Tuesday, February 17, 2004
The Inevitable Result of Corporate Citizenship
The Revolving Door
"The latest poster boy for all of this is Rep. Billy Tauzin (R., La.), who will give up the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee tomorrow. He is widely expected to accept a $2-million-a-year job as chief Washington lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents big drug manufacturers such as Eli Lilly & Co. and Merck & Co.
Tauzin just happens to be the fellow who shepherded the recent Medicare reform bill through the House, legislation supported by the pharmaceutical industry. At the drug manufacturers' insistence, Congress resisted a provision that would have allowed the federal government to negotiate with drug manufacturers for cheaper prices on prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries. (Supporters of the law say, in a triumph of hope over experience, that private health plans will bargain more effectively than the government could.)
Even Tauzin's Republican colleagues recoiled at the ham-handedness of his timing. But Tauzin is only the most greasy example. There are at least 150 former congressional representatives registered as lobbyists in Washington."
The Revolving Door
"The latest poster boy for all of this is Rep. Billy Tauzin (R., La.), who will give up the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee tomorrow. He is widely expected to accept a $2-million-a-year job as chief Washington lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents big drug manufacturers such as Eli Lilly & Co. and Merck & Co.
Tauzin just happens to be the fellow who shepherded the recent Medicare reform bill through the House, legislation supported by the pharmaceutical industry. At the drug manufacturers' insistence, Congress resisted a provision that would have allowed the federal government to negotiate with drug manufacturers for cheaper prices on prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries. (Supporters of the law say, in a triumph of hope over experience, that private health plans will bargain more effectively than the government could.)
Even Tauzin's Republican colleagues recoiled at the ham-handedness of his timing. But Tauzin is only the most greasy example. There are at least 150 former congressional representatives registered as lobbyists in Washington."
