Nine Dems Back Senate Bill on Medicare

[Freddie Stubbs]

WASHINGTON Nov. 23 — A sweeping Medicare prescription drug bill sparked a defiant last stand Sunday by outnumbered critics in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Even so, the roster of declared Democratic supporters for the bill grew to nine, when Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Ron Wyden of Oregon announced their intentions to vote for it. In less-than-glowing assessments, both ascribed a series of benefits and shortcomings to the bill, and Wyden said his decision was "a very, very tough call."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., led a filibuster against the legislation, arguing it would lead toward privatization of Medicare and warning that if they were successful, Republicans would soon be back for more. "Social Security is next. Medicare is now," he said.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, quickly disputed that, adding that opponents were playing politics and would regret it. He accused Democrats of blocking a prescription drug bill two years ago, saying they had "wanted an issue" to take into the 2002 election. "They got a defeat at the polls" instead, he said.

more: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20031123_996.html

[gristy]

1. I'm going to be sick.

Grassley, it's you who's going to be defeated. You sap.

[earthside]

16. What Dems Supporting Medicare Really Means

These nine Democratic senators are really telegraphing their belief that Bush is going to finally be elected in 2004 (or reinstalled if that becomes necessary). They would deny this of course. But just think about it. If they thought Bush was going to be thrown out, why would they hand him such a plum issue to run on? They are looking out only for themselves because they have concluded - if they are up for reelection - that they are going to have to buck the Bush tide; or they foresee having to endure Bush for another four years.

Hate to be glum ... but politically, that's what these Democratic senators are indicating when they support the Trojan Horse Medicare Reform legislation.

[schultzee]

21. But if the people back home don't like it? I hope you are wrong.

[lumpy]

33. Bulloney

No one's throwing in the towel. Even if the bill passes, it might be defeated by negative response from oldsters who will not join in the effort to overturn Medicare. This is a wait and see bill. The 'plum' might turn out to be an unsuccessfy prune.

[newyawker99]

35. Hi earthside!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Carolina]

36. but going along with *

didn't help some incumbents during the 2002 midterms. You'd think they would learn. Bottom line we've got wimpocrats.

If Dems could learn to stick together and oppose * the way repukes consistently did Clinton, I'd have hope. But as long as these suckers go along to get along, then we as a party are doomed and they don't deserve to be re-elected.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

42. No. What they're really saying is that they want to kill Medicare, too.

[Gloria]

2. Grassley must forget that a SS privitization bill has already been

introduced!!

Are these 9 Democrats really Democrats? They are really enabling Bush...
unless we have a great candidate that can bash this thing to death during 2004

[bluestateguy]

3. Math

I know that McCain has voiced his opposition and support for the filibuster, so that offsets one. What about Jeffords? If he is a NO than we have exactly 41 votes, enough for a filibuster, but no room for any more losses.

[hedda_foil]

7. Jeffords is voting for it.

[oasis]

4. Wyden is spineless and worthless as a Democrat.

[depakid]

17. Wyden just received an e-mail from me

very short and to the point. The bottom line is that he's been in DC and away from Oregon too long. Should he support this bill, it WILL hurt him here at home. If the Dems don't run a candidate against him, then I'm damn sure the Greens will (and there are plenty of strong candidates in Oregon who could conceivably run as a Green).

Wyden had better watch his ass- he's already been way too cozy with the far right with respect to the last Senate election, forest policy and several other matters that I can't think of off hand (because I'm too infuriated). Should he lose his left flank, he's toast- because the Pubs will run a so called "moderate" against him next time.

[neverforget]

34. I wrote Wyden an email also. When I read that he was supporting

this atrocious bill, I tried calling his office but the line was busy. I basically said he sold my parents out for the pharmaceutical industry and I'm tired of sell outs. Fuck! I'm really pissed! :grr:

[Military Brat]

18. I am absolutely bewildered by Wyden's position

Thursday, I called his office and his staff told me that he was still studying the bill. I was surprised that I did not get a definite position that he would vote no, but I kept telling myself that Wyden votes in line with what's good for the citizens of Oregon and this country, especially the elderly. He has always been a senior citizens advocate. Now I am sitting here with my jaw dropped that he would even consider voting for this piece of garbage.

Dammit, he's going to get a call from me tomorrow, because I want to know just what the hell is going on that would cause him to lose sight of who he is (a Democrat) and what he is supposed to represent (the people).

:wtf:

Edit my mistakes that I make when I'm so mad ...

[depakid]

23. I noticed that my e-mail through his site didn't & won't go through

Wonder if the site's getting pounded or Wyden's staff simply shut it down. One way or another, I'll get through. Wyden's must be out of his freaking mind on this one. Either that, or he'd better pull about $20 Billion in straight up pork for Oregon.

