Harry, I wonder if they all view us with contempt?
arthur, I keep seeing that old bumper sticker "don't vote, it only encourages them." -----Original Message----- From: Harry Pollard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 2:06 PM To: Cordell, Arthur: ECOM; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Shower (was globalizing and privatizing R and D) Arthur, This kind of insertion of odd bits into a "Massive Bill" is done probably everyday in congress. As the pharmas have a lobbyist for every two congressmen, I would suspect that provisions of benefit to the pharmaceutical industry would receive priority from those sucking at the tit. It amazes me that no-one knows how it came to be in the Homeland Security Bill. Of course, it should have been buried in the body of the bill, where it wouldn't be noticed. Henry Waxman made political capital out of it by writing a letter. Why did he not propose an amendment taking out the two paragraphs? (Probably because he didn't know they were there until after the bill was passed. Do we really think those clowns read analytically the 475 pages?) One possible reason is that he - along with the rest of congress use this method to get their own particular bits of pork passed. One cannot criticize the method. It would be shooting oneself in the foot. Of course to insert the bits of pork requires agreement of the leaders, and that's one of the ways the party leaders keep control of their flock (both Republicans and Democrats). So, the two paragraphs are viewed with alarm, condemned as privilege, the subject of political speeches, but they will remain as the law. Yep, Arthur, it's the raw exercise of power linked to the self interest of these servants of the people. I wonder if they all view us with contempt? Harry ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arthur wrote: >The raw exercise of power in Washington paid off for Lilly. Chris, you are >probably right. > >====================================================== > > > >A Homeland Security Whodunit >In Massive Bill, Someone Buried a Clause to Benefit Drug Maker Eli Lilly > > > > Budget director Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., a former Lilly executive, denies >having any role in language involving Lilly product Thimerosal. (File Photo/ >Michael Bunch -- AP) > >_ > >By Jonathan Weisman >Washington Post Staff Writer >Thursday, November 28, 2002; Page A45 > > >It amounted to only two paragraphs at the end of a 475-page bill to create >the Department of Homeland Security. But the brief provision -- designed to >shield vaccine makers such as Eli Lilly and Co. from lawsuits seeking >billions of dollars for families of autistic children -- has generated a >whirlwind of controversy and a mystery as to its origin. > >The paragraphs appeared just days before the House was to vote on the >legislation. House Republicans rammed the bill through during Congress's >"lame duck session" and sent it to the Senate, where Democrats, demoralized >by the Nov. 5 election results, could not to stop it. > >And so, with little debate, Congress granted broad legal protection to the >makers of Thimerosal, a preservative in childhood vaccines that has been >circumstantially linked to rising rates of autism and pediatric >developmental problems. It seemed a lobbying coup for Lilly and its allies. >Yet, strange to say in Washington, no one seems to want to take credit. > >Pharmaceutical lobbyists, Eli Lilly representatives and lawmakers with the >most knowledge of the Thimerosal issue have denied any role in the >provision's last-minute appearance. Now, White House budget director >Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., a former Lilly executive, is the latest person to >formally deny a part. He did so in a sharply worded response to an >accusatory letter by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.). > >Daniels said the provision was not approved or developed by the White House >Office of Management and Budget, adding: > >"I also want to make clear that I personally had no involvement whatsoever >with these provisions. I spoke to no one about these provisions, either >inside the administration or outside the administration. . . . I did not >have any communications with anyone from Eli Lilly regarding the issue. >Indeed, I had not even heard of Thimerosal until I received your letter, >which is not surprising because Eli Lilly stopped making Thimerosal a decade >before I began working there and the lawsuits appear to have been filed >after I left." > >Since the provision's appearance, some Democrats and trial lawyers have >charged that it represented a timely payback for the pharmaceutical >industry's financial support in the midterm elections. "President Bush and >conservative Republicans are going to give the pharmaceutical companies >whatever they ask for," said Michael Williams, an Oregon lawyer who >represents several families of autistic children and believes billions of >dollars could be at stake. > >Under the provision, a raft of Thimerosal lawsuits will be redirected from >state courts to the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which caps >damages and sharply limits who can file suits against vaccine makers. >Proponents say the provision merely closes a loophole, which had been >exploited by trial lawyers claiming that Thimerosal was a vaccine >"contaminant" not subject to existing legal regulations. If action was not >taken, advocates say, the lawsuits could have driven vaccine makers out of >business. > >The provision was drafted more than a year ago by Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) >as part of a broader bill to revise the vaccine program. That bill, which >Frist had hoped to begin action on next year, includes measures favoring >plaintiffs as well as manufacturers. It would raise the cap on damages, >extend the statute of limitations for filing suit and allow the parents of >autistic children to sue on their behalf. > >An aide to retiring House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.) said >Armey's staff put the Thimerosal provision in with no prodding from the >pharmaceutical industry or the White House. > >But several corporate lobbyists said that is not credible. Whoever was >responsible had to have detailed knowledge of the legal issues, had to know >Frist had drafted the larger bill, and had to understand exactly which >provision applied to Thimerosal because the brand name does not appear in >the text. Two sources said an official at the Department of Health and Human >Services gave the final approval, a statement that HHS spokesman Bill Pierce >adamantly denied. > >What is clear is that as recently as two months ago, lobbyists for Lilly and >other drug makers were on Capitol Hill trying to get the entire Frist >vaccine bill inserted into the homeland security legislation. But, the >lobbyists said, they were as surprised as anyone when the two-paragraph item >was included. > >One senior Republican Senate aide said a member of Frist's staff received a >call just days before the House passed the homeland security bill, saying he >had heard a rumor that the Thimerosal provision was included. The Frist aide >said the lobbyist was confusing that provision with another measure to >protect makers of smallpox vaccines. The next day, the aide said, Frist's >staff found the Thimerosal provision in the bill as they scanned it in the >Senate cloakroom. > >"We don't know how it became part of the House bill," said Rob Smith, a >Lilly spokesman. "We didn't know it was part of the bill, and it was a >surprise to us." > >The provision could be the lobbying coup of the 107th Congress. A series of >ongoing academic studies should be able to conclude within the next three >years whether Thimerosal, a mercury-based additive, can be scientifically >linked to an upswing in autism, Williams said. Absent the two-paragraph >provision, such a conclusion could open the legal floodgates. > >Yet corporate lobbyists who might be expected to crow about saving their >clients potentially billions of dollars have stayed mum. That may be in part >because the deed was done rather clumsily, one lobbyist said. The provision >was not even hidden. Instead, it was simply tacked on at the end of the >bill. That has brought down a wave of unwanted publicity on vaccine makers, >especially Lilly, the inventor of Thimerosal. > >"They didn't even make an effort to be clever about it," the lobbyist said. > > >© 2002 The Washington Post Company ****************************** Harry Pollard Henry George School of LA Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (818) 352-4141 Fax: (818) 353-2242 ******************************* _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
