
would save the federal government alone more than $6 billion, according to
a
new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. The report comes as the
pharmaceutical industry has ramped up its lobbying - including against a
legislative initiative that would let Americans purchase lower-priced
medicines from countries such as Canada.
Under existing law, drugmakers are permitted to produce pharmaceuticals
abroad and then import them into the United States, where on average they
charge Americans the highest prices for medicines in the world. However,
while drugmakers themselves are allowed to import medicines, current law
prohibits U.S. consumers and pharmaceutical wholesalers from doing so, even
when the same medicines are sold at much lower prices abroad.
Spending millions on campaign donations and lobbying, the pharmaceutical
industry has for years successfully fought off legislation to end the
prohibition. This year - nearly 17 years after President Bill Clinton's
administration killed Democrats' drug importation legislation - the
importation initiative has once again been renewed. Looking to take
advantage of President Donald Trump's promise to lower drug prices,
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with 21 Democratic lawmakers, introduced
the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act on Feb. 28. The
bill was referred to the Senate's Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and
Pensions.
CBO estimates that the change would in total reduce federal government
drug
spending by more than $6.8 billion over ten years, including a reduction of
$5.1 billion in direct spending and roughly $1.7 billion in increased
revenue.
Before introducing the new legislation, Sanders and Democratic Sen. Amy
Klobuchar of Minnesota in January introduced a budget amendment allowing
Americans to purchase drugs from Canada. In contrast to typical party-line
votes, 13 Republicans voted with the Democrats in supporting the amendment,
while 13 Democrats joined the remaining Republicans in voting it down. The
tally was 52-46 against the amendment.
Among the Democrats who voted against the cost-saving measure was potential
2020 presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a state that is
home to several major pharmaceutical companies including Bayer USA, Johnson
& Johnson and Merck & Co. As The Intercept reported, Booker's argument for
voting against the measure was the same as that of the primary
pharmaceutical trade organization, the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). Both Booker and pharmaceutical
representatives argue that drugs from Canada have insufficient safety
standards.
"Any plan to allow the importation of prescription medications should also
include consumer protections that ensure foreign drugs meet American safety
standards," said Booker in a statement to Jezebel. In the 2014 election,
when Booker ran for Senate, he had the highest total - over $220,000 - in
campaign donations from the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry of any
member of Congress.
Like Booker, the drug industry's lobbying group, PhRMA, warns that Canada
can't properly regulate the medicine that is shipped through its borders.
However, Canada does not suffer from problems with poor quality or
counterfeit drugs.
"My first response to that is, show me the dead Canadians. Where are the
dead Canadians?" said Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2003 as he
unsuccessfully asked the federal government to allow his state to import
cheaper drugs from the the United States' northern neighbor.
Some drugs sold in the United States are in fact "fully manufactured
overseas, or made in the United States but have some foreign ingredients,"
according to the Food and Drug Administration, which for this reason
already
has in place a robust mechanism for inspecting drugs across the globe.
Critics, including writers at conservative think tanks such as the Cato
Institute, argue that importing drugs would also import foreign price
controls that, they claim, would drastically cut the drug companies' funds
for research and development of future drugs.
After intense pressure from progressives, Booker reversed course and
teamed
up with Sanders and other Democrats to sponsor the Affordable and Safe
Prescription Drug Importation Act in February. That, however, did not
eliminate all Democratic Party opposition to the initiative.
During May deliberations over an FDA authorization bill, Sanders, and
Democratic Sens. Bob Casey and Elizabeth Warren proposed an amendment
allowing for the importation of drugs from FDA-approved facilities in
Canada. The amendment was "laden with protections," according to Casey.
But
Democrats Patty Murray (WA) and Michael Bennet (CO), two big beneficiaries
of pharma campaign cash, voted against it in committee, and it failed
13-10.
Overall, campaign spending by the pharmaceutical industry is skyrocketing.
Congressional donations from pharmaceutical PACs are up 11 percent as
compared with a similar time frame in 2015, and donations to ranking
members
of health-related committees have risen by 80 percent from two years ago.
Lobbying is also on the rise, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis.
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