Barack Obama and “Big Pharma -” Hypocrisy You Can Believe in

Barack Obama and “Big Pharma:” Hypocrisy You Can Believe in

September 1, 20

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

“I’m appalled by the deal the White House has made with the pharmaceutical industry’s
lobbying arm to buy their support….When an industry gets secret concessions out of the
White House in return for a promise to lend the industry’s support to a key piece of
legislation, we’re in big trouble.  That’s called extortion.”
 
— Former Clinton Administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich, blog posting, August 9, 2009
 
 Even as he campaigned on a platform of change and transparency, an examination of Barack Obama’s
comments during the election—and his actions since taking office—indicates that on both politics and
policy, the President has changed his tune on numerous issues of relevance to the pharmaceutical
industry—perhaps as a result of up to $150 million in drug industry-funded advertisements supporting his
government takeover of health care:
 
Then:  “We’ll take on the drug and insurance companies and hold them accountable for the prices they
charge and the harm they cause.”
— Barack Obama, speech in Newport News, Virginia, October 4, 2008
 
Now:  “We were assured: ‘We need somebody to come in first.  If you come in first, you will have a
rock-solid deal.’”
— PhRMA head Billy Tauzin, discussing his negotiations with the White House,
 New York Times, August 5, 2009
 
Then:  “I urge [my opponent] to stop siding with the drug manufacturers and put aside his opposition to
the re-importation of lower-priced prescription drugs from Canada.”
— Barack Obama, Senate campaign press release, May 21, 2004
 
Now:  “On July 7, Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama’s chief of staff…assured at least five pharmaceutical
companies during a White House meeting that there would be no provision in the final health care
package to allow the re-importation of cheaper drugs from Canada or elsewhere.”
— New York Times, July 23, 2009
 
Then:  “And we’ll tell the pharmaceutical companies, thanks but no thanks for the overpriced drugs—
drugs that cost twice as much here as they do in Europe and Canada.  We’ll let Medicare negotiate for
lower prices.”
— Barack Obama, speech in Newport News, Virginia, October 4, 2008
 
Now:  “The White House…clarified its commitment to a behind-the-scenes deal….[that] would limit the
drug makers’ share of the cost of a health care overhaul…without imposing other savings…like the
government’s negotiation of prices for the drugs it buys under Medicare.”
—New York Times, August 7, 2009
 
Then:  “What we will do is, we'll have the [health care] negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people
can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on
behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies.”
— Barack Obama, town hall meeting in Chester, Virginia, July 21, 2008
 
Now:  “At a certain point you start getting into all kinds of different meetings—Senate Finance is having
a meeting, the House is having a meeting….I don’t think there are a lot of secrets going on in there.”
— Barack Obama, trying to explain closed-door health care negotiations,
 White House press conference, July 22, 2009
 
Then:  “It’s an entire culture in Washington—some of it legal, some of it not—that allows [scandals] to
happen.  Because what’s most outrageous is not the morally offensive conduct on behalf of these
lobbyists and legislators, but the morally offensive laws and decisions that get made as a result.”
— Barack Obama, speech on “Taking Our Government Back,” July 22, 2007
 
Now:  “[The White House] wanted a big player to come in and set the bar for everybody else.”
— PhRMA head Billy Tauzin, quoted in New York Times, August 5, 2009
 
Then:  “We need a President who sees government not as a tool to enrich well-connected friends and
high-priced lobbyists, but as the defender of fairness and opportunity for every American.  That’s what
this country has always been about, and that’s the kind of President I intend to be.”
— Barack Obama, speech on “Taking Our Government Back,” July 22, 2007
 
Now:  “President Barack Obama’s push for a national health care overhaul is providing a financial
windfall…to Democratic consulting firms that are closely connected to the President and two top
advisors.”
— Associated Press story, August 19, 2009
 
Then:  “When I am President, I will make it absolutely clear that working in an Obama Administration is
not about serving your former employer, your future employer, or your bank account—it’s about serving
your country, and that’s what comes first.  When you walk into my Administration, you will not be able to
work on regulations or contracts directly related to your former employer for two years.”
— Barack Obama, speech on “Taking Our Government Back,” July 22, 2007
 
Now:  “Two firms that received $343.3 million to handle advertising for Barack Obama’s White House
run last year have profited from his top priority as President by taking on his push for [a] health care
overhaul….[One] firm owes [White House senior advisor] David Axelrod $2 million, which it’s due to pay
in installments beginning December 31.  Axelrod’s son, Michael, still works there.”
— Bloomberg story, August 15, 2009
 
At best, the significant changes in position show the differences between lofty campaign rhetoric and the
realities of governing; at worst, they reveal an Administration seduced by promises of campaign-style ads
supporting its government takeover of health care.  Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office recently
announced that the provisions in House Democrats’ government takeover of health care (H.R. 3200)
would raise seniors’ Medicare prescription drug premiums by 20 percent—even as pharmaceutical
companies, sensing higher profits, promote the President’s “reform” agenda.  Regardless of whether or
not Members agree with the President’s policy positions—either those outlined “then” or “now”—many
may wonder what exactly the President believes in—and, given his repeated reversals, why the American
people should believe in him.