I'm serious about this one. I've had enough. Wyden ought to learn from what nearly happened to Gore in Oregon-

[Media_Lies_Daily]

43. He's just filtering out certain words like...

..."asshole", "loser", "cretin", "turncoat", "dumbass", etc.

[Snellius]

5. Wyden might support a filibuster

I was surprised to hear Wyden pull a Feinstein but he did say he might support a procedural alternative. This looks like it's going to pass, though I don't think the Republicans will be able to steal the issue as they hoped. It may be their MedIraq. A big "Mission Accomplished" that they wish they had never begun.

[girl gone mad]

11. yes.

I think this Trojan horse will be another GOP albatross.

How's that for mixing metaphors?

This bill is so bad, it won't be hard to use it against them. Just ask seniors why so many congresspeople exempted their own districts from the HMO provisions if they thought the bill was such a good idea.

[jenk]

6. Is Zell on board with the Repugs?

[NewJerseyDem]

19. He always opposes filibuster

We have virtually no chance on the final vote and he refuses to support any filibuster. So, he is siding with the republicans basically no matter how he votes on final passage.

[frank frankly]

8. piss off, DINO's

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

:mad:

[BiggJawn]

9. Look for Bayh to vote for it.

There's been ads on TV this past week claiming that he's for it. I have no idea who's paying for the spot. Indiana Drug makers (Lilly's, Pfizer) gave him almost $500,000 in 2001...

What's good for Lilly's is good enough for Evan.

[wabeewoman]

10. I think this is a repug tactic

because they are saying the same thing here and urging voters to call Patty Murray and thank her for her vote but I think she said she was voting against it.

[LiberalFighter]

14. Of course he will

Wasn't his wife once on the board for Eli Lilly? And of course many many connections had to had been made during his years as Secretary of State and Governor.

[IndianaGreen]

15. And how many Hoosiers will vote for Bayh in 2004?

I won't be counted among them!

[Nlighten1]

25. This is a tricky question.

As Salin noted the other day...at least some times he sticks up for us...if there was another Republican there that Republican would probably just rubber stamp everything Bush wanted.

I don't like Bayh at all though and I wish we had a good Democrat to run against him.

[LatteLib]

40. Re: And how many Hoosiers will vote for Bayh in 2004?

I won't be voting for him either and I will be talking against him for the next election in the Democratic groups I belong to as well. He is a sell out to be voting for this pathetic excuse for a prescription plan for seniors. A repubican in democratic clothing. Personally, I view this bill as passive aggressive murder for millions of senior citizens.
:dem:

[prolesunited]

12. Anytime you have an industry pushing

for legislation you know it's NOT going to be good for consumers. Of course, the liberal media is doing such an excellent job in showing you it is such a huge windfall for the pharma industry.


How much was spent on lobbying
The trade association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA, will spend at least $150 million in the coming year, representing an increase of 23 percent over this year's budget of $121.7 million, fighting price controls around the world, subsidizing "like-minded organizations" and paying economists to produce op-ed articles and monographs in response to critics.

Where the money (which comes from dues will total $143.8 million in the coming year, an increase of 24 percent) is going:
— The drug trade group plans to spend $1 million for an "intellectual echo chamber of economists — a standing network of economists and thought leaders to speak against federal price control regulations through articles and testimony, and to serve as a rapid response team."

— In its budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, the pharmaceutical lobby earmarks $72.7 million for advocacy at the federal level, directed mainly at Congress; $4.9 million to lobby the Food and Drug Administration; and $48.7 million for advocacy at the state level.

— In addition, the budget sets aside $17.5 million to fight price controls and protect patent rights in foreign countries and in trade negotiations.

— The PhRMA budget allocates $1 million "to change the Canadian health care system" and $450,000 to stem the flow of low-price prescription drugs from online pharmacies in Canada to customers in the United States.

Much more on this topic here:
http://bernie.house.gov/documents/articles/20030602123259.asp

How much pharma industry stands to gain
An estimated 61.1 percent of the Medicare dollars that will be spent to buy more prescriptions will remain in the hands of drug makers as added profits. The windfall means an estimated $139 billion dollars in increased profits over eight years for the world's most profitable industry.

At $17 billion annually, this means about a 38 percent rise in drug maker profit.

The legislation explicitly prohibits Medicare from acting to negotiate or contain the drug prices paid under the new program. Of the $228 billion of $400 billion in new federal spending over next eight years, 75.6 percent will go to drug manufacturers as gross income.

