AIDS activist says Bernie attacked him personally

[Tavarious Jackson]

Explained here on his facebook and Twitter

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209785927224369&set=a.1191034335491.2028973.1217362611&type=3&theater

https://twitter.com/peterstaley/status/736396087850860544

Please read peoples posts and lets discuss.

What do you think about what he is doing?

[Bonobo]

1. You started the OP, so what do YOU think? nt

[SpareribSP]

2. Does seem that someone on the Bernie campaign may have

Last edited Sat May 28, 2016, 06:03 AM - Edit history (1)

dropped the ball here. Seems like the AIDS activist is worried that lowering costs of the drug will produce a shortage? Seems like there was a misunderstanding and might have been mishandled by some Bernie people as they got overly defensive. Hope they can patch it up and people explain it better, because the argument seems complicated on both sides.

Edit: Seems like on re-reading and learning more there are some issues with the story here, and the Bernie side is better than I initially thought.

[Tavarious Jackson]

3. They accuse the activist of being " bought and paid"

A few days ago the Sanders campaign announced they had an endorsement from this group. It was a public announcement on their website. The group says they never endorsed Bernie and asked the campaign to take down the info from the website. If you look at his facebook a couple of days ago you will see.

[Scootaloo]

27. "His kind"?

Keep blasting that dog sousaphone there, Clinton supporters.

[jberryhill]

37. I believe the poster meant "Jews"

[Scootaloo]

38. What a keen grasp of the subtle you have!

[Ash_F]

39. How would it cause a shortage? Does the drug not require a prescription?

Where did you read this?

I did not see an explanation on Mr. Staley's facebook or twitter, though at least one person asked him directly.

[SpareribSP]

40. I saw it in a comment, not sure if that's the official reason, but it's

the only one that even sort of made sense, even though it kind of didn't. It bugs me that it wasn't explained further, because I think everyone in general things that further access to generics (which the bill covers) makes sense.

[Ash_F]

42. OK since I posted that I did some reading on Mr. Staley

And he did indeed receive funding from several pharmaceutical companies, including the one mentioned.

It appears his website lead people to their medications.

That does not mean he is a bad guy, but he really should explain why he is against the bill.

http://www.stoppharmagreed.com/motivesopponents/

[SpareribSP]

44. Yep, reading more, I don't think he's explained his reasoning at all

I should have read a bit more before commenting!

[Ash_F]

47. This is a story in itself though, wow.

Last edited Sat May 28, 2016, 07:15 AM - Edit history (1)

I have been told by other activists about how corporations will attempt to "co-opt the movement".


So this is it in action.

[SpareribSP]

6. Oh huh, I didn't realize all this

Cheers. I didn't quite understand why Staley was worried about the price reductions because it wasn't totally spelled out, and it does bring it into question a bit.

[Tavarious Jackson]

9. I never in my life seen a presidential campaign respond in such a rude way have you?

Someone should be either fired or have a mental exam.

[Tavarious Jackson]

7. This is totally inappropriate way to respond don't you think?

[Tavarious Jackson]

12. Why do you say the group lied?

[Tavarious Jackson]

14. My fault. I apologize I used wrong words.

Here is the story

Bernie Sanders meets with AIDS activists in California, issues misleading press release backing a CA drug-pricing initiative that many AIDS activists oppose; implies (emphasis on *implies* - read the press release, which is linked below) (or maybe, "creates the impression&quot that the prime business of the meeting with AIDS activists was to rally around the dodgy bill

A lot of backstory:

So there's an initiative on the California ballot next November, The California Drug Price Relief Act, whose ostensible purpose is to lower the price of prescription drugs for CA citizens.

It "was designed to restrict the amount that any state agency could pay for drugs, tying it to the price paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs" (https://ballotpedia.org/California_Drug_Price_Relief_Initia…).

(The Veterans Dept "is widely cited as paying the lowest prices in the nation" (http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/…/…/20160417/NEWS/160419778) [Subsequent quotes from this article marked "Santa Cruz"]).

http://americablog.com/2016/05/aids-activists-blast-sanders-lying-meeting.html

[SpareribSP]

41. So what is the problem exactly?

[Tavarious Jackson]

43. Bernie pushing his super pac posted misleading info on his website..

AIDS advocates requested he take it down..

[SpareribSP]

45. Not that part

The part where Bernie shouldn't be pursuing the ballot measure was never explained.

[Tavarious Jackson]

15. Bernie wants that law passed and the activist

disagree with it. They met with Bernie to try to change his mind about it but no go. I see it's Bernie's superpac.

National Nurses United

[Tavarious Jackson]

17. Are we sure all those groups agree with it?

Seems like groups are getting added to the list who do not actually back it.

[akbacchus_BC]

8. Another BS post!

Waste of time to argue with you!

[Live and Learn]

10. Keep trying. nt

[senz]

18. There is nothing wrong with the Bernie campaign response.

It's actually very good.

