"On health care, many in House spoke with lobbyists’ voice; Some statements ghostwritten by biotech company" by Robert Pear, New York Times | November 15, 2009
WASHINGTON - In the official record of the historic House debate on health care overhaul, the speeches of many lawmakers echo with similarities. Often, that was no accident.
Statements by more than a dozen lawmakers were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by Washington lobbyists working for
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What is in that health bill anyway, America?
Think the AmeriKan MSM is telling you?
The lobbyists, employed by Genentech and by two Washington law firms, were remarkably successful in getting the statements printed in the Congressional Record under the names of different members of Congress. Genentech, a subsidiary of the Swiss drug giant Roche, estimates that 42 House members picked up some of its talking points - 22 Republicans and 20 Democrats, an unusual bipartisan coup for lobbyists.
In an interview, Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, said, “I regret that the language was the same. I did not know it was.’’ He said he got his statement from his staff and “did not know where they got the information from.’’
Yeah, THESE GUYS NEVER READ ANYTHING except CUE CARDS from CORPORATIONS!!!!
Members of Congress submit statements for publication in the Congressional Record all the time, often with a decorous request to “revise and extend my remarks.’’ It is unusual for so many revisions and extensions to match up word for word. It is even more unusual to find clear evidence that the statements originated with lobbyists.... Asked about the congressional statements, a lobbyist close to Genentech said: “This happens all the time. There was nothing nefarious about it.’’
Need I even comment, readers? You know a liar when you see one.
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In recent years, Genentech’s political action committee and lobbyists for Roche and Genentech have made campaign contributions to many House members, including some who filed statements in the Congressional Record. And company employees have been among the hosts at fund-raisers for some of those lawmakers. But Evan L. Morris, head of Genentech’s Washington office, said, “There was no connection between the contributions and the statements.’’
Know what a BALD-FACED LIE is, world? You just read one.
Morris said Republicans and Democrats, concerned about the unemployment rate, were receptive to the company’s arguments about the need to keep research jobs in the United States....
I'm really getting tired of the insults and lies, I really am. It's the same lying shit repeated ad nauseum.
Democrats emphasized the bill’s potential to create jobs in health care, health information technology and clinical research on new drugs.
I thought it was a HEALTH BILL?!
Republicans opposed the bill, but praised a provision that would give the Food and Drug Administration authority to approve generic versions of expensive biotechnology drugs, along the lines favored by brand-name companies like Genentech. Lawmakers from both parties said it was important to conduct research on such “biosimilar’’ products in the United States. Several took a swipe at aggressive Indian competitors....
Well, WHERE YOU BEEN for the last 10 years?
In separate statements using language suggested by the lobbyists, Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri and Joe Wilson of South Carolina, both Republicans, said: “One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that it is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country. Unfortunately, many of the largest companies that would seek to enter the biosimilar market have made their money by outsourcing their research to foreign countries like India.’’
Oh, so YOU LIE, 'eh, Joe?
See: Wilson Shout Out Was a Set Up
Not Making It in Massachusetts
The Failing Firms of Massachusetts
Yeah, "it's never been easy to turn a profit" in BIOTECH!
In remarks on the House floor, Representative Phil Hare, an Illinois Democrat, recalled that his family had faced eviction when his father was sick and could not make payments on their home. He said the House bill would save others from such hardship.
Oh, so now the HEALTH BILL will prevent FORECLOSURES? C'mon!!!!!
Related: No Choice But Single Payer
Pick a plan, pick a country! We are AmeriKa; we can DO ANYTHING!
In a written addendum in the Congressional Record, Hare said the bill would also create high-paying jobs. Timothy Schlittner, a spokesman for Hare, said: “That part of his statement was drafted for us by Roche pharmaceutical company. It is something he agrees with.’’
You know CONTINUING to SHOVEL that LYING S*** in our faces REALLY MAKES the PUBLIC MAD!!!!!!
The boilerplate in the Congressional Record included some conversational touches, as if actually delivered on the House floor. In the standard Democratic statement, Representative Robert A. Brady of Pennsylvania said: “Let me repeat that for some of my friends on the other side of the aisle. This bill will create high-paying, high-quality jobs in health care delivery, technology and research in the United States.’’
Promises, promises, promises, promises!!!!
Brady’s chief of staff, Stanley V. White, said he had received the draft statement from a lobbyist for Genentech’s parent company, Roche.... E-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that the lobbyists drafted one statement for Democrats and another for Republicans....
I don't like politics anymore, and here is ANOTHER REASON WHY!
You have ONE PARTY with TWO LETTERS, AmeriKa!
And look who is working it all!
The e-mail messages and their attached documents indicate that the statements were based on information supplied by Genentech employees to one of its lobbyists, Matthew L. Berzok, a lawyer at Ryan, MacKinnon, Vasapoli & Berzok who is identified as the “author’’ of the documents. The statements were disseminated by lobbyists at a big law firm, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal.
In an e-mail message to fellow lobbyists on Nov. 5, two days before the House vote, Todd M. Weiss, senior managing director of Sonnenschein, said, “We are trying to secure as many House R’s and D’s to offer this/these statements for the record as humanly possible.’’ Weiss told the lobbyists to “conduct aggressive outreach to your contacts on the Hill to see if their bosses would offer the attached statements (or an edited version) for the record.’’
Looks like they succeeded, doesn't it?--more--"
I DON'T WANT a NATIONAL HEALTH TAX, 'er, PLAN from this government, world!
Related: Why Obama Wants A Health Care Bill This Year
Sweets Made Me Sick
What do you mean the PUBLIC OPTION is going to COST MORE?!!!!
A Healthy Insult For the American People
Oh, YOU SEE WHAT WE GIVE THEM and WHY WE CAN NOT HAVE IT, 'eh, readers?
END the DAMN WARS, DemocraPs, like WE ELECTED YOU TO DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
