Economy U.S Government vs. Big Pharma: Drug industry poised for rare political loss on prices

[Arkain2K]

President Trump to Issue Executive Order on Health-Care Price Transparency
By Stephanie Armour | June 20, 2019

​

President Trump plans to issue an executive order Monday to compel the disclosure of prices in health care, according to people familiar with the matter.

The order will direct federal agencies to initiate regulations and guidance that could require insurers, doctors, hospitals and others in the industry to provide information about the negotiated and often discounted cost of care, sources said.

Consumers and employers will benefit because pulling back the secrecy around the prices will allow them to shop for lower cost care and benefits, advocates say.

But industry groups including hospitals and insurers have balked at the idea, saying it could cause costs to climb if some businesses learn competitors are getting bigger discounts. They also say consumers really want to know their own out-of-pocket costs and won’t benefit from full disclosure of negotiated prices.

The executive order has the support of a number of doctors who on Thursday urged the administration to push ahead on disclosure of prices. “We, signing independently, are 3,969 physicians who make caring for patients our professional priority,” according to a letter Thursday from doctors and doctor practices to Mr. Trump and viewed by The Wall Street Journal. “We are distressed and disheartened by how America’s healthcare system is failing them.”

“I am all for it,” Maine’s independent Sen. Angus King said. “It’s an important step toward making health care a real market. I know of no other business where you have no idea what something’s going to cost, and you can’t find out even if you ask.”

The White House believes it has authority to compel disclosure under a variety of tools, including the 21st Century Cures Act and the Affordable Care Act. Insurers could be compelled to disclose prices under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Employee Retirement Income Security Act, according to people familiar with the matter.

It’s unclear how aggressive the order will be because of the pushback from industry, and some White House advisers who have urged a more measured approach, sources said.

Eighty-eight percent of voters said they favor a government initiative mandating that insurers, hospitals, doctors and other providers disclose the cost of their services and discounted or negotiated rates, according to a May survey by the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard and the Harris Poll.

The Department of Health and Human Services has also sought public comment on a proposed outpatient hospital rule regarding whether patients have a right to see the discounted prices in advance of obtaining care. That rule is expected by the end of July.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-...-care-price-transparency-11561051500?mod=e2fb

 

[IGIT]

hi Arkain2K,

A generic competitor to the EpiPen won’t cost any less than the version already on the market, despite the Trump administration touting it as a cheaper alternative.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/418463-generic-epipen-not-any-cheaper-than-existing-version

- IGIT

 

[Arkain2K]

 

[boingyman]

Good jump Trump.

 

[Arkain2K]

Big Pharma won’t like President Trump’s next move after rebate rule is abandoned
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | JUL 11 2019

Pharmaceutical companies may be in the direct path of President Donald Trump’s next big policy push to lower drug prices after the administration abandoned a proposal that would have eliminated rebates from government drug plans.

Earlier Thursday, the White House said the Trump administration had withdrawn its plan to ban rebates that drugmakers pay to pharmacy benefit managers. Drug manufacturers pay the rebates to PBMs for getting their drugs covered by Medicare’s Part D prescription plan.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Thursday morning that Trump decided to pull the proposal after concerns that it would cause insurance companies to increase premiums for seniors.

“The president is deeply committed to protecting America’s seniors,” Azar said in a news briefing in Washington, D.C. “We’re not going to put seniors at risk of their premiums going up.”

Analysts say another way Trump could make a push to lower drug prices is a proposal announced last year that would allow Medicare to create an “international pricing index ” to bring drug prices in line with what other nations pay. Pharmaceutical companies oppose the proposal. Merck CEO Ken Frazier has even said he sees a legal challenge if adopted.

Pulling the drug rebate rule “effectively puts other drug price control mechanisms back on the table, which could be worse if implemented and enforced,” said Salim Syed, senior biotech analyst at Mizuho Securities.

Ipsita Smolinski, managing director at health-care research and consulting firm Capitol Street, said the pricing index is likely the next policy announcement to come from the administration. “With rebate reform dead, more draconian policies may come with respect to biopharma ... and the markets feel that. Uncertainty is never good,” Ipsita said.

