Booker & ALL Democrats Voted For WYDEN Amendment. Sanders Bill Didn't Do Enough

[KittyWampus]

Last edited Sun Jan 15, 2017, 12:30 PM - Edit history (1)

So I took some time to read through a thread on Dailykos about Sanders' bill to understand the outrage against Booker. It turns out that Klobucher/Sanders' Bill wasn't the only Amendment. Wyden also had an Amendment that all Democrats voted for, including Booker.

I am quoting a poster on Dailykos who got to the heart of the matter, Pentathera. It seems to me that some on the Left are just reflexively attacking Booker and a few other Democrats without even knowing the full story.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/1/13/1620234/-So-the-LEFT-is-outraged-over-votes-against-Klobuchar-Amendment-What-about-the-Wyden-s

From Dailykos poster Pentathera:

Klobuchar’s unbinding amendment to the non-binding Congressional budget resolution, would have done nothing to assure that US citizens could purchase cheaper drugs from Canada. A separate bill would be required for that to happen.

Wyden’s amendment, on the other hand, had it passed, would have prevented any healthcare initiative that did not lower drug prices as part of the initiative from being passed in the Senate without a 60 vote majority. It would have actually accomplished something by making it harder for the repeal of the ACA to happen, and also would have made it much more likely that any initiative would have had to actually lower drug prices IN THIS COUNTRY in order to pass.

All Democrats voted for Wyden’s amendment. Some Democrats were concerned about the safety issue with online drug purchases from Canada. There are also other possible problems with the effort to allow Americans to buy Canadian drugs. Will it negatively effect the supply of drugs in Canada, which has a much smaller population than the US? While Canada has price controls on drugs sold in Canada, would that prohibit Canadian pharmacies from selling drugs to US citizens above those prices. My guess would be not. They could sell for whatever the market would bear in the US, unrestricted by the law in regards to the price for Canadian sales. Thus any bill could potentially have a safety issue due to online sales, plus possibly negatively impact the supply of drugs to Canadians while not producing a significant savings for Americans.

Wyden’s amendment would have tackled the issue of high drug prices in the US, rather than attempting to bypass the problem by allowing Canadian imports. So why are people attacking Senate Dems for disagreements with the Klobuchar amendment when they were unanimous in supporting the Wyden amendment which was much more important and tackled the problem head on? I really wish people would do the research for themselves instead of just blindly believing the latest phony outrage, regardless of who is promoting it.

[barbtries]

1. we need to protect ourselves

from knee-jerk reactions. i really like Cory Booker and i'm sure he's no more perfect than any of us, but i read somewhere that there was a reason for his vote. thank you for posting the details.

[yardwork]

2. It's pure racism to attack Booker. And Russian propaganda.

[George II]

9. Notice how there were a dozen or so Democrats who voted the way Booker voted, and yet....

....he's the one who has been singled out for attack?

I think you nailed it!

Also, no one really wants to get into the guts of the amendment or Booker's stated reasons for his vote.

[yardwork]

10. The Russians are already tearing down Booker.

The sheep will be told not to support Booker or any Democrat who emerges as a leader. We must have no leaders! All Democrats are just as bad as Trump! Say it in Russian!

[nini]

17. hmmmmm

I never thought of that angle and quite honestly it makes sense in the current political climate.

[ananda]

28. Oh, pleeze..

It's not an attack to criticize a Dem for not voting
against big pharma. Period.

[George II]

43. Why is it 13 Democratic Senators voted against the amendment, but only one has been singled out?

[Wounded Bear]

3. I had my suspicions that there was something more...

It is so easy to just react, knee-jerk, to things before we know the back story. I don't feel quite so bad about my Senators now.

[yardwork]

4. For God's sake don't give in to this horrible propaganda!

[uponit7771]

5. See....I said I'll wait... LPC bashing dems.... fuck that

[radical noodle]

6. It seems it's always easy for some

to blame the black guy. Thanks for this.

