RSS
Home
A disease deadlier than Swine Flu
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
According to an article on July 6, 2009, the health care industry spends $1.4 million a day on lobbying
efforts geared toward favorable legislation. According to the Post, the former Washington insiders on big pharma's payroll include such strange bedfellows as Max Baucus and Richard Armey. Baucus recently presented a health care plan to the Senate Finance Committee. Armey recently spoke at the September 12 "tea party" rally touting libertarian themes of smaller government and individual liberty.
Armey is also chairman of Freedom Works, a self proclaimed "grassroots" organization which purports to be "leading the fight for lower taxes, less government and more freedom." In a recent article on the Freedom Works site, Jim Meyers of NewsMax.com quotes Armey calling Obamacare "ruthless" toward health care patients and naming Sarah Palin as the preferred Republican candidate. However, OpenSecrets.org shows Armey as employed by Medicines Company in lobbying efforts. The company's website explains that its lobbying efforts "relate solely to a change in the U.S. patent laws to enable more research, innovation and cost saving in health care." This statement was made in response to reports that the company had hired lobbyists to oppose the Obama administration's health care reform and to disrupt debate. Medicines Company denied the allegation.
The Open Secrets article does explain that the trade group, Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturing of America (PhRMA) opposes a federally administered public health care option and supports expansion of private health insurance and federal subsidies. It would seem that the pharmaceutical industry is poised to win regardless of the final outcome.
At the heart of the issue is the merger of big corporations and government. At some point in the political process, the crossing of the line between belonging to a corporation and being involved in determining legislation constitutes at best, a conflict of interest and at worst, fraud. The government would have us believe that regulation is the answer to corporate abuse. However, it appears that, more often than not, the two entities conspire together to abuse the public. This can only result in the loss of freedom.
Because of lobbying efforts by the oil industry, alternative fuels are not discovered and implemented. As a result of financial pressure and manipulation from the pharmaceutical industry, natural treatments and homeopathic medicine is hindered and underdeveloped. Corporate influence by the food industries results in the corporate takeover of agriculture which reduces the quality and nutrition of food products. Many mistakenly blame this on capitalism. However, the blame is to be placed on corpora-political mergers, also known as economic fascism. This is a disease with which our nation, as well as the entire globe, is now deathly ill.
The eradication of this disease can only come from social entrepreneurs whose reward comes in serving mankind. Those who are willing to work tirelessly and effortlessly without the recognition of Nobel prizes or financial incentives, simply for the intrinsic reward of having done the right thing. However, these liberators will need to be able to educate the people and engage their own sense of survival. For it is only from the people that the power to overthrow this tyrant can be obtained.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
