Ray Robison at American Thinker, h/t B Moe:
This new scandal recalls the early 2007 incident in which the Speaker promoted a minimum wage hike that would include all U.S. areas except American Samoa. Some large companies with canneries in Samoa are headquartered in the Speaker’s district. Amgen is a powerhouse in Northern California, with a significant presence in the Speaker’s district. That fact mirrors the Samoa controversy in which critics accused Pelosi of playing favorites with her district. And in 2007 it was revealed that the Speaker sponsored a massive earmark that would probably affect the value of property in which her husband was invested.
This summer, under extreme pressure from Congress, led by Pelosi, Medicare dropped its’ planned regulation changes. J&J and Amgen stock immediately soared as The New York Timesreported:
Medicare has eased up on some of its proposed restrictions on the use of popular anemia drugs made by Amgen and Johnson & Johnson. The decision, announced late yesterday, could provide some relief for the two companies, which have already experienced steep drops in sales of the drugs. [….]
The federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services had proposed in May to sharply limit coverage for the drugs – Aranesp from Amgen and Procrit from Johnson & Johnson. Some analysts had predicted at that time that use of the drugs could be cut by as much as 50 percent. [….]
But investors reacted favorably, sending shares of Amgen by more than $2 in early after-hours trading, though it then began to drop back. Shares had closed at $56.19, up 57 cents. Shares of the larger and more diversified Johnson & Johnson rose about 30 cents after hours, having closed at $60.07, up 30 cents.
How very interesting that The New York Times invests the efforts of a cadre of writers to investigate the wisp of a rumor concerning McCain while the Democrat Speaker of the House gets a free ride on such an apparently blatent abuse of power to enrich herself and friends.
And it doesn’t end there. Congress pressured Medicare to backdown from the regulations with votes in the House and the Senate. The Sense of the Senate nonbinding resolution was approved unanimously (with no votes recorded therefore). As a Senator, Hillary Clinton would have also voted on this measure that proved a financial boon for Amgen. Senator Clinton is also tied to Amgen.
Bloomberg  recently reported that President Clinton’s former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steve Ricchetti, now a lobbyist, received a $1.7 million payment to his firm from Amgen. He serves as a bundler for Senator Clinton’s campaign. That means she is now receiving financial contributions assembled by a lobbyist at a firm that profited from the success of earning her vote.One of those contributions was from Howard Moon, a former Pelosi advisor who donated $2,300 to the Clinton campaign a few weeks after Clinton voted to stay the hand of Medicare. In addition, in the days just before and after Pelosi submitted the ETHA bill on Aug. 2nd, 2007 a slew of Amgen executives made almost $30,000 dollars in private donations to the Pelosi campaign.ÂÂ
Barack Obama who claims not to take lobbyist money received over $12,000 in private donations from several Amgen corporate executives (listed as executives, directors, and vice presidents) as revealed by government watch dog group opensecrets.org. The donations listed occured just before the September 4th, 2007 Senate vote on the Sense of the Senate resolution and the day after.
This easily discovered appearance of unethical behavior on the part of Democratic leaders weighs far more heavily than the thin evidence provided against Senator McCain. Maybe theThe New York Times has an ethics problem of its’ own.ÂÂ
Tsk.
“Its'” isn’t “its”.
“It’s hard for the American people to understand how corrupt it is here,” – Nancy Pelosi
Not too hard Nance.
“Only 27% of Americans approve of the way Congress is doing it’s job, down from 36% in January, when Democrats assumed control of the House and Senate.”
Nothing about this surprises me. Nothing. And that is horrible. If the McCain non-story had been sourced even 1/10 th as much, maybe I would have paid attention. If you replaced Pelosi with any Republican, this would lead every newscast for a month.
Ace had a ‘name that party” link that has not worked for me, but I know that party identification was prolly identified in the headline of the Republican and then party ID was only hinted in para 26 of the Democrat’s story on criminality. Pretty standard stuff.
I keep tooting this, but Democrat Cong. William Jefferson’s ( otherwise known as “Dollar Bill” ) 16 count bribery trial was supposed to begin Monday, but his last minute appeal has delayed it (he’s arguing basically because he’s a Congressman – his staff etc – the charges should be thrown out do to Speech and Debate clause and legislative separation- earlier he argued the charges should be thrown out because none of the bribery coincided with his legislative votes)
Incidentally, the sitting congressman under indictment is also a super-delegate!
Anyway, I’ve decided that I do NOT care and will fight resignation of GOP wrongdoers bribery, corruption, fraud DO NOT CARE and will tell anyone who does to F-off…except I’ll draw the line at murder – I won’t go as low as Teddy – rape – ahem – and child Porn.