[yardwork]

11. Bingo.

[BlueMTexpat]

7. Thanks for posting this.

[George II]

8. So it was Klobuchar's amendment that Sanders merely signed onto, as he's wont to do!

[KittyWampus]

16. Yes, that was another point I hadn't gotten from the ranting on DU.

[hollowdweller]

12. I totally understand why he voted the way he did

I don't blame him either. He was just voting for the people in his district, just like Clinton did with her Wall Street and Iraq War votes.

He's a good dem otherwise and there's not really any reason to demonize him over the other ones that took big amounts of money from the pharmaceutical industry.

However, just like Clinton, I don't really think after this he should be our parties next presidential candidate.

I mean unless he spearheads some sort of a measure to lower drug prices and gets it passed, the contrast between Trump saying pharmaceutical companies make too much money and have too much influence, and Booker being beholding to them is not one I want to see played out in 2020.

[pnwmom]

19. The issue isn't blaming Sanders. The issue is that people used this to attack Booker. n/t

[hollowdweller]

49. I wasn't talking about Sanders

I was saying I understand why Booker voted for it. I think it's totally understandable.

I don't think it makes him less of a democrat I just think it renders him ineligible to be a democratic candidate for president because we don't want to be seen as being in the pocket of the drug companies. He IS in the pocket of the drug companies but I don't hold it against him.

[pnwmom]

50. No, it doesn't. He was one of the Senators who voted FOR Wyden's amendment,

which would have more effectively lowered drug prices. He isn't in the pocket of drug companies, who strongly opposed Wyden's amendment.

[rogue emissary]

13. It's interesting that this is first post to link to the bill's language.

I've defended Booker on this issue and not one person would say why the Wyden bill was worst.

It boils down to he's a rising star. I have no problem criticizing a politician but I'm not going to do it without facts or just because my tribe says so.

[nini]

14. It doesn't matter

He crossed the savior - he will never be forgiven.

[mcar]

15. Funny how some singled out Booker for criticism

[George II]

18. Yes. I wonder why? Here are the Democratic Senators that voted against it:

Donnelly (D-IN)
Risch (R-ID)
Bennet (D-CO)
Booker (D-NJ)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Casey (D-PA)
Tester (D-MT)
Coons (D-DE)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murray (D-WA)
Warner (D-VA)

Note any "trend"?

And here's a typical article that came out after the vote, as though HE was the only one!!

Cory Booker Joins Senate Republicans to Kill Measure to Import Cheaper Medicine From Canada*

https://theintercept.com/2017/01/12/cory-booker-joins-senate-republicans-to-kill-measure-to-import-cheaper-medicine-from-canada/

*(not vouching for the motives of "The Intercept", just pointing out the abject racism in this whole situation)

[Bradical79]

42. Why wouldn't he be singled out?

Are we going to pretend that his profile didn't skyrocket after the convention, and that he hasn't had a lot of buzz about being the next POTUS candidate for the party?

[panader0]

20. But I've read all over DU that it wasn't Sanders' bill.

It was Amy Kobuchar's bill and Bernie was only a co-sponsor.
Weird huh?
The Kobuchar bill didn't do enough.

[KittyWampus]

21. The vast majority of posting gave impression it was Sanders' legislation

that Booker voted against and nothing else was voted on regarding this same topic.

Here a few headlines I found searching for this topic:

Big Pharma-Backed Dems Join GOP to Block Sanders Effort to End Drug Price Gouging
Cory Booker and 12 Other Dems Just Stopped Bernie Sanders’ Amendment to Lower Prescription Drug Costs
Bernie Sanders Shreds Fellow Democrats Who Voted with Big Pharma

OH! And look what I found on Sanders' own freaking website, he doesn't even MENTION Klobucher:

Senate to Vote on Sanders Amendment to Lower Rx Prices
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-to-vote-on-sanders-amendment-to-lower-rx-prices

[panader0]

23. Hard to have it both ways.

If you hate Bernie, it's his failed bill. Not hers. After all, we have learned here
that Bernie doesn't sponsor bills....

