BIG PHARMA WAS A BIG LOSER IN NOVEMBER-- AND TOMORROW THEY START PAYING FOR THEIR STUPIDITY AND CUPIDITY... OR DO THEY?

Last year's elections saw a gigantic defeat for more than just Republicans. Big Pharma had a catastrophic election year. Of the 20 biggest recipients of Big Pharma bribes campaign contributions-- and they spent $17,865.648 last year-- 7 lost. And most of the rest lost the committee positions from which they could most help the giant, and gigantically profitable pharmaceutical companies. The #1 recipient of their largesse was loser Rick Santorum, who took $376,703 from them last year. The 6 other 6 figure losers were Nancy Johnson, Mike DeWine, Mark Kennedy, George Allen, Henry Bonilla, and James Talent-- almost $1.4 down the drain. But some of the other big recipients of their generosity, like Joe Barton (R-TX), Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) and Nathan Deal (R-NJ) will no longer be in positions to allow Big Pharma lobbyists to write legislation.

But it wasn't a total loss. Of Big Pharma's biggest pay-offs, just over two-thirds went to Republicans-- and 31% went to Pharma-friendly Democrats like ex-Democrat Holy Joe Lieberman (whose wife is a Pharma lobbyist), Ben Nelson and Max Baucus.


They'll be counting on that 31% investment when the Judiciary Committee convenes tomorrow to mark up legislation that would prohibit brand-name drug companies from paying off smaller competitors to keep generic drugs off the market. The measure's co-sponsors, Patrick Leahy and Charles Grassley have 26.4 billion reasons for pushing the bill. The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association claims that health plans and consumers could save $26.4 billion over the next five years by using the generic versions of 14 drugs scheduled to lose patent protection before 2010. Big Pharma will fight them tooth and nail. Anyone want to guess whose side Nelson, Baucus and Lieberman weigh in on? (Other mega-recipients of Big Pharma money are Orrin Hatch and Jon Kyl; I'd say their votes are a foregone conclusion.)


UPDATE: JOE BARTON OFFERS TO TAKE OVER AND RUN THE COMMITTEE FOR BIG PHARMA AGAIN

No one would deny that Texas far right congressman Joe Barton is one of the biggest corporate whores in Washington, selling out the interests of consumers, workers, his constituents... anyone, for some fast money. As Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce he recently tried to cut off subsidies for emergency heating for impoverished elderly people (who were saved when God struck him down with a heart attack; he recovered). He routinely raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from the businesses his committee was meant to regulate-- and then let the lobbyists for those businesses write the "regulations." For example, Big Pharma, hospitals, nursing homes and health professionals have bribed him with over $1.5 million. (Oil, gas and utilities, over which his committee also had jurisdiction, kicked in another $2.4 million.) So how could anyone be surprised when Barton offered to take over the committee from the new (Democratic) chairman John Dingell? Dingell, on calling today's committee session to order mentioned something about feeling "a little rusty" in running a hearing. Never missing an opportunity to ingratiate himself with his corporate masters-- who fear Dingell's pro-consumer agenda-- Barton piped up "Mr. Chairman, if you feel a little rusty, I'll be happy to take over at any time until you feel unrusty."