[barrow-wight]

19. Just read through it all.

Yes, the Bernie campaign press release absolutely gave off the vibe that he was there pushing for the bill in question and it also gave off the vibe that it was something everyone was onboard with. The activists' response letter was justified if, as they say, they were not onboard with this bill for whatever reason. Moreover, the response from the policy person on Bernie's campaign was so unbelievably rude and personal that I can't believe people aren't more outraged. This campaign is an embarrassment.

[Tavarious Jackson]

20. Does Bernie's superpac have something to do with this?

[barrow-wight]

22. I'm not sure.

The person that responded to Peter is part of the campaign. I've been clicking through some of the tweets and other posts. I really wish the Bern would just Bern out. He's determined to turn into a total freak all the way down his long fall.

[Tavarious Jackson]

23. It is his super pac

National Nurses United is a Bernie superpac. Quid Pro Quo a le fiou'

[Ash_F]

21. I am not really clear why Mr. Staley is not in favor of the ballot measure

Can anyone explain or have a link?

PS - I did read the letter but it is not in there.

[Tavarious Jackson]

25. This is a good place to start

https://twitter.com/peterstaley

[Ash_F]

28. Do you know?

[Tavarious Jackson]

29. About Bernie pushing his superpac?

[Ash_F]

30. About why he's is against the ballot measure.

[Tavarious Jackson]

32. Bernie?

I suppose he will have some excuse sure.

[Ash_F]

33. No, Peter Staley!

Sanders is for the measure.

Do you read the articles you post?

[Tavarious Jackson]

34. Yes.

I thought you meant Bernie was against Staley's measure.

[Ash_F]

35. Staley does not have a measure

Why is Mr. Staley against the California ballot measure?

[ljm2002]

84. Muddy the waters...

...rinse, lather, repeat...

Pfffft.

[Jack Bone]

31. Welcome to DU!!

[joshcryer]

48. There are concerns in the AIDS activist community about it.

The main thing was that there is not yet a consensus with all the AIDS activists groups within CA and that basically, my interpretation, Sanders mislead with his endorsement of the initiative, implying that the May 25th meeting had agreed to support it.

Their concerns mainly question how the act will effect Medi-cal

http://www.projectinform.org/hiv-policy/concerns-about-the-california-drug-price-relief-act-initiative-15-0009/

What they seem to be pissed off about is that they got leapfrogged and dumped from the stakes. They want to be at the table.

[Ash_F]

50. I recommend you look into where project inform's money comes from

I just learned.

[joshcryer]

55. Link?

[Ash_F]

58. This goes into some detail

http://www.stoppharmagreed.com/motivesopponents/

[joshcryer]

67. Wow, oh my god, Merik gave them $25k in 2013!

That only covers fucking 2.5% of the AIDS Walk. Fucking criminal big pharma companies. I don't know how they sleep at night taking $50k from Chevron. Their people working to raise money for, you know, fucking promotional events for HIV/AIDS education are scum of the earth. Managing to get a grant from Gilead Sciences, of almost 300k, my god, those shills. Who would've thought the worlds leading HIV and Hep A-C pharmaceutical would dare give them money. Fuck that, it doesn't even cover a third of the annual AIDS walk. Why take it!

[Ash_F]

69. The report notes 4.4 million over a six year period

That's about 733k a year

[joshcryer]

70. That's from all "pharma" sources.

So you get a grant from Merck because they have some outreach program that they are giving to outreach non-profits, you automatically are considered a shill for big pharma.

They averaged about 200k from Gilead Sciences, which, again, doesn't even cover the cost of the annual AIDS walk.

[Ash_F]

71. There is such a thing as organized money

4.4 million is a lot of organized money.

There seems to be a lot more organizations that are for the bill.

[joshcryer]

73. They got like a dozen or so employees. In San Fransisco.

This is beyond ludicrous.

[Ash_F]

75. 25% of their budget in 2014, according to the report

36% in 2013

That would be tough to replace.

I wonder what it will be in 2016?

[Ash_F]

51. PS - Why do they always have Orwellian names?

[joshcryer]

60. Um, Project Inform was founded by Martin Delaney.

As an HIV/AIDS advocacy group, since back in the 80s it was considered a death sentence and no one should do anything for it.

[Ash_F]

63. Maybe they started with good intentions but their money comes from Pharma now.

I am still not seeing a cogent argument against this bill.

[joshcryer]

68. If the money from pharma can't even cover the annual AIDS walk...

...that doesn't make me dismiss their concerns outright. I read their concerns about how it would affect Medi-Cal and I think that they should at least have a say in how it is implemented so that those services don't go away. In particular, I think there should be guarantees about cost savings.

[libtodeath]

36. Tired of looking silly yet?

[bvf]

46. Tempurious Johnson does not know the meaning

of "looking silly."

Really. Literally doesn't know what those particular words mean.

[QC]

87. Clearly not. n/t

[joshcryer]

49. Tying Peter Staley to Gilead Sciences is absolutely absurd.

What were they thinking.

[Ash_F]

53. They nailed it

https://web.archive.org/web/20050210084542/http://www.aidsmeds.com/

[joshcryer]

57. Yeah, he's rolling in the dough from Gilead Sciences money.

What an absurd attempt to smear him.

