UPDATE 1: I received many responses to this blog post from many of my readers who are upset with this post. They stated I did not get the story correct. Many called the Senator’s office and were told the reason the Senators voted against the amendment was because it did not have a provision of the drugs meeting American drug standards. This a calculated cop out. Please note that these drugs are made by the same companies. The foreign governments simply do not allow our drug companies to pilfer their citizens. Ours do. HOLD OUR POLITICIANS ACCOUNTABLE IRRESPECTIVE OF PARTY!!!!! BTW, the links I provided already contained the recalcitrant Democrats response. So it was not omitted from the post as some of my readers suggest.
I woke up to this story this morning, and it caused me mental convulsions. Republicans can get away with votes like this because it is expected. It simply makes Democrats look like wards of the corporatocracy.
Shame on these Democrats
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Corey Booker (D-NJ),
- Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
- Tom Carper (D-DE)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Chris Coons (D-DE)
- Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
- Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
- Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
- Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
- Patty Murray (D-WA)
- Jon Tester (D-MT)
- Mark Warner (D-VA)
It is time for Democrats to show some spine and ensure that their votes represent all the values within the hard fought for Democratic Platform. Unfortunately, the above Democratic Senators failed miserably.
Kerry Eleveld from the DailyKos reported the following.
It was a Democratic amendment sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders. It was pro-working class and anti-Big Pharma. It even enticed “Yes” votes from 12 GOP senators. And yet 13 Democrats, including Sen. Cory Booker, helped kill a measure aimed at making prescription drugs more affordable. It failed 46-52. Ellie Shechet writes:
Last night, Senate Republicans took their first leap towards repealing Obamacare by approving a budget procedure that would allow them to avoid a Democratic filibuster. The 13 Democrats who subsequently voted against making drugs cheaper for people deeply undercut the ability of that party to speak with credibility on behalf of the working class.
The measure, which would have allowed drugs to be imported from Canada, was expected to fail. But Democrats helped drive the nail into the coffin.
I told many of my followers that this blogger will not be going easy on either party irrespective of the politician’s ideology. There are times compromises that we must make compromises. There are also times it is imperative that we boldly fight. America is at that crossroads. All politicians Republican and Democrats alike and others must pay the price for votes against the poor and the middle class. Call your senators now and tell them you do not want Obamacare repealed. Tell them you want drug companies to compete with themselves as they offer foreign countries much better pricing than they offer their own citizens.