The Schumer Shutdown rolls on, but that hasn’t stopped the Washington big-money crowd’s entourage from continuing to do their bidding. Case in point: Trump-hating, impeachment-supporting Bill Cassidy holding a hearing to try to move a key Big Pharma priority closer to the end zone.
We’ve talked before, y’all and me, about 340B and how it affects working class, red state voters. Big Pharma hates the program. So does Cassidy, whose family has a record of investing in Pharma stocks. Democrats have also been souring on it because it benefits Republican politicians stay in office and voters stay alive. You know instead of helping Democrats and their base of woke, white, liberal, rich north of Richmond womyn. One of the big-name Dems who have started bashing the program is infamous race grifter Al Sharpton. Rumor is he took lots of money from PhRMA to launch an attack on it, using a bad apple ploy.
Now, Cassidy is borrowing Democratic messaging to do Big Pharma’s bidding. In a hearing recently, Cassidy quoted so-called “Independent,” Sen. Angus King from Maine (who votes with Schumer and is a suck-up) saying “There’s no silver bullet for reducing drug costs, but the silver bullet is silver buckshot… For the record, this is Angus. It’s a great quote.” Cassidy then continued, saying “[R]eforming three 340B is one of those silver buckshot.”
Of course, the problem here is that he’s attacking a drug discount program that costs taxpayers nothing and enables MAGA voters to get drugs for cheaper than they otherwise would– and one that also is essential for keeping rural hospitals open. Without it, as we have noted before, taxpayers would be asked to bail out rural hospitals to the tune of billions, maybe even more.
Thankfully, MAGA stalwart Sen. Tommy Tuberville gets it, and he pushed back on Cassidy hard.
“Real quickly, the 340 program is the only, I repeat, only source of income for Americans hospitals that isn’t taxpayer funded… we should be expanding this, not ‘reforming’ it,” Tuberville offered.
“83% of rural hospitals in my state operate at a loss. Think about that 83%… You can’t go towards people that are losing money already. Not towards states like mine that rely on 340B discounts for survival.”
Cassidy is facing a primary challenge from State Treasurer John Fleming. Hard to see him surviving that primary, but expect plenty more problems from Cassidy — especially on the program that benefits rural Americans and puts votes behind Republicans (you need seats to hold power folks) — before he’s finally sent packing. The sad reality is, Cassidy’s interests are more aligned with Big Pharma’s than MAGA’s or the GOP. And he’d be just fine with Democrats getting their majority back at any cost.