Diatribune

What gets me really angry about this is all those ads the drug companies are running claiming that their mediscam legislation is good and the idea of government negotiating for fair drug prices is bad.

It's also bad that the GOP Congress under Tom DeLay's leadership kept twisting and turning arms for hours upon hours before it was assured that it had the votes to pass this. And for the White House occupant to veto legislation that would allow government to negotiate with drug companies to try to lower prices shows exactly how cruel and inhumane he and his Republican Congressional allies are.

The ad that has gotten lots of play (the drug companies even paid for ad time on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann") tries to make the point that government agency negotiating with drug prices to lower costs is bad and shows pictures of happy seniors with the statement that Mediscam is working and "90 percent of seniors" have signed up.

The ad also tries to talk up the "competition" among various plans that it claims help "lower" drog costs, but try to explain that to average folks who are concerned about paying for their prescription drugs. Contrary to the claims of the prescription drug company ads, seniors are still suffering from getting ripped off by high drug costs and the Mediscam legislation is doing NOTHING about it.

I'm very concerned as I draw near my retirement years about how much prescriptions will cost. I'm also angry about drug company and Bush regime attempts to put a happy face on the problem. Not only should Bush's veto (as mentioned in the "60 Minutes" story linked) be overridden, but every Republican who dares vote to sustain Bush's veto be subject to defeat. And Democrats should not be afraid to run ads showing how cruel and heartless these Republicans have been not only on this legislation, but on a number of other matters as well (Iraq and the bankruptcy bill among them).

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