[KittyWampus]

24. No comment on the FACT Sanders doesn't even mention Klobucher on his website?

And the commentary on Sanders is on how few of his legislative attempts have succeeded.

It's called "Grandstanding".

I'm not the one trying to have things both ways here.

[George II]

29. Not the first time he's done that.

[Fresh_Start]

22. The disruptors are still at work

it wasn't enough to fill the election season with propaganda. They are doubly down to increase the power of Trump and the GOP

[otohara]

25. Phony Outrage - Regardless of Who Is Promoting It.

Hmmmm....who is this who?

Bernie Sanders that's who!

[dlk]

26. Sweat Allergy and Exercising the Muscle Between the Ears

Some people are allergic to sweat and that includes exercising the muscle between their ears. Since we live in an age where so much of the "news" is merely infotainment, and facts are incomplete, skewed, if not completely missing, it takes intention and effort to research the numerous sources required in order to learn the actual facts of a given situation. Too many people don't want to be bothered.

[frazzled]

27. Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act in the Senate and House

These are full, stand-alone bills dealing with the issue--not amendments to budget acts--and have been introduced by bipartisan lawmakers in the Senate and House (identical bills) for several years. The Senate bill was re-introduced again on January 9 (I think that's what's done if a bill got stuck in committee in the previous Congress).

May 05, 2015

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John McCain (R-AZ) today applauded the introduction of the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act in the House of Representatives, identical legislation to the bipartisan bill that the Senators reintroduced this Congress. The bill, which was introduced by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), would allow individuals to safely import prescription drugs from Canada, and create major savings for consumers by bringing greater competition into the pharmaceutical market. ... Under the legislation, imported prescription drugs would have to be purchased from an approved Canadian pharmacy and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. Drugs imported under this bill would be the same dosage, form, and potency as drugs in the U.S., but at a significant savings to U.S. consumers.

http://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/2015/5/senators-klobuchar-and-mccain-applaud-introduction-of-safe-and-affordable-drugs-from-canada-act-in-house-of-representatives

Note the crazy bipartisan names on these bills: McCain-Klobuchar; Pingree-Rohrbacher (!).

But a few loudmouthed troublemakers have decided to focus on one senator (of 13) on one attempt at an amendment sneak into a budget bill. I don't remember the outrage when Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken--and Amy Klobuchar--voted against the medical device tax because of opposition from device manufacturers in their states:

In seeking to dismantle the Affordable Care Act piece by piece, congressional Republicans have placed a high priority on repealing a tax on medical devices that would raise some $29 billion over the next 10 years to help ensure that health reform will not increase the deficit. Repealing the tax is a terrible idea that has been given a veneer of respectability by support from liberal Democrats in states with large concentrations of device manufacturers. They include Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken of Minnesota and Representative Ron Kind of Wisconsin, among others. President Obama ought to veto any bill that eliminates the tax.

The health reform law imposes a modest 2.3 percent tax on sales of medical devices, to be paid by the manufacturers or importers. It applies to such products as X-ray machines, M.R.I. scanners, pacemakers and artificial hip and knee joints but not to eyeglasses, contact lenses and hearing aids. The $29 billion to be raised from the device industry is less than the amounts to be raised from insurers and drug companies, all of which will benefit from increased business under the act and should pay their fair shares of the cost. If the lost revenues from a repeal of the device tax are offset by reduced spending on other health care programs, as they might well be, many patients could suffer medical or financial harm.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/opinion/no-case-for-killing-the-medical-device-tax.html

Okay, why is this smear campaign of shocked outrage occurring over this amendment try? (especially when separate, comprehensive bipartisan bills in the Senate and House are still in play?). Is it because it's easier to pick off the only black Democratic senator? Was his vote here any worse than those of Warren, Franken, and Klobuchar with respect to the medical device tax? Why weren't they called vile corporatists, and "the reason why Democrats lose"?

We all need to be on guard against these uninformed, narrow jeremiads that try to selectively target individual legislators. They are not coming from the right places.

[FairWinds]

30. This is an utterly bogus set of arguments . .

People in our area regularly go to Canada when they can to buy affordable meds.

