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10/26/2006 Entry:
How to Work the Republican Congress
Although we, the people, elected the current Republican Congress, it takes highly-paid corporate lobbyists, rich corporations and a few "devoted" legislators to get Congress to pass a law. Some bills, such as the Medicare Drug bill, took a lot more effort than anyone suspected. It took a super-lobbyist like Abramoff together with hundreds of PHARMA lobbyists and a few non-profits to pull it off. Boy, Abramoff and his buddies sure knew how to work with DeLay and this Republican Congress.
If you remember, it took a 3-hour voting delay in the House in the middle of the night, which was used for twisting arms to eke out a bare majority for the Medicare Drug bill. What most people do not realize, what I did not realize until today is that this night was the culmination of a year-long effort by Abramoff and an army of cronies. This is documented by Barbara T. Dreyfuss in the "Poison Pill," from which I quote:
It’s well known that in his crusade to pass the bill, DeLay drew on more than 800 pharmaceutical-industry lobbyists, millions of dollars in campaign contributions, and the efforts of numerous business and healthcare groups. But this grossly flawed legislation could never have passed without the help of the same players who were central to Abramoff’s lobbying operation: Tony Rudy and Ed Buckham. Using a nest of nonprofits flush with corporate cash, the discredited lobbyists played a vital, albeit hidden, role in whittling down congressional opposition to the bill for more than a year before the final vote. In particular, Alexander Strategy made use of three senior nonprofit groups—the United Seniors Association, the Seniors Coalition and 60 Plus—and a Christian evangelical group, America 21, which were all funded heavily by the pharmaceutical industry.
I'm sure you noticed that the number of pharmaceutical-industry lobbyists used was "more than 800." What on earth were they all doing? You may have noticed as well that "a nest of nonprofits" was involved. How did nonprofits get involved in this scam? And a "Christian evangelical group"? Wow! Things are more complicated than they appear to be; expressed differently, it takes a lot of effort to make Congress work.
You have to give this guy Abramoff credit. How was he able to handle all these lobbyists, corporations and non-profits and make Congress work for him? I guess you have to give the other guy Tom DeLay credit too. He hammered the work out of Congress. He made the Republican Congress a drug-manufacturer's dream.
I've railed against the Medicare Drug bill before. But the "Poison Pill" brings the criticism up to date:
But with its enormous expense and inadequate coverage, it has proved to be a disaster. Twenty percent of enrollees have higher drug costs than they did before signing up. In the next three months, an estimated three and a half to seven million people will hit the notorious “donut hole,” in which coverage stops until their drug spending reaches $5,100. “We ended up with a program that undermines Medicare and costs way too much for a program with major gaps in coverage,” said Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future and a founder of Americans United, a coalition of consumer and labor groups demanding that Congress fix the plan.
Read the whole article.
If you want to keep a Congress that can be worked this way, vote Republican. If you are sick and tired of such corruption in the House and Senate, vote Democratic.
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