Homeland Bill - a republican powergrab?

[RedRed]

Hello

Found this -

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56449,00.html

"The bill the president supported was 35 pages long. The bill that I've been asked to vote on on Monday or Tuesday is 484 pages long, filled with special-interest legislation, loaded up by the House Republicans in the last few days,

Has someone been a naughty boy?

Seems that a lot of of corporate protection stuff is being pushed through under the 'defense against terrorism' excuse....

RedRed

[cjolley]

Congress?
Power Grab?
Give Away?
I'm shocked!
Shocked I say!
Congress acting like Congress!?
chuck

[GT98]

Policitics

[Dr Mordrid]

Actually the one part that is most controversial, the immunity for companies making vaccines, is warranted.

Right now there is a totally groundless lawsuit against the companies that used a certain preservative in vaccines for ~50 years before it was replaced about 10 years ago.

The arguement is that because this preservative had a near-undetectable amout of mercury, less than one would get by eating a couple of meals worth of fish, that it caused autism in kids if the vaccinations were given while they were under 5.

Like so many other lawsuits of this kind the epidemiological studies done since it came on the market right up to the present day show this isn't the case, but nevertheless the companies that used this preservative could be driven out of business if they lose the lawsuit.

This has happened so many times in the last 20 years that instead of 50 companies creating new vaccines we are now down to about 4. If the remaining manufacturers decided that making new (and very possibly better) vaccines isn't in their econimic best interest we all lose bigtime.

As we all know from cases like the McDonalds hot coffee and OJ cases juries in some locales don't exactly follow science or common sense

Who is doing the complaining about this immunity?

Those Senators who are beholding to the trial lawyers, of course.

Dr. Mordrid

[GNEP]

