The House Republican Conference is out with a new document today on the deal between the White House and drug industry group PhRMA announced in June. Though the terms of the deal remain murky, the lobbying association agreed to cut millions in drug costs for seniors in exchange for ... well, a bunch of things, including Obama's promise that he wouldn't use the government to buy drugs directly and thereby bid down the price. PhRMA also agreed to pay for millions of dollars in television advertising in support of Obamacare. Some of the money went to David Axelrod's old firm. Here's the House GOP's thesis:
Even as he campaigned on a platform of change and transparency, an examination of Barack Obama's comments during the election-and his actions since taking office-indicates that on both politics and policy, the President has changed his tune on numerous issues of relevance to the pharmaceutical industry-perhaps as a result of up to $150 million in drug industry-funded advertisements supporting his government takeover of health care[.]
The whole arrangement gives off the strong odor of cronyism and inside-dealing. No one but the White House and PhRMA seems satisfied with it. You can read left-wing criticism of the deal here and here. The White House spin is here. We've spent the summer arguing over the big questions about Obamacare: the cost, how much additional government intervention the people are willing to tolerate in the health care sector, who ought to make decisions regarding denial of treatment and end-of-life care, and so on. If the GOP Conference document is any indication, though, it's likely that when Congress returns the Republicans will also train their fire on the method by which Obamacare has been constructed and strong-armed through the Congress. It hasn't been pretty.