The points raised below are from the Reich . . and should not be used to support any Dem, including Booker.

"potentially have a safety issue . ." Bull puckey !!!

All Democrats voted for Wyden’s amendment. Some Democrats were concerned about the safety issue with online drug purchases from Canada. There are also other possible problems with the effort to allow Americans to buy Canadian drugs. Will it negatively effect the supply of drugs in Canada, which has a much smaller population than the US? While Canada has price controls on drugs sold in Canada, would that prohibit Canadian pharmacies from selling drugs to US citizens above those prices. My guess would be not. They could sell for whatever the market would bear in the US, unrestricted by the law in regards to the price for Canadian sales. Thus any bill could potentially have a safety issue due to online sales, plus possibly negatively impact the supply of drugs to Canadians while not producing a significant savings for Americans.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

31. Thank you for posting! Im seeing differing opinions...

Saving to read later.

[Hoyt]

32. Just like GOPers, many folks don't take the time to research these things.

[Renew Deal]

33. Heretic! Burn the witch!!!

[Womyns Rights]

34. Thanks for the info

[FairWinds]

35. Doesn't Booker also support charter schools . . ?

and joined with Betsy DeVos to do so?

How much progressive support will that attract? Any at all?

(Not to single Booker out here - many other Dems are also rotten on this issue)

https://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/cory-booker-is-no-friend-to-public-educaton/

[Ligyron]

39. Wow, that article is dynamite if true.

[KittyWampus]

48. #1. That changes the subject. #2. Many liberals support Charter Schools

but want them subjected to standards and regulation.

[QC]

59. He also attacked Pres. Obama for criticizing the vulture capital racket.

On Meet the Press, Booker called criticizing Romney’s time at Bain “ridiculous” and “nauseating.” He also equated criticisms of Romney’s buisness record with racially charged attacks against Obama centered around Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

https://thinkprogress.org/newark-mayor-cory-booker-defends-bain-capital-attacks-obama-campaign-ddbfa660b397#.h5xwniclk

[SidDithers]

36. DU rec...nt

Sid

[oasis]

37. K and R because facts can be a DUer's best friend. (eom)

[Uponthegears]

38. More Bernie (and Bernie supporter) bashing tripe

with a good measure of "Bernie is a racist" thrown in.

Is it wrong to attack Corey as a corporate sell out? . . . ABSOLUTELY

As I mentioned on another string, Corey's testimony against that racist piece of walking dog shit, Jeff Sessions, was nothing short of inspiring and eloquent and his stand against capital punishment when a significant number of his middle-of-the-road New Jersey supporters support it is nothing less that courageous. I would vote for him once a day during the week and twice on Sundays for these reasons alone.

BUT the so-called "safety provisions" in the Wyden Bill forced re-imported drugs (drugs developed, approved, tested and manufactured right alongside drugs sold in the United States before they are exported to foreign markets) to go through the exact same expensive and time-consuming approval and testing procedures THE HAVE ALREADY COMPLETED before they are returned to US markets. Moreover, these provisions would do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to decrease the danger posed by counterfeit drugs because such drugs are already being brought into the country in complete violation of EXISTING laws. In other words, the Wyden Bill did NOTHING to protect American consumers and at least partially defeated the purpose of allowing re-importation in the first place by increasing the costs of such drugs.

But hey, what the heck, why talk about something like FACTS when you have an opportunity to lump everyone who criticized Corey's vote IN THIS SINGLE INCIDENT in with a handful of posing RWNJs and ignoramuses who are using it to smear his overall record?

[Z_California]

40. I guess "Perfect is the enemy of good" then right?

Like, I'm sure the PERFECT bill that all of the Pharma Democrats wanted will be right around the corner now any day.

WAKE UP!!! How NAIVE and IGNORANT are you?

Here's how it works. The Pharma lobbyists figure out who needs to fall on their sword to get the numbers they need. Certain Repubs are given a pass then they call in their chits with the other side to make sure the bill doesn't pass. Then the "defectors" come up with some bullshit excuse "Oh the dangerous drugs coming in from Canada and Europe may kill us".

