More than 50 conservative leaders sign letter against Trump drug pricing policy codification

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

02/12/26 7:08 AM ET


A coalition of more than 50 leaders of conservative and free-market organizations signed a letter to members of Congress on Thursday, opposing codifying President Trump’s “most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing policy model into law. The letter, which argues an MFN pricing law would “import socialist price controls and values into our country,” highlights the growing tension between Trump and a portion of the conservative movement.

“In addition to doing nothing to address foreign freeloading, MFN would reduce access to new cures and reduce U.S. global competitiveness, ceding ground to China,” the leaders wrote.

“While supporters of this proposal correctly identify the unique problems facing the American health care system — namely, wealthy countries paying artificially lower prices for prescription drugs than the U.S. and the fact that this depresses innovation and inflates our costs — MFN would not solve these problems,” the letter continues. “In fact, it would exacerbate them.”

Signatories of the letter include Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; Stephen Moore, co-founder of Unleash Prosperity Now and a former economic adviser to Trump; Tim Chapman, president of Advancing American Freedom; Phil Kerpen, president of American Commitment; Ryan Ellis, president of Center for a Free Economy; Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of the Job Creators Network; Morton Blackwell, a Virginia Republican National Committee member; Emily Stack, executive director of Moms for America Action; Pete Sepp, president of National Taxpayers Union; and David Williams, president of Taxpayers Protection Alliance.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5734862-conservative-leaders-oppose-trump-drug-pricing-policy/

[JHB]

1. It's people who overuse the word "socialist" like this who are fueling its comeback

Bernie, AOC, and Mamdani describe themselves as "democratic socialists", but what they're describing seems to be New Deal-type stuff, not any sort of socialism. I don't have a beef with the substance of their views, but to me it seems to be making the mistake of conforming to Right Wing terminology.

After all, Right Wingers/Conservatives call everything they don't like "socialism". Once upon a time, they could talk like that among themselves but had to watch their language among the normies because there was that big country on the other side of the world with "socialist" right in its name. "Socialism" was what they did, and using that word for us marked you as an extremist freak. But after the Soviets collapsed, Right Wingers/Conservatives felt freed from that constraint, with no significant push-back (those who should have were too busy wanting to be seen as "pro-business" ).

But maybe that fight over terminology has already been lost.

[Roy Rolling]

2. Valid Point

The counterpoint would be the overuse of the word socialism makes it more ineffective when used as a Republican propaganda word.

Ceding it would be a Republican victory.

The example is the Affordable Care Act. Republicans hated it so much the derisively renamed it Obamacare But the public didn’t share their sentiments and Obamacare has stuck. So much so, when the replacement for Obamacare was finally announced after ten years the opposition named it “TrumpRX.”

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. 😂😂

[JHB]

4. Valid as well.

I suppose the counter-counterpoint is that for the time being, it still results in having to fight an uphill battle among a public that still equates the word with Stalinist repression.

[Multichromatic]

3. O, look... a list of 50 fascist, corporate, traitors.

Other western nations pay lower or much lower drug prices because they REGULATE their drug markets. They also negotiate lower prices for their national healthcare systems. Other countries cut out the thieving corporate middle men.

NnnooooOOOooo... Trump might take our obsence ill-gotten profits. The horror! 😱