Health insurers stocks jumped Thursday on the news. Shares of UnitedHealth and Cigna closed up 5% and 9%, respectively. CVS Health, which bought insurer Aetna, ended the session up 4%.

Meanwhile, pharma stocks tanked on fears the administration’s focus would shift to drugmakers. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer closed down more than 2%. Shares of Eli Lily and Merck both ended the day down 4%.

The end of the drug rebate proposal is Trump’s second setback this week. The news comes three days after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., dealt a blow to the White House by striking down a rule that would have forced pharmaceutical companies to disclose the list price of their drugs in television ads.

The Trump administration is certainly facing difficulties in its drug price push, but it’s not a “full-on” roadblock, said Tricia Neuman, director of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Medicare policy program.

“It’s a bit too early to write the obituary,” Neuman added. “There is bipartisan support for government action in this area. Our polls show Democrats and Republicans are looking to take action.”

Trump said last week that he’s preparing an executive order declaring a “favored nations clause” for drug prices, where the U.S. will pay no more than the country with the lowest prescription drug prices. On Wednesday, the president signed an executive order designed to reform the nation’s kidney treatment industry, which could possibly save the U.S. government millions of dollars.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/11/big...ter-rebate-rule-abandoned-investors-fear.html

 

[Arkain2K]

Trump administration is drafting plan to allow US consumers to import drugs from Canada
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | July 30, 2019

President Donald Trump is working on a proposal that would allow the United States to import drugs from Canada, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told CNBC on Tuesday.

"I just got off the phone with him," Azar, who was speaking on "Squawk Box," said of Trump. "Working on a plan on how we can import drugs safely and effectively from Canada so the American people get the benefit of the deals that pharma themselves are striking with other countries."

It's unclear exactly what the proposal would look like. But Trump has previously supported a plan by U.S. lawmakers who have said they can lower high prescription drug costs by approving imports from Canada, where prices are lower.

In most circumstances, it is illegal to import medications from other countries for personal use, according to the Food and Drug Administration.The pharma industry and regulators have said importing drugs could threaten consumer safety. Supporters, including Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, say importing drugs from other countries would increase competition and substantially lower prices.

Trump, who is seeking re-election, has said he's trying to bring more transparency to drug prices and, ultimately, lower costs for consumers.

The Trump administration has had a few roadblocks in its attempt to lower drug costs. Earlier this month, the White House said it had withdrawn its plan to ban rebates that drugmakers pay to pharmacy benefit managers. That news came three days after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., dealt a blow to the Trump administration by striking down a rule that would have forced pharmaceutical companies to disclose the list price of their drugs in television ads.

Last week, the White House said it is supporting a bill from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the committee's ranking member.

If passed, that bill would make changes to Medicare, the federal government's health insurance plan for the elderly, by adding an out-of-pocket maximum for beneficiaries at $3,100 starting in 2022. It would also penalize pharmaceutical companies if the price of their drugs rise faster than inflation.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/07/30...safely-effectively-from-canada-so-the-am.html

 

[Arkain2K]

Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley Pushes Forward With Sweeping Drug Bill
By SUSAN DAVIS • AUG 9, 2019​

Back home in Iowa for the August recess, Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley is making the case in this conservative state for a sweeping drug bill, even though many in his party do not support it.

"One of the few times, if it isn't the only time, that I've been chairman of various committees that I haven't had at least a majority of Republicans on my side," Grassley conceded at a town hall meeting in Aurelia this week, but he added: "It's probably more valuable to have the president on your side."

For 39 years and counting, the Republican senator has traveled to all 99 counties in his home state every year to meet with constituents, and this year the high cost of prescription drugs has come up in nearly all of them.

It's why Iowans like Allan Yeager showed up, to hear more about plans that could help his family, where his wife has faced high out-of-pocket drug costs. "She's a severe diabetic, she had gastric bypass. When we retired she got a bonus and they were used up like that," he told NPR.

Grassley's bill to reduce seniors' out-of-pocket costs and limit drug price increases under Medicare is popular here, among dozens of older Iowans. But it was also met by skepticism by Iowans like John Comstock, who told the senator he's not convinced Congress could actually get it done. "Based on coming out of committee, with not having total Republican support, what do you feel in your gut and experience is the chances of that passing are?"

