Looks like Our Guv accepted
a plane ride from Pfizer:
Gov. Mitt Romney and his top advisers flew to California
this week
on a corporate jet owned by a leading pharmaceutical firm, as he and
the Legislature consider enactment of a universal health insurance law
the governor labels one of his top priorities.
Also aboard the aircraft Tuesday were three representatives for <org
idsrc=”NYSE” value=”PFE”>Pfizer Inc.,
owner of the $40 million Gulfstream V. They included a top government
relations official at New York-based company, one of its New England
lobbyists and a Republican media consultant from Boston who represents
the company.
Hey, that’s nice. Now… how can you accept a gift ride from a
pharmaceutical company whose business will be affected by health care
reform in Massachusetts, and credibly act as the taxpayers’
representative in discussions of such reform?
Everybody’s saying this is perfectly legal. It’s also perfectly
disgusting. We know what’s going on here.
Contemplated in the Senate’s legislation is a Health Care Quality
Board, which will evaluate the relative effectiveness of various
treatments, presumably including pharmaceuticals. PhRMA, the
pharmaceutical industry’s lobby, fought like hell to keep such
information <a
href=”http://bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=273″>out of
the public’s hands in Oregon. (As I’ve said, to PhRMA, ignorance is
more precious than oil.) They were successful in keeping the federal
government from using its power of bulk purchasing in the Medicare
prescription drug benefit, which would have <a
href=”http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/39/13/6″>saved
taxpayers billions. From our pockets to Pfizer’s. It’s a sweet
deal, really.
PhRMA has demonstrated again and again that weak and ambitious
politicians <a
href=”http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20051110/pl_usnw/new_analysis_shows_private_companies_awarded_lucrative_medicare_drug_contracts_contributed6_5m_to_win_congressional_favor”>are
great investments. And now Mitt’s ready to bring them home the Bay
State bacon. Keep your eye on this one.
UPDATE: Here’s an article about the industry’s lobbyists. Pfizer is discussed at the bottom.
Our Governor takes a six-hour “ride” on an object closely resembling a phallus that is owned by the manufacturer of Viagra. It just doesn’t get any better than that.