This Vote Proved Booker and Big Pharma Have Zero Excuses

It is devastating, and possibly deadly when Americans cannot manage the cost of life-sparing medications on the grounds that their chosen representatives are in bondage to Big Pharma. It is frustrating when Democrats offer unrealistic reasons for their votes, as Sen. Cory Booker and twelve different representatives did a week ago.

And it is outrageous to say the same Democrats were driven by concerns about drug safety since all twelve people voted in favor of reduced drug safety standards when they supported the Cures Act of the 21st Century.

Had Booker and others not breached their party and ignored the needs of the people, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar’s budget amendment would have paved the way for the import of prescription drugs from Canada, costing far lower than it did in the United States.

This has been a rare chance for bipartite progress. The amendment was supported by twelve Republicans with their party. It would have gone by if those democrats had not moved the other way. Their betrayal of the millions of Americans who were threatened with health and financial safety by the new Republican Congress was broken by one of the few remaining radii of hope.

Booker tried, in his statement to Jezebel’s Ellie Schechet, to defend his vote, “[this] betrayal has smashed one of the few remaining lights of hope for the millions of Americans who have been threatened by a new Republican Congress’ health and financial security.”

“Every plan to allow the introduction of prescribed medicines must also include consumer safeguards for external drugs that comply with US safety standards.

Silly stupidity. Canadian testing is as powerful as the US equivalent, and most Canadian drugs are made in the same places as their U.S. counterparts. It appears to trigger xenophobic fears and to hide the fact that drugs were imported from only one country: Canada. Notice the use of the word “foreign.”

Moreover, it was the first step to change Sanders / Klobuchar, and it took plenty of time to address any ongoing concerns. Sen. Klobuchar has co-sponsored the “Safe and Affordable Drugs of Canada Act” Proposal with Sen. John McCain, which sets out how this process can work safely and efficiently.

But this is the major issue, why did Booker and the other Democrats vote for the Cure Act of the 21st century if it is so concerned about the safety of drugs? In fact, this bill was sold as a road to innovation and was a huge offer for drug companies that wanted to get to grips with safety regulations. It promised to spend more on public health needs, but those promises were easily breached.

As the Citizen has pointed out, the bill “cuts into line with the requirements for safe and effective medicines and medical equipment at the costs of patient safety.”

The voting in favor of the Cures Act of the 21st century was wrong. But voting on a measure which clearly lowers safety standards requires particular hypocrisy and then cites safety as an explanation of vote against a change from Sanders / Klobuchar which does not. These apparently inconsistent votes can only be explained one way: they both benefit Big Pharma.

Schechet reports that some of the biggest recipients of pharma cash on their side of the aisle were perhaps not coincidentally included in the Democrats who voted against the Sanders-Klobuchar amendment. The booker tops the $267,338 booker list. With $254,649, Robert Casey was given $250,730 and Michael Bennet was net of $222,000, nearby Sen. Patty Murray.

Since Booker seems to position himself in the 2020 presidential race, he deserves special attention. For its 2014 Senate race, Booker received almost two million dollars from Wall Street. The financial sector has also strongly endorsed his Newark municipal campaign, receiving huge amounts from law firms and property. When Barack Obama rhetorically choked the investment firm of opponent Mitt Romney, Booker rabbit hit him from the right and called his remarks “nauseating.” “Stop private equity attacking,” added Booker.

Democrats should ask: is this the type of leader they have to recover from devastating losses?

It is particularly bitter to observe that a vote took place the week before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was celebrated. “One thing is already clear. This is the reason the Democrats are still losing.” “The most outrageous and inhumane of all forms of inequality is unfair health,” Dr. King once declared. Although the reasons behind the 12 Democrats are uncertain, they inevitably raise the issues of legalized corruption underpinning our pay-for-pay system. There is already one thing that is clear: that is why the Democrats lose continuously. “Americans are paying the world’s highest prescription prices,” Sen. wrote in 2015.

These 13 Democrats have done a great deal of harm to healthcare that really is affordable. On a matter that electors take care of, they robbed their party of the moral high ground. And the rhetorically high ground is being abandoned to the empty stance of the Bloviator in chief, who is soon to be opened, saying this week that pharmaceutical companies “get away with killing.”

Democrats must move quickly to remedy the damage done by these senators.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, or as a substitute for the medical advice of a physician.