As Grassley tells it, the fact that nine of the Senate Finance Committee's 15 Republicans voted against his bill in July is a good sign for what comes next. "If you just looked at doing something in Washington with having every Republican on my side before you can move ahead, we wouldn't get much done, and it takes a lot of bipartisanship in Congress to get things done," he told the crowd.

In order to get a prescription drug bill that has a shot at overcoming a filibuster, Grassley started working with the top Democrat on the committee, Ron Wyden of Oregon, back in January. Last month, they unveiled legislation that will limit out-of-pocket costs for seniors in Medicare's Part D prescription drug program to $3,100 per year starting in 2022.

"It's going to give peace of mind to people," he said.

Grassley got it through committee over the objection of a majority of Republicans, but every Democrat voted for it. Those Republicans opposed it on free-market grounds, because the plan includes price controls on the pharmaceutical industry, limiting their ability to raise drug prices faster than the rate of inflation.

Grassley told NPR in an interview that he is unmoved by this argument and shrugged off Republicans "complaining" about it. The government will not set prices, he argues, "there's just got to be a limit to what they can increase it year over year." He knows he's unlikely to win over many opponents, especially with support from the drug industry, which opposes his bill.

"Not very often is Big Pharma taken on, and this is something they just don't like, and they've got plenty of friends in politics," he said. Grassley is facing an uphill battle against some in his own party, the powerful drug lobby, and a Senate majority leader who does not like to bring bills to the floor that divide the party on core issues like government regulation of markets.

Grassley said he's got other factors working in his favor, including 22 Republicans up for reelection in 2020. "Every one of them are asking me to do something about the high cost of prescription drugs because it's a big issue in their campaign," he said.

He's also got initial backing from President Trump. "The president wants this very bad," Grassley said.

Lowering drug costs is a top 2020 campaign priority for the Trump administration. Trump wants a win, and in order to get it, his administration has also indicated a willingness to buck party orthodoxy. It praised Grassley's plan when it came out of committee. However, Grassley said the president is going to have to do a lot more to persuade Republicans. "I think the president is going to personally have to get involved, and I'm told he will get involved when that time comes."

Grassley wants the Senate to take up the drug debate this fall, ahead of the election year. He and other Republican chairmen are working with top Democrats to try and meld a number of health care cost-cutting bills to make it as politically appealing to as many senators as possible.

He said he doesn't see his efforts as bucking the party on health care. He's trying to help it politically, too. "Fourteen percent more people feel like Democrats are better for them on health care than we Republicans are. It might help narrow that."

Back home in Iowa, Grassley makes no apologies for working with Democrats to pass his bill. "That's my reputation, and that's how I get things done," he said.

https://www.capeandislands.org/post...pushes-forward-drug-bill-divides-gop#stream/0

 

[Arkain2K]

Speaker Nancy Pelosi Unveils Plan To Lower Prescription Drug Costs
By Susan Davis | September 19, 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., unveiled her long-anticipated plan to lower the cost of prescription drugs on Thursday. It is a priority shared by President Trump, fueling a glimmer of hope that there is a deal to be had on the issue ahead of the 2020 elections.

"It is transformative," Pelosi said of her plan."We do hope to have White House buy-in."

The speaker's proposal calls for the federal government, through the health and human services secretary, to negotiate annually prices for the top 250 most expensive drugs on the market that don't have at least two competitors. The price determined by the negotiations would be available to all purchasers, not just Medicare beneficiaries.

The amounts would be pegged to the costs of the same drugs in other countries, which are generally much cheaper, under an "international price index." It would also levy steep fines — starting at 65% of the gross sales of the drug — on drug companies that refuse to engage in negotiations and limit how much drug costs can go up. "This steep, escalating penalty creates a powerful financial incentive for drug manufacturers to negotiate and abide by the final price," the proposal states. The plan calls for reinvesting the taxpayer money saved in negotiations back into drug research at the National Institutes of Health.

The proposal also includes a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap on prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries and the disabled.

