Pharmaceutical industry bigwigs annoyed by progressive victories
A major article in the Washington Post on Thanksgiving Day contained revealing excerpts from a memo distributed by the corporate brass at GlaxoSmithKline. Circulated to major executives at the drugmaker by e-mail, it was subsequently leaked and reported on.
Big Pharma is used to counting on its "friends" in Congress, like Rick Santorum, to protect their interests and their profits. Any development that ultimately results in more accountability, like the returns of the 2006 midterm elections, is bad news.
Democrats like Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown are progressive champions who will not kneel before special interests. They and almost every other victorious Democratic challenger represent a new wave of Democrats - not conservatives, or moderates, but populists. Progressive populists.
They will put their constituents' concerns, and the American people's concerns, at the top of the agenda. Big corporations and much of the political establishment may not like that idea - that's too bad. They'll have to get used to it.
"We now have fewer allies in the Senate," says the internal memo, obtained by The Washington Post. "Thus, there is greater risk over the next two years that bad amendments will be offered to pending legislation." The company's primary concerns are bills that would allow more imported drugs and would force price competition for drugs bought under Medicare.Yes, indeed. How dare those progressive populists push for policies that benefit the American people and force corporate bosses to focus on any objective other than their bottom line!
The defeat of Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) "creates a big hole we will need to fill," the e-mail says. Senator-elect Jon Tester (D-Montana) "is expected to be a problem," it says, and the elevation to the Senate of Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) "will strengthen his ability to change us."
Big Pharma is used to counting on its "friends" in Congress, like Rick Santorum, to protect their interests and their profits. Any development that ultimately results in more accountability, like the returns of the 2006 midterm elections, is bad news.
Democrats like Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown are progressive champions who will not kneel before special interests. They and almost every other victorious Democratic challenger represent a new wave of Democrats - not conservatives, or moderates, but populists. Progressive populists.
They will put their constituents' concerns, and the American people's concerns, at the top of the agenda. Big corporations and much of the political establishment may not like that idea - that's too bad. They'll have to get used to it.
