Big Pharma, Health Care, and who runs the country anyway?

During the Bush Administration, when prescription drug coverage was added to Medicare, the legislation included a line that prohibited Medicare (the US Govt.) from negotiating the cost of drugs with the big drug companies, resulting in huge profits for those companies. Now the Obama administration has reportedly (New York Times) reached a deal with the drug companies that a health care reform bill would bar price negotiations with the drug companies. This is why drugs made in the USA sell for far less in Canada or Europe because those countries can negotiate the price of the drug. We can't. It is the law and will be the law if Big Pharma gets what they want. Neither the Democrats or the Republicans are good guys here. It makes me crazy. In the Times article a former Congressman who now works for a drug trade company (lobby) was quoted. Now you know where they go when they leave office. Here's a link to the article : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/health/policy/06insure.html?emc=eta1

So I guess it is true, big business does run this country.

Health Care Reform

The industries that make mega bucks off of health care, (insurance/drug etc.) claim to be for health care reform but what they are really for is trying to put some obscure line in any health care reform bill that will be to their benefit. They'll lure some Representative or Senator to their side, with a promise of a nice cushy job once their term of office is through, to work on their behalf. It has happened before and will no doubt happen again, with a public that is more interested in watching Dancing with the Stars and a media that reports what their corporate paymasters tell them to report. What the average citizen can do is call their Representative and Senator urging them not to drop the ball this time. Rhode Island's Senators and Representatives are working for health care reform, I know this, but I keep emailing and calling them any way just to remind them. Everyone should do the same.

Rally at Burnside Park in Providence

Yesterday I went to Moveon.Org's REAL public option, National Day of Action rally (co-sponsered by Ocean State Action and Progressive Democrats of America) at Burnside Park in Providence. Since I am an Aquarian idealist and passionate about health care reform I visualized mobs of people overflowing the park and spilling out into the streets with the smell of revolution in the air. While I was disappointed that a small group of 80 people or so showed up the organizers were pleased with that number since it was a weekday afternoon and people are working etc. After the rally a small delegation went to the offices of Sen. Reed and Whitehouse. While we know that the Rhode Island Senators and Representatives are in favor of Health Care Reform we need to make sure that they don't drop the ball and cave in to special interest groups. In a related note, President Obama gave a speech about this issue scheduled right after America's got Talent or some such program, which proves he knows where the mind set of the American people is at. And of course the media's breaking headline the next day was Obama's remark about the "stupid" action of the Cambridge police. Any issue that corporate America can do to take the public's eye off the Health Reform issue and create divisiveness they will sieze upon.