Congresswoman Katie Porter is what a congressperson representing the people looks like. She did not hold back as she exposed the evil that went into his undeserved salary.
Katie Porter is a CEO slayer with facts
This video is longer than most of the video clips I make. But please listen to the entire clip, and most importantly, please share. You see, as we get back into the healthcare debate, we must drive the narrative before the other side starts creating an alternate reality.
I ran across the Katie Porter clip on Daily Kos in the written post by Walter Einenkel. I wanted to provide more context to the excellent deconstruction of the evil private sector gouging of us all just because they can. Walter wrote the core of Porter’s dissection as follows.
Porter first asked Alles what the cost of the cancer drug Revlimid was in 2005, 2013, 2017, and today. Alles couldn’t readily come up with those numbers because he’s a big shot CEO. The short story is that Revlimid cost $215 per pill in 2005, and right now it costs $763 per pill. Obviously, the pill must have gotten better and/or the demand has diminished! Wrong. In fact, Alles admits that a lot more uses for the pill were discovered, meaning a ton more patients use it, and shockingly, nothing about the pill or its efficacy has changed.
So why is the price going up? Why is Medicare paying out $3.3 billion for Revlimid?
Rep. Porter has some ideas, even if the CEO doesn’t. It turns out that Alles made $13 million, which is “200 times the average American’s income and 360 times what the average senior makes on Social Security,” she kindly explained to him. And lo and behold! Mr. Alles gets nice big bonuses if he raises the cost—or, say, triples the cost since 2005—of Revlimid. In fact, for bringing the average monthly cost of the cancer drug to a patient up to $16,023, Alles was able to pocket an extra $500,000. Sweet deal. Fuck those cancer patients, amiright? Don’t worry, everyone else will pay for it!
Finally, Rep. Porter gave a summation that even a smart guy like Alles can understand. “So to recap here: The drug didn’t get any better. The cancer patients didn’t get any better. You just got better at making money. You just refined your skills at price gouging!”
(h/t DailyKos)
It is not enough to exposed these economic terrorists. We must do two things. The first is to tie it directly to the nature of our economic system. The second is that we must ensure Americans know they can empower themselves collectively to use their virtual pitchforks, voting for real Progressive candidates.
This insulin story is another perfect example of corporations stealing the wealth of most of us. The video, as well, is worth watching.