Pelosi told reporters the proposal was not the last word. "This is an introduction. So much more will be added in the committee process and the public review of it. But we're very excited about it and happy that we can give some hope to people that help is on the way," she said. However, she said empowering the HHS secretary to negotiate drug prices must be included in any final bill.

It is rare for the speaker to take an early and formative role in crafting a bill — policy work generally left to committees — so Pelosi's engagement on the issue sends a clear message that the bill is a top priority for the party. Her office has been quietly negotiating the details of the proposal for months, which Pelosi has run by moderate and progressive factions within the Democratic Caucus ahead of Thursday's official release.

The speaker met Tuesday evening with the Blue Dog Coalition, a faction of moderates who often represent many of the party's swing seats. "We appreciate that Speaker Pelosi took the time to meet with the Blue Dogs to discuss a path forward to lower the cost of prescription drugs," Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., a co-chair of the coalition, said in a statement. "Our constituents want to see solutions implemented today, and we hope House Republicans will join in coming forward with bold solutions to bring down drug costs and increase transparency surrounding drug pricing."

A source at the Blue Dog meeting said lawmakers were particularly eager to change the conversation in the House. "Members would like to be talking less about impeachment and more about an issue that their constituents are bringing up at every town hall back home," the source said. "We're eager to see the legislation itself."

Committees are expected to take up the legislation as soon as next week, with the goal of passing it out of the House by the end of the year. There are only 34 legislative days left in 2019. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has not yet released an evaluation on the proposal's costs and savings.

Pelosi's proposal is the most sweeping plan on the table, and while traditional Republicans are sure to object, it includes ideas that President Trump has indicated in the past he could support to help drive down drug prices for Americans. If the speaker and the president could come to an agreement, Democrats believe he could bring enough Republicans on board to get it through Congress and signed into law.

The president supports a drug price index, and the administration is reviewing a possible executive order to that end. "Why should other nations like Canada — why should other nations pay much less than us? They've taken advantage of the system for a long time, pharma," Trump told reporters in July.

He also used his State of the Union address earlier this year to call for action to lower drug costs. "It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place. This is wrong, this is unfair, and together we will stop it. We will stop it fast," he said in February.

The pharmaceutical lobby, with backing from GOP allies, opposes any effort to regulate the drug market. "This proposal crushes the desperate hopes of patients and their families that life science innovators will be the answer to their prayers," said Jim Greenwood, president of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, which represents biotechnology companies, in a statement in response to the plan. "It abandons any pretense of allowing a free and fair market system to determine the value of prescription medicines, including for the most innovative medical breakthroughs. It will extinguish any incentive for investors to provide the necessary funds to advance biotech medical discovery."

At least one powerful Senate Republican, Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is willing to buck party orthodoxy to get a bill to lower drug prices.

Grassley and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., cut a deal in July on legislation that limits out-of-pocket costs for seniors in Medicare's Part D prescription drug program to $3,100 per year starting in 2022.

Grassley moved a draft version of that proposal out of committee over the objection of most Republicans on the Senate Finance panel, who oppose it on free-market principles. His proposal is more modest — the House plan would regulate drug prices more aggressively and outside the scope of Medicare as well — but Grassley is hoping Pelosi's broader bill will help Republicans rally around his.

Grassley has been pitching his proposal to Senate Republicans as the more moderate plan, on an issue generally popular with voters everywhere. He is also warning Republicans that if they do not coalesce around an alternative to offer to the president for his support, Trump could join forces with Pelosi instead.

A spokesman for Grassley said a formal text of his legislation will be introduced soon.

 

[Arkain2K]

Trump praises rollout of Pelosi's drug pricing bill after McConnell rejects the measure
By Rebecca Shabad | Sept. 20, 2019

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., don't appear to be on the same page regarding the House Democrats’ drug pricing proposal.

Trump praised the rollout of the plan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday, tweeting that “it’s great to see Speaker Pelosi’s bill today. Let’s get it done in a bipartisan way!” He also said that he "very much" likes drug pricing legislation proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Just hours earlier, McConnell told Politico that Pelosi’s measure, however, is dead on arrival in the Senate.

“Socialist price controls will do a lot of left-wing damage to the health care system. And of course we’re not going to be calling up a bill like that,” McConnell said.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, echoed that sentiment on the Senate floor.