Drug makers' net increase in profit is estimated at $139.2 billion over the eight-year life of the program.

PDF report on New Medicare Rx Benefit Means Big Profits for Drug Makers
http://www.healthreformprogram.org/

Bernie Sanders has an excellent, easily digestible Web site covering the pharma industry:
http://bernie.house.gov/prescriptions/index.asp

[0007]

27. senator feinstein - Makes me want to puke

I don't believe this shit!!

[NashVegas]

13. nevermind

whoops, wrong controversial bill.

[The Sushi Bandit]

20. What is Dianne Feinstein THINKING??!!!

I SMELL A SELL OUT!!!

AND I'M PISSED AT HER

[LibDemAlways]

24. Diane is a DINO.

She's going to be tossed out on her ass if she dares to run again.

[Le Taz Hot]

28. We DESPERATELY need

a REAL Democrat to run against her in 2006. I honestly do not know what I'll do if she a) runs unapposed or b) wins the Democratic primary. On the one hand, her record has been excellent in women's issues and civil righs. On the other hand, she voted for Ashcroft's confirmation, she voted for the Patriot Act, for the Homeland Security Act, the IWR and MANY other right wing boondoggles including this one. We've got 2 years to find a qualified contender. Unfortunately, the CDP is going to back her all the way, which will run in direct opposition to most California Democrats.

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. Yet she is one of the most, if not the most, popular politicians in CA

[shanti]

41. i voted for here every time before

but i'll be DAMNED if she gets my vote again!!! :grr:

[Snellius]

30. Feinstein is so popular BECAUSE she's politically bi

In some ways she mirrors her Californian constituents who pride themselves on not thinking in partisan terms. Trouble is, in situations like this and the tax cuts, where the issue is almost completely political, she is completely blind to the ulterior strategic power games being played by DeLay and Rove. She gets suckered in everytime.

[feminazi]

32. Snellius, you're right

about Feinstein being blind to the power games. I heard her on Ronn Owens show this morning. To paraphrase, she said she didn't care about the politics of the bill. She would vote for it because it would help her lower income constituents and she would try to improve the bill by offering amendments to it next year.

She has no clue, or doesn't care, that Bush will use this in his campaign. So, if he's re-elected and starts using the deficit as the reason for cutting social services, I fail to see how that will help her lower income constituents.

Unfortunately, this is an administration that goes for the jugular. Even if she doesn't want to play politics, they will.

[Pompitous_Of_Love]

37. She would step on her own mother's dead body...

if she thought it would help her political career. This, after all, is the same woman who, as mayor of San Francisco in the early 80s, held a press conference to reveal evidence collected by the SFPD that was critical to solving the Nightstalker slayings in Los Angeles. She pissed off every cop in both cities, but thankfully the authorities were so close to arresting Richard Ramirez at that point that her stupid, arrogant grandstanding didn't let a serial killer get away.

Dumb and ambitious. She's pretty much a train wreck in constant motion.

[schultzee]

22. Anyone have a list of the 9?

[Malva Zebrina]

26. discouraging

sell out--Bush must be very pleased with himself.

[Liberator_Rev]

31. Toll-free #'s for the U S Senate :

We provide toll free #'s you can use to call the Senate at http://liberalslikechrist.org/democrat/index.htm .

Wyden's and Feinstein are being bombarded, but I got through to encourage Lieberman and called Republican Lincoln Chaffee and he's with US on this one. So call and support him as well as calling the others who are on the fence or on the other side.

(Please don't copy the #'s here, but instead give us the benefit of sharing the LINK, so that others will at least have the opportunity of seeing our site. Thank you.)

[Pompitous_Of_Love]

38. While I'm thinking about this subject...

No one has bothered to take a look at how this piece of crap bill is going to affect the individual states. I live in North Carolina and spending on health and human services already consumes a huge portion of the general fund budget. Bush and the Republicans have a modus operandi of passing the responsibility -- but certainly not the bucks -- to the states in cases like this. Being an old person in Alabama is definitely going to be a far different experience than in, say, Minnesota if this bill follows the usual Republican abdication of responsibility.

[NewJerseyDem]

39. I think Wyden would have voted no

If he was the deciding vote. On the vote on the Budget Act point of order Wyden was the last to vote. He stood around talking with senators for a long time. Then, Trent Lott placed the 60th vote in favor and guarenteed republican success and Wyden then voted yes. So, it seems like perhaps if Lott voted no, Wyden would have as well and it would have been defeated.

What is going on with those Oregonian Democrats? David Wu did the same thing in the House. He refused to vote for 3 hours and then voted yes after it became clear that it would pass.