News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Feb. 1, 2013: Remember these names among many others in Congress.
U.S. Senator Max Baucus. U.S. Senator Orin Hatch, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, and then add U.S. Senator Harry Reid. All members of the Congressional criminal class.
Are they alone in this class? No, no, no, of course not! They are just newsworthy right now for their abuse of the Congressional power to give away huge sums to favored supporters; using their law writing ability and charging the American taxpayers.
Let’s say you found a way to fraudulently give your favorite company who showered you with campaign cash and other gifts – you went and stole $500 million from the U.S. Treasury to give to them. You’d be on the way to jail except NO, you would not, just as long as you were a member of Congress. Rather they increase their power and influence doing so and ensure rich companies will give them even larger payoffs in the future.
Welcome to the sewer that is the U.S. Congress. No don’t expect any complaints from ethically challenged President Barack Obama. These guys are his DC buddies.
So what is the story this week?
Senators Baucus, Hatch and McConnell surreptitiously called the fiscal cliff bill in the middle of the night and without letting anyone know – let alone hold hearings – what they were doing – placed a simple brief totally unrelated provision in the bill.
These three Senators decided to give a very big late Christmas gift to the world’s largest biotechnology company, Amgen, which employs 74 lobbyists in Washington, D.C. They earn their big fees whispering right into the golden ears of the likes of Baucus, Hatch and McConnell. In this case, they got these three low lifes to delay for another two years, a law which would prevent Amgen and only Amgen, from its practice of overbilling the government $500 MILLION over the next two years.
SURPRISED? This is not the first time but the second two year exemption Amgen has been provided by a provision secretly tucked into federal legislation for no reason; having nothing to do with this matter and written so cleverly it does not name Amgen but the wording is such Amgen is the only company and its product that this provision applies.
So Amgen – recently convicted of mislabeling other drugs and fined $762 Million for doing so – now gets from these Three Stooges – a guaranteed $1 BILLION and the legal right to over-charge for 4 years total (so far) ,for one of their widely used drugs by using a payment method labeled completely unjustified and wasteful of U.S. tax dollars.
Think about it if you don’t get it.
One company gives millions of dollars in campaign contributions to these three U.S. Senators and in return, over 4 years they gain far, far more! $1 BILLION in U.S. tax dollars for a fraudulent practice they use to collect for dialysis treatments. There is no debate on the matter, no one, including their fellow Senators and Congress members, who approved the larger bills it is tucked into. Did they have any idea they were voting for this provision when President Obama signed this into law with a big smile on his face and seemed likewise oblivious.
Or was he? We just don’t know. If he knew Obama would have still signed his bill.
Nobody is going to jail – the opposite is true! They are bigger heroes to their business supporters.
In any normal society, this would be criminal, but this is standard operating procedure in Congress. It long has been and involves many members of Congress with their own secret schemes to reward their corporate supporters is debilitating.
It completely undermines the integrity of our government.
What about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada?
He has been operating a separate eerily similar scheme recently but in reverse. He got a secret provision in the same fiscal cliff bill that specifically penalized his favorite drug company’s main competitor. Isn’t he creative! Don’t help our business friends just smash their competitors. Same result!
That’s right! By slamming Varian Medical System’s main rival, Elekta, AB, Reid gave Varian a very big gift and advantage. Both companies make comparable radiation tools to battle brain tumors. The craftily worded provision created and inserted by Senator Reid will cut rival Elektra’s Medicare payments by 58% using Elekta’s technology and leaving Varian’s payment undiminished at all. The only difference is Varian Medical Systems has an important friend in Congress. Elekta AB does not. No doubt Elekta will correct its “mistake” by cultivating it’s oqn Congressional Sugar Daddy and showering $$$ on them.
This fellow citizens’ is the state of our government in 2013. Is it any different than it was last years or 4 years ago or long before? The answer is NO! And that is why these scams makes it perfect material for my Obama’s America commentaries.
Having Barack Obama as President has changed nothing! These scams go on and on and one!.
Get the message yet??
About The Writer: Arthur Piccolo is a professional writer and commentator and often writes about Latin America for New Americas.