“The speaker's plan is just the latest example of a partisan messaging document masquerading as legislation, and it has absolutely no chance — zero, zip, nada — no chance of passing the Senate or becoming law,” Cornyn said. “Unlike the House, we've been considering bills that have broad bipartisan support, as I said, which means they have the potential to actually become law, to get something done.”

Pelosi’s bill would allow the federal government to negotiate the prices of at least 25 and potentially as many as 250 brand-name drugs for Medicare beneficiaries.

“We're saying 25 is the floor," Pelosi said at a news conference after introducing the measure. "We'd like it to be the highest number possible of the highest cost drugs that make the biggest difference, those drugs without competition. So, it is transformative.”

Pelosi added that she hopes to have White House buy-in, acknowledging that they would need Trump’s endorsement to garner votes in the Senate.

Trump has made reducing the cost of prescription drugs a priority as he seeks re-election, and, like the House Democratic proposal, his administration has considered tying drug prices to the costs of the drugs in several developed countries.

Grassley and Wyden's bill, which Trump praised, also shares some similarities with the Democrats' measure. Both bills would require drug companies to issue rebates to Medicare if they increase drug costs faster than inflation and it would cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors under Medicare.

The Senate bill also faces opposition from Republicans, and most of those on the Finance Committee voted against the legislation in July when the panel advanced the measure.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1056851

 

[Arkain2K]

Pelosi still hopes to work with Trump on drug bill despite impeachment inquiry
By Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | 25 Sept 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she still hopes to work with President Donald Trump on a bill to lower prescription drug prices even after launching a formal impeachment inquiry the day before.

"I certainly hope so," Pelosi told reporters Wednesday when asked about her drug pricing bill.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Tuesday, Pelosi announced that the House would begin impeachment proceedings amid concerns about the president's efforts to push Ukraine to investigate the family of 2020 candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.

A week before, Pelosi had unveiled a long-anticipated plan to lower the price of prescription drugs.

The main thrust of the plan, which Pelosi had been working on for months, would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices on as many as 250 of the most expensive drugs per year and apply those discounts to private health plans across the U.S.

During a press conference, Pelosi said she hoped Trump would support the bill. The president later indicated support for her bill in a Sept. 19 tweet. The bill would need to pass not only the House but the Republican-controlled Senate and be signed by Trump.

High prescription drug costs have become a rare bipartisan issue, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demanding changes. Congress and the Trump administration are trying to pass legislation before the end of the year that would bring more transparency to health-care costs and, ultimately, lower costs for consumers.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/09/25...on-drug-bill-despite-impeachment-inquiry.html

 

[Arkain2K]

Impeachment push threatens to derail bipartisan efforts on health care costs
BY JESSIE HELLMANN | September 25, 2019

Bipartisan efforts to lower drug prices and health care costs were thrown a curve ball this week when Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

While Trump has long viewed drug prices and so-called surprise medical bills as some of the few areas where Democrats and Republicans can work together, lawmakers say the impeachment push could very well change all that.

Republicans in Congress, many of whom have been involved in bipartisan health care talks, are skeptical that there will be room for bipartisanship going forward as House Democrats pursue their impeachment probe.

"I worry because impeachment makes a toxic environment more toxic," said Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas), the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, which is drafting legislation to help fix surprise medical bills.

"It can poison a lot of good work that is being done in a number of areas like surprise medical bills and lowering health care costs," he said.

Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate have been involved in legislation aimed at reducing drug prices and ending the surprise medical bills some patients get from health care providers.

The White House has pushed Congress to act on both issues, with Pelosi introducing a comprehensive drug pricing bill last week. Another proposal, sponsored by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), was recently approved by the Senate Finance Committee.

Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce Committee recently advanced surprise billing legislation while other committees continue to draft their measures. And the Senate Health Committee passed a measure in June that would address both high drug prices and surprise billing.

Differences between the two parties over some details of the bills already pose some challenges to final passage, but an impeachment inquiry could make those obstacles insurmountable.

