ICYMI: MAGA Politicians Continue to Fight Tooth and Nail to Protect Big Pharma and Their Profits

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 27, 2022
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ICYMI: MAGA POLITICIANS CONTINUE TO FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO PROTECT BIG PHARMA AND THEIR PROFITS

President Biden is fighting to drive down prices and premiums while the MAGA party is advocating to keep prices and profits high

WASHINGTON, D.C. — While President Biden continues to push for historic legislation to lower health care and prescription drug costs that would provide relief for working families, MAGA politicians and their Big Pharma cronies continue to oppose these cost-cutting efforts. The MAGA party prefers to deliver for Big Pharma, one of the wealthiest special interest groups in Washington, instead of working to lower costs for working and middle class Americans. Yet again, MAGA politicians are feeding corporate greed instead of fighting for legislation that is consistently popular with the vast majority of Americans from across the political spectrum.

POLITICO: Congress Minutes: Republicans are throwing as many challenges as they can at Democrats’ party-line health care bill, as the party faces an August time crunch.
Burgess Everett 
July 26, 2022

The suspense is building: Republicans are trying to invalidate all of Democrats’ work on their health-care focused party-line bill, but Chuck Schumer says he’s “optimistic” that the Senate parliamentarian will see things Democrats’ way.

Since Democrats want to pass the package with a simple Senate majority using the so-called reconciliation process, the chamber’s rules arbiter decides what can stay in the proposed bill and what has to be tossed.

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) confirmed Tuesday that the GOP is trying to convince the parliamentarian to throw out both prescription drug reform and two years of Affordable Care Act Subsidies. “There are many Byrd objections and we’re going through line by line, making the objection,” he said.

Tweakin’: Democrats already indicated after last week’s arguments before the parliamentarian they are making tweaks to the language to make sure it will be able to pass by a simple majority. Schumer said Democrats are still awaiting the parliamentarian rulings: “We’re optimistic that they will be good, we may have to make a few tweaks.”

OK, so what?: This might seem extremely in the weeds, but it’s one of the most important battles cooking in Congress at the moment. Democrats hope to have the health care bill on the floor next week, and they need to have all 50 of their senators in town to pass it plus ensure it doesn’t run afoul of Senate budget rules. Republicans are trying to make that as hard as possible, seeking to force Democrats to rewrite the bill and possibly abandon portions of it.

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