[Ash_F]

59. It appears to have been his only source of income for the last 16 years

And it was not just Gilead but several companies.

[joshcryer]

62. Selling AIDS drugs. What a criminal!

Fucking pharmas and their HIV/AIDS treatments. Did you know big pharma makes hundreds of millions of dollars?

Why don't you go read Peter's downright apocalyptic anger at Gilead Sciences for their shady shit.

He was a third party to this and it's total garbage to tie him to shady business practices of big pharma as a whole. Downright nasty. You should be ashamed.

[Ash_F]

65. You don't see a conflict of interest?

I read the Project Inform page. It is not a good argument.

Maybe Staley had a falling out with Gilead since back then. If that is the case, it does not serve well to point to their front organization and say that is his argument.

But it looks like he was cooperating with Project Inform? Maybe he does not know they get money from Gilead?

I feel like he would know.

[joshcryer]

72. You dismissed it before you read it.

And you know you did. You're not coming here with good faith, you looked for the answer as to why something was bad before you even took the effort to read it. And now you're arguing in circles about how terrible these activists are for taking grant money that is going to go to someone because it's in big business' interest to do outreach shit. I mean, fuck, Wallgreens, they gave Project Inform some money, likely right out of their local outreach grants. Probably to pay off their rich pharmacy guys or something.

Staley resold Gilead's drugs. His "connection" is tenuous at best. He's pissed off with Gilead for selling a $40,000 drug here but the same drug, which they manufacture, is sold for $400 overseas. You're not going to get him agreeing with Gilead's shady business practices.

[Ash_F]

85. No, I read Project inform's page before you linked it.

And before I found out who funds it. You know what they say about assumptions.

Their bullet points are vague and convoluted.

There are many, many organizations that support this law.


As for Mr. Staley, only he can speak for himself. He has not really touched on why he is against it. I checked his facebook and twitter.

I wonder where Clinton stands on the measure?

[Ash_F]

86. PS - I don't know that Staley resold Gilead's medication

Maybe you saw that somewhere I did not.

His website said they were his "sponsor". There is a distinction there that is important.

[ucrdem]

52. Strange story but there was a post from a disability activity that said much the same thing

They completely ignored her:

https://shiksappeal.wordpress.com/2016/05/18/berned-by-bernie-sanders/

[Ash_F]

56. It is not strange

http://www.stoppharmagreed.com/motivesopponents/

The guy has been paid by the pharmaceutical companies for at least 16 years.

Makes perfect sense when you think about it.

[lunamagica]

90. This post (and the article included) deserves it's own thread

[Tavarious Jackson]

61. There is so much information to unravel

but the unraveling begins.

[sufrommich]

54. The Sanders campaign has become a cult.

The political version of Scientology,every dissenter who's suspected of disloyalty to Sanders needs to be brought down and accused of working for the enemy. What a way to go out.

[ucrdem]

64. Nailed it.

There are other campaigns that have used similarly divisive tactics and rhetoric to try to accomplish hostile takeovers of left-wing third parties but this is the first one I'm aware of that's tried to hustle the Democratic party.

[Ash_F]

66. No, Project Inform is a front company for Pharma

Read this

http://www.stoppharmagreed.com/motivesopponents/

Follow the money

[joshcryer]

74. Yeah, when you start calling HIV/AIDS activists shills for big pharma...

...you've lost the fucking way. It's beyond absurd.

[Jester Messiah]

76. Why do Brockoloids posting tabloid bullshit always have post counts in the 300's?

Just something I've noticed; they seem to start their shit somewhere around post 360. Something in the standard operations manual that says build up to around that level before beginning troll ops?

[Tavarious Jackson]

77. Please take a good look at the information

You will see the fall from grace.

[Jester Messiah]

78. What I see is an easily recognizable pattern

And a shill.

[sufrommich]

79. Of course you do,Sanders is always right.

And anyone who disagrees is a paid shill.

[QC]

89. And most of them joined in mid-April. Hmmm.

What story hit the political news in mid-April?

Oh yeah, this one.

[Buddyblazon]

80. You can add a star...it doesn't make your presence...

any less dubious.

Just cuz you stick a feather up your butt it doesn't make you a chicken.

[islandmkl]

81. further proof that it is becoming more and more impossible to cross the pasture here

on DU without stepping in bullshit...

all the posts that refute your premise and intended smear are not answered with anything but more bullshit and obfuscation...

you are working it hard, i'll give you that...

[Tavarious Jackson]

82. I want to know your thoughts on this?

Do you think it's presidential to respond like this?

[angstlessk]

83. Hell yes! Did you see Vicente Fox's response to the trump wall?

Former Mexican president Vicente Fox is fiercely opposed to his country paying for the massive wall that Donald Trump wants to build on the border between their two countries, saying in an interview that Trump is "a crazy guy" and "a false prophet" who should not be elected president.

"I'm not going to pay for that f------ wall," Fox said in an interview with Fusion's Jorge Ramos that was posted online Thursday afternoon. "He should pay for it. He's got the money."

AND he WAS a popular president of Mexico.

[chascarrillo]

88. Member since: Mon May 16, 2016, 10:02 PM