"I think there is more oxygen on impeachment than there is on legislation," said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a close Trump ally. "My Democratic colleagues have put everything on hold to try to make sure that this president is not the one that signs any proposed bills. So it makes it extremely tough."

Drug pricing legislation in particular faced some roadblocks before the impeachment inquiry was launched.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is unlikely to call a vote on the Grassley-Wyden bill because it is opposed by many Republicans and outside conservative groups.

The measure would impose a new limit on price increases in Medicare's prescription drug program, called Part D, forcing drug companies to pay money back if prices rise above inflation.

Pelosi's bill, which could be voted on as soon as October, would require the government to negotiate the prices of some drugs. It will likely pass the House with Democratic support, but it's unlikely to get a vote in the Senate, where it is opposed by the Republican majority.



Last week, Trump praised Pelosi for releasing her drug plan. He also endorsed the Grassley-Wyden bill, tweeting, "Let's get it done in a bipartisan way!"

But by Wednesday, he was sounding a different note on Pelosi.

"She's been taken over by the radical left," he told reporters. "Unfortunately she's no longer the Speaker of the House."

Democrats have "destroyed any chances of legislative progress" by focusing on impeachment, the White House said in a statement Tuesday night.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthca...-derail-bipartisan-efforts-on-health-care?amp

 

[IGIT]

Trump praises rollout of Pelosi's drug pricing bill after McConnell rejects the measure
McConnell said in an interview hours before Trump's tweet that Pelosi’s measure is dead on arrival in the Senate.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1056851

hi Arkain2K,

this reminds me a little of President Trump's spasm of pro-gun control legislation following a few newsworthy events (shootings).

its probably just a reflexive, "speak from the gut" moment for the POTUS. i'm sure various spokespeople for Mr. Trump will amend his misstatement in the following days.

*muses*

still, its a shame that Mr. Trump's conduct may have imperiled an agreement in one of the areas where he and the Democrats see eye to eye.

- IGIT

 

[Stoic1]

hi Arkain2K,

this reminds me a little of President Trump's spasm of pro-gun control legislation following a few newsworthy events (shootings).

its probably just a reflexive, "speak from the gut" moment for the POTUS. i'm sure various spokespeople for Mr. Trump will amend his misstatement in the following days.

*muses*

still, its a shame that Mr. Trump's conduct may have imperiled an agreement in one of the areas where he and the Democrats see eye to eye.

- IGIT

Yes.

Spending 2.5yrs trying to impeach him might have soured the relationship.

 

[IGIT]

Yes.

Spending 2.5yrs trying to impeach him might have soured the relationship.

hiya Stoic1,

here's what happened over the last 2.5 years;

Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein (a Republican), a Trump appointee (the Republican President), authorized the Special Counsel Investigation headed by Robert Mueller (also a Republican) - whose investigation ran roughly two years.

the Democrats had nothing to do with it.

like, they had zero to do with any of it. they just watched. Speaker Pelosi had been pretty clear over the course of the investigation and its release that she did not favor seeking impeachment proceedings over the findings.

- IGIT

 

[Arkain2K]

hi Arkain2K,

this reminds me a little of President Trump's spasm of pro-gun control legislation following a few newsworthy events (shootings).

its probably just a reflexive, "speak from the gut" moment for the POTUS. i'm sure various spokespeople for Mr. Trump will amend his misstatement in the following days.

*muses*

still, its a shame that Mr. Trump's conduct may have imperiled an agreement in one of the areas where he and the Democrats see eye to eye.

- IGIT

Really? That's what you get out of this thread? That's exactly the kind of antagonistic mindset that would derails any progress made in this bipartisan effort.

Whether you're willing to admit it or not, Trump is literally the bond that holds together these bipartisan solutions to lower drug costs, and there's no chance in hell any of these bills from Grassley and Pelosi could pass through both houses without him.

Lowering drug costs (and proudly takes credit for it) is one of his primary objectives from the start, and he has proven that he's willing to go against the GOP dinosaurs & pharma lobbyists and side with the moderate factions from both sides to get it done.

But if your party's leadership choose not to be savvy politicians and gives into the millitants from your side, treating him as an enemy instead of a strategic political ally that they could use to get what they really want, and focusing on these futile witch-hunts rather than getting real policies done, you've got no one else to blame when they dumps poison into the well that the moderate factions of both sides, the President, as well as the American people wishes to drink from.

