Robert Reich
Salon.com
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This is basically an extension of the corrupt deal the industry struck with President Bush, which expanded the drug benefits available through Medicare, producing “a bonanza” of billions for drug-makers. Big Pharma, which has budgeted $150 million for TV ads promoting Obama’s reform, has vaguely promised to cut future drug costs by $80 billion. But no one seems able to pinpoint where the savings will come from, and they may never be realized.
As a member of the Clinton administration, I watched Pharma and its allies kill health-care reform in 1994, so I understand the value of bringing such a powerful special interest on board. But when the White House feels it cannot bring about reform without making “secret concessions” that will hurt consumers and taxpayers, it’s a sign that “our democracy is in terrible shape.”
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