I urge you all to do the same. See the Democrats/liberals and their media wing don’t think corruption is bad, they only think Republican corruption is bad (or exploitable – it’s debatable). Sorry, homey don’t play with me – someone commits a crime, regardless of party ID, they all need to be treated the same and I’m jumping off the ‘principled” bandwagon of forcing out republican wrongdoers while corrupt Democrats are elevated.
That plan isn’t working.
BTW Dan?
Love, love, love the use of “Big Pharma”. That ranks up there with “unitary executive” “authoritarian” and “right wing talking points” buzzwords the left hold so dear.
But, But they handed it to Obama’s secretary under the desk so he ‘really’ didn’t accept it. Just like the $50-60 million he expects to collect from his terrorist family in the middle east this month. He won’t be tied to that either. Them poor black folks on welfare sent it to an Arab (Obama) $1 at a time so he can continue to campaign like Hitler and act like Hitler. Poor old soul has always been so disadvantaged. Since his Arab father was married to another woman when he married Obama’s mother in a sham (not legal in the U.S.) marriage that makes Obama not only an Arab but a B****** also. Great piece of work the democrats selected to screw them along with the rest of us.
I think I forgot to mention how “BIG” companies and the democrats rule of sudden Hero status/demonize status works on this too, like I did in the last thread. (see JD and Rockefeller – politicizing of intelligence hero extroidinaire is now a BuchcoHitler lapdog sucking up to “BIG” telecom” to the left now)
You see Pharma is only “BIG” Pharma when a connection can be made to a republican – otherwise their just Phrama when they donate boatloads to Democrats and obviously influence their votes.
Blackwater.
Security Contractors were just security contractors when the first Presidential Administration to hire them hired them – Clinton
they are “BIG” Security COOOONNNNTRACTORS when Bush hires them to do what Clinton hired them to do. And so they are “BIG” murderers and so on.
Halliburton
They were a company that could perform the needs necessary for the Clinton Admin in Kosovo.
But NOW they are “BIG” Oil enriching Cheney and stealing all of the OIL – they are “BIG OIL!”
It’s just one of the left/media’s stupid pet tricks.
That they don’t care when BIG PHRAMA buys Nancy’s vote is just more of the same corruptness of the Democrat ideology core.
Corruption and hypocrisy by elected Democrats ignored by the Media. I’m shocked, SHOCKED, I say…
…
Oh, nevermind.
Controlling Environmental – Controlling Union – Controlling Trial Lawyers – Controlling Abortions activists – Controlling Hedge Funds…eh?
“Maybe theThe New York Times has an ethics problem of its’ own.”
Whaddaya mean, ‘maybe’?
The Amgen allegations are a little too connect-the-dottie to me. Some people donate to politicians as private citizens. You have to have more than a few people and a few thousand bucks in donations to overcome coincidence.
I’ve recently donated to John McCain and Barack Obama. If either admits to being swayed to vote a certain way on the Senate floor because of my particular $200 then I’ll stand corrected but until then I’ll assume a few Benjamins don’t have much pull.
me too, Dan.
i do not trust NYT, since the Judith Miller’s crap was allowed to be published.
So I do not pay attention to them at all.
McCain story is going to die pretty soon, and he is correct by stopping commenting on that….
“She’s like a dead mackerel in the moonlight. She stinks and shines.â€Â
The Amgen allegations are a little too connect-the-dottie to me. Some people donate to politicians as private citizens.
It wasn’t just campaign contributions, thor. Pelosi’s husband owned a half mil in Amgen stock, while she was passing legislation to increase its value.
OMFG! Teh MSM is BIASED?!?! Say it ain’t so!
As far as I’ve been able to tell over the last 20 years, your average reporter is a lying, arrogant piece of shit. It’s the profession that convinced people that you can not only have your own opinions, but your own facts.
That’s a conceit I’m not sure we can survive, and if we “break” as a country because of it, it will be largely the “journalism industry” that created the conditions for it to happen.
If I haven’t mentioned it yet, I’m pretty down on dirtbag reporters and how they have pissed freedrom of the press down their legs.
I just want to make sure I’m not misunderstood.
Think of it this way – the Press are the “cops” of politics, and frankly they’re letting the gangs run the city, they’re on “the take” (ideologically), and they laugh at you and hang up when you call to report a crime.
I’d take the old corrupt New Orleans cops over the press corps any day.
[…] Appropriate. Inappropriate. […]
Not so much lying as too ignorant to know when they’re being had. The arrogance certainly doesn’t help.