Cory Booker is being singled out OBVIOUSLY because he's the name establishment Dems keep floating for 2020. Probably because they are looking for similar results.

STOP BEING WILLFULLY IGNORANT. THIS IS WHY HILLARY LOST. DEMS DON'T WALK THEIR TALK, THEY SELL OUT.

[lamp_shade]

41. Thank you, Kitty. I'm a cspan junkie and although this doesn't happen often...

... it does happen occasionally. Dems will vote down one Dem amendment in favor of a similar but better one. The first time I watched this happen I was like WTF? but only until I came to understand why.

[uponit7771]

44. +1, time we stop giving DEM bashing the benefit of the doubt !!!

[lamp_shade]

46. I knew right away that there had to be something more to the story so I pretty much

ignored all the "bad guy" posts. Then I saw Kitty's post and it all made sense.

[Z_California]

47. It's OK that Pharma Dems killed the amendment...

...Because they voted on another amendment that ALSO DIDN'T PASS.

See how effective our leaders are?

Anyone who believes this Kabuki Theater is just dumb. Both amendments failed because of pharma $$ and everybody THOUGHT they got their political cover. It's bullshit as usual in Washington DC.

Yes, your democratic senators stabbed you in the back and no amount of political gymnastics will change that.

For those of you going "Oh, I thought there had to be a reason...." please start thinking for yourself. People in this country seem to have disavowed critical thinking.

[emulatorloo]

52. Bush and Gore are the same. (tm). Kabuki Theater (tm). False Equivalency is not "Critical Thinking"

People are gonna die when the Republicans kill the ACA.

[KittyWampus]

55. nothing like posting buzz words. Why not try to understand the facts involved instead?

[Z_California]

58. Strawman

Voted for Hillary. Never said Repubs and Dems are the same.

Corporate Dems killed a good amendment. Fact.

Paint it how you will, you're probably a paid Washington DC shill.

[emulatorloo]

61. Nah, lifelong Democratic liberal. "kabuki theater" is the tired Strawman

Bernie primary supporter here. Who claimed you didn't vote for HRC in the general? Certainly not me.

This isn't some kind of a play.

'Corporate' Democrats aren't the ones leaving 30 million people to die.

That's Trump, Ryan, McConnell and the rest of GOP.

[m-lekktor]

53. thank you. exactly.nt

[KittyWampus]

56. Exactly what? That poster didn't refute any facts and whined about both Amendments failing due to

"big pharma" but totally ignored the FACT and the POINT of this entire thread which is that Democrats ALL voted for one of the Amendments and it failed as well. Because Democrats don't have a majority.

[KittyWampus]

54. What crap. You say both amendments failed because of pharma but IGNORE DEMOCRATS ALL VOTED

For one of them.

Logic fail.

[still_one]

51. Why throw the baby out with the bath water? It was a good first step, no? The argument used by

many progressives was that it was inadequate, it should be single payer or a public option, but the reality was it was the only thing that could get through then, because the blue dogs would not have voted for single payer, and something was better than nothing

Voting for this would have been a strong statement if nothing else

The hard reality is that the ACA as we know it will be gone within a year

This also will not stop Americans from getting drugs from Canada, but it would have made a nice statement

[Lucinda]

57. Booker's explanation made sense. Some Dems have a bad, bad habit of kneejerk reactions

when it comes to congress.

[MBS]

64. I agree.

Very frustrating.

[R B Garr]

60. Thanks for this informative thread, Kitty. This unnecessary divisiveness

from Sander's propaganda has run its course.

[NCTraveler]

62. Why was Booker overwhelmingly singled out?

And deceptively so. Trump just ran a whole campaign of singling individuals out. Division.

[FairWinds]

63. Cannot believe that the 13 Dino votes are being defended . .

Here is the People's Action take . .

Thanks to Richard Eskow

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/17/booker-and-big-pharma-dems-have-no-excuse-vote-proves-it