That’s essentially <a
href=”http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/12/07/gov_defends_use_of_corporate_jet_saying_democrats_use_them_too”>Romney’s
defense for accepting a flight on a Pfizer-owned aircraft, stuffed
to the gills with lobbyists for the drug company:
“It’s like a contribution, like any other corporate
contribution to
associations, and that will continue to happen in Republican and
Democratic circles,” Romney told reporters during a Statehouse news
conference. “Sen. Kennedy, Sen. Kerry, myself and others fly on
corporate aircraft and disclose that.”
Look, maybe that’s true and maybe it isn’t, and maybe true in greater
or smaller degree.
It. Doesn’t. Matter.
Especially when the
governor and the legislature are about to tackle health care, this just
stinks out loud. Simply put, there’s absolutely nothing good about this
kind of “access-buying” for taxpayers, or the uninsured, or for anyone
other than Pfizer and the Governor. “Access” doesn’t even begin to
describe it: It’s complete monopolization of the man’s attention for
several hours. Is your going rate that cheap, Governor? Can you be
bought that easily, for the price of a plane ticket?
(Hey John, any chance our
coalition can pitch in to get the governor a plane ride so he’ll listen
to us? What, we don’t have a Gulfstream? Well, how about a cab ride?)
(By the way, be sure to see HCFA’s further <a
href=”http://www.hcfama.org/blog/2005/12/scot-lehigh-swallows-business-line.html”>smackdown
of Scot Lehigh’s <a
href=”http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/12/06/the_burden_of_mandated_healthcare/”>Homage
à Romney, the latter of which is <a
href=”http://chimesatmidnight.blogspot.com/2005/09/scot-lehigh-apparently-thinks.html”>Smithersesque,
indeed. Thanks to <a
href=”http://point08.blogspot.com/2005/12/john-mcdonough-smacks-down-scot-lehigh.html”>sco.)
