You don’t keep an unblemished record of being ranked as a “developing country” for as long as Brazil has without having incredible amounts of corruption. From the Brazilian President on down, having your hand snuggly in the cookie jar is common practice. Recently, a scandal involving gaming machines (gambling is illegal in Brazil) was discovered, with those involved including judges, state attorneys and a vast array of others in the mob-based controversy.
At very least, however, in Brazil honoring the elderly is law. Among other things, for the 60+ group, waiting in lines is no longer necessary - they always get to go right to the front, regardless of how long the line is and whether the line is for stamps or tax help.
In a developed nation like the U.S., where corruption was long ago institutionalized, not even the elderly are safe from the greed of those we’ve elected to represent us.
The Medicare reform legislation signed by President George W. Bush in Nov. 2003 remains a great source of controversy and embarrassment today, as conservatives try to wrap their minds around a $500-billion (or more) entitlement program and liberals can’t get their heads around what looks like a $500-billion (or more) money grab by Big Pharma that was passed through in what can only be described as one of the most humiliating, Lord-of-the-Flies sessions of Congress Americans have ever heard of (It all happened in the wee morning hours so no one could see).
“The pharmaceutical lobbyists wrote the bill. The bill was over 1,000 pages. And it got to the members of the House that morning, and we voted for it at about 3 a.m. in the morning,” said U.S. Representative Walter Jones.
The bill doesn’t allow for the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, nor does it have any type of mechanism in place to slow rapidly rising prices for medication.
With an opportunity to right a horrific wrong, Democrats attempted to rectify this situation. And were stalemated by Republicans - who but a year ago were a party that found filibustering to be the “nuclear option.”
“A key part of the Democrats’ ‘06 platform was allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices on prescription medication. The idea enjoyed broad public appeal, would save the government money during a difficult budget crunch, passed the House with bi-partisan support, and had the votes to pass the Senate. Right up until Republicans filibustered the legislation to death,” wrote Steve at Crooks and Liars, as today the Senate blocked legislation that would let the government negotiate Medicare drug prices.
To make sure that everyone is aware that the Republican Party is in Big Pharma’s pocket, the President gave the move his stamp of approval.
“If a bill such as the one that they were contemplating today were to make its way to the president’s desk, he would veto it,” Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said, praising the Senate’s move as the “right decision.”
The bill has its share of critics. In Wisconsin, where they were forced to halt their own Medicare program, some in need of medication will be seeing their annual rate for some pills go from $180 to $3,000 annually.
“Time and again, the interests of the drug industry are put ahead of the interests of the elderly,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Why is it so necessary for the government to not negotiate prices for what it purchases? Where is the sense there? Perhaps we could ask former congressman Billy Tauzin, who helped ram the legislation home, and is currently making $2 million a year at PhRMA, the drug industry’s lobbying arm. Or former Medicare boss Tom Scully, who also works as a lobbyist for big pharma. Or John McManus, the staff director of the Ways and Means subcommittee on Health who now works as a lobbyist for Big Pharma.
The list goes on and on of who we could ask. In the end, from the 2003 signing of the bill, a minimum of 15 congressional staffers, congressmen and federal officials left their positions to work in the pharmaceutical industry. Ask any of them how not negotiating with drug companies is a shrewd move.
Or ask a Brazilian politician, who would understand completely.
–WKW
