Date: 2024-04-29 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00021019 | |||||||||
US Politics | |||||||||
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Original article: Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | |||||||||
| tell this senator to knock it off Inbox Public Citizen robert@citizen.org via salsalabs.org 5:26 PM (17 minutes ago) to me Senate Democrats can still make progress on a few things despite Mitch McConnell’s shameless and incessant abuse of the filibuster. But only if they stick together. Which brings us to Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. For some reason — maybe to satisfy her wealthy funders or just because she craves attention — Sinema is blocking progress that would help not only her constituents in Arizona but also working people and senior citizens all across America. This week, Sinema went on record *against* a commonsense plan that would lower prescription drug costs for millions upon millions of Americans by letting Medicare use its vast buying power to challenge Big Pharma’s outrageous price-gouging. That’s such an about-face from what Sinema said when campaigning in 2018 — “we need to ... lower prescription drug prices” — it makes you wonder how she didn’t break her neck. By the way, over 80% of Arizonans — you know, the people Sinema is supposed to be representing in the Senate — want Medicare to have the power to negotiate fairer prices from Big Pharma. But Sinema has chosen instead to carry water for Big Pharma, which — not coincidentally — was running ads in Arizona earlier this month touting her as an “independent voice.” “Independent” from what, her own party? Her constituents? The millions of everyday Americans who can’t afford the medicines they need? Meanwhile, Sinema is threatening to blow up negotiations over President Biden’s Build Back Better plan — a 10-year investment to confront climate change and to help everyday Americans in a way our country hasn’t seen since the New Deal era almost a century ago — saying it’s too expensive. The Build Back Better plan would cost an average of $350 billion per year. That’s less than half of the $768 billion Congress just approved for the Pentagon for next year and less than 2% of our nation’s current GDP. Earlier this year, Sinema (in)famously strutted onto the floor of the Senate and voted with a haughty thumbs-down against including an increase to the federal minimum wage in coronavirus relief legislation. A few facts: Since entering politics, Sinema has taken over $750,000 (and counting) from Big Pharma and medical device manufacturers. For the 2021-2022 congressional cycle, Sinema has taken more money from the pharmaceutical and medical device industries than all but just seven other senators. Sinema’s chief of staff used to be a top lobbyist for pharmaceutical and health insurance corporations. Tell Senator Kyrsten Sinema: What’s the point of being a senator if all you’re going to do is stand in the way of getting people the help they need? With all due respect — which isn’t much right now, to be honest — knock it off. Get behind your colleagues and get busy passing desperately needed legislation to help working people in Arizona and all across America. Add your name. Thanks for taking action. For progress, - Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen | |||||||||