Pelosi and friends are throwing away our best chance to get drug prices under control, just so they can get an impeachment inquiry that will end up as another nothing burger. You and I probably would disagree whether if that's worth it or not.

 

[IGIT]

hello Arkain2K,

Really? That's what you get out of this thread? That's exactly the kind of antagonistic mindset that would derails any progress made in this bipartisan effort.

i'm antagonistic?

i was saying that its a shame that Mr. Trump's conduct may end up derailing rare bit of bi-partisan sentiment between the speaker and the POTUS. i was making an observation, i don't see how any of that is antagonistic.

if Mr. Trump's conduct as this nation's leader was committed by our previous POTUS, the "Tea Party Patriots" would have cut Obama's head off and played soccer with it in the Rose Garden.

just calling it like i see it, my friend.

the Speaker is willing to set aside all grievances and put America first. let's hope our President is, also.

- IGIT

 

[Arkain2K]

the Speaker is willing to set aside all grievances and put America first. let's hope our President is, also.

"The Speaker willing to set aside all grievances and put America first" by throwing away America's best chance right now for lower drug costs, just to pursue yet another nothing burger to satisfy the left-wing militants in their perpetual witch hunt?

Willing to work with moderate Democrats and Republicans - even if it means opposing the GOP leadership - to reign in drug costs is "just a reflexive, speak from the gut moment for the POTUS", praising Senators Grassley and Pelosi's proposals and call for the continuation of bipartisan effort (right before Pelosi come up from behind and dumped a bucket of water on his head) is just a "misstatement", even though every analyst worth his salt agrees unanimously that lowering drug costs is right up there at the top of his list of priorities, next to the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement?

Well I gotta give this to you, the sheer athleticism in this Bizarro world-class mental gymnastic routine is absolutely incredible. What's even more amazing is that you seems to actually believe in this backward and upside-down logic.

One can only hope that perhaps you'll able to see this thing like how normal people would when yet another stale nothing burger is served to the once-again disappointed militants, and Big Pharma laughs their asses off as this once-promising bipartisan effort on drug costs withers away in the toxic partisan landfill, exactly where Pelosi dumped it.

 

[ObamaPhoneLady]

hello Arkain2K,



i'm antagonistic?

i was saying that its a shame that Mr. Trump's conduct may end up derailing rare bit of bi-partisan sentiment between the speaker and the POTUS. i was making an observation, i don't see how any of that is antagonistic.

if Mr. Trump's conduct as this nation's leader was committed by our previous POTUS, the "Tea Party Patriots" would have cut Obama's head off and played soccer with it in the Rose Garden.

just calling it like i see it, my friend.

the Speaker is willing to set aside all grievances and put America first. let's hope our President is, also.

- IGIT

God this guy is a boring troll.

 

[ObamaPhoneLady]

Dems would rather burn America to the ground than admit a Republican president did something right.

 

[Fawlty]

Really? That's what you get out of this thread? That's exactly the kind of antagonistic mindset that would derails any progress made in this bipartisan effort.

Whether you're willing to admit it or not, Trump is literally the bond that holds together these bipartisan solutions to lower drug costs, and there's no chance in hell any of these bills from Grassley and Pelosi could pass through both houses without him.

Lowering drug costs (and proudly takes credit for it) is one of his primary objectives from the start, and he has proven that he's willing to go against the GOP dinosaurs & pharma lobbyists and side with the moderate factions from both sides to get it done.

But if your party's leadership choose not to be savvy politicians and gives into the millitants from your side, treating him as an enemy instead of a strategic political ally that they could use to get what they really want, and focusing on these futile witch-hunts rather than getting real policies done, you've got no one else to blame when they dumps poison into the well that the moderate factions of both sides, the President, as well as the American people wishes to drink from.

Pelosi and friends are throwing away our best chance to get drug prices under control, just so they can get an impeachment inquiry that will end up as another nothing burger. You and I probably would disagree whether if that's worth it or not.

Ha, hilarious that you're taking the side of extortion, but you gotta be you.