Scrolling through my Facebook feed this morning, I came across this image and knew there had to be much more to the story. This is one industry that has a LOT of money invested in D.C. and it’s not just going in the pockets of Democrats – BOTH sides are equally corrupt when it comes to pharmaceutical and health care.
My first thought was they are simply motivated by the money they receive from the pharmaceutical companies. Still, I was curious to dig a little deeper. Then I found this article Cory Booker Joins Senate Republicans to Kill Measure to Import Cheaper Medicine From Canada which reads in part:
Bernie Sanders introduced a very simple symbolic amendment Wednesday night, urging the federal government to allow Americans to purchase pharmaceutical drugs from Canada, where they are considerably cheaper. Such unrestricted drug importation is currently prohibited by law.
The Senate voted down the amendment 52-46, with two senators not voting. Unusually, the vote was not purely along party lines: 13 Republicans joined Sanders and a majority of Democrats in supporting the amendment, while 13 Democrats and a majority of Republicans opposed it.
It is my personal opinion this measure was shot down because Bernie threw in his own “symbolic style” amendment # SA 117 that reads:
“ensuring that health care is a right of all Americans, not a privilege dependent on where you live, what job you have, or how much money you make, which shall include a Medicare for All plan to cover everyone in the United States”
I used to think health care was a right, but the older I get, and the more I see people abusing programs that enable them to live off the government instead of taking responsibility for their own choices, I have had a change of heart.
When sneaky politicians do things like this, it almost always ensures a rejection. By getting the other side to reject a bill that would obviously be to the benefit of ALL American’s, they are handed even more fodder to promote their divisive agenda – them against us, the rich versus the poor, etc.
It's so lame!
You can see how several jumped in with their own amendments agenda and butchered what COULD have been a very good thing! There is absolutely NO reason we should not have the option to choose more affordable medications from Canada (or anywhere else) where U.S. based pharmaceutical companies have research, development and manufacturing facilities.
Do you have any idea how many pharmaceutical companies have their headquarters in the United States while having many of their operations set up in other countries? MOST of them! What does that tell you?
I am thoroughly convinced that several of those who oppose S.Amdt. 178 in the name of “safety” are full of it. It is absolutely NOTHING more than politics-as-usual and pure greed! Take those names attached to the amendments here, look them up on OpenSecrets.org – betcha' find many of them have valuable reason to sabotage any bill that would lower the cost of medication!
In the end, we don’t need imported meds from Canada – we don’t need to pay politicians a ton of money to debate this type of thing – ALL we need is for that that asinine Medicare Prescription Drug Bill to GO AWAY!
Gayla – follow me @Gayla and on Facebook
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I was saddened to see you have changed your mind about government programs and I would like to influence you the other way. If your neighbor robbed a bank should you be penalized? Do you know how many people are “cheating” the system? Should low income people be more honest than other groups of people? Of course there are cons and crooks at all level of society Unfortunately when we go to the supermarket and see people dressed better than us and driving nicer cars buying steak with food stamps it makes you mad. That needs to be addressed as a legitimate concern before people are going to think any differently about that instead of being denied but the truth is most people that gets food assistance do work and the majority are children the elderly or the disabled. Most states have 3 month limits on food assistance in a 3 year period, some have lower. To address other possible comments…no people don’t have children to get more benefits, benefits go down with each child…is someone having a child to get an extra hundred or two a month? That doesn’t pay for diapers. Also the drug question. Several states tried drug testing their clients at a cost of 2 million dollars in one state 13 clients were dismissed from the program.
Lastly, on a related note, although MANY people will argue Social Security is an entitlement program. It says it right on the social security website but people don’t want to believe it, so think the word has some different meaning here or some nonsense. Since food stamps are also and entitlement program when people are jumping for joy because they saw grandma buy a cookie with her foodstamps and they hear entitlement programs are getting cut they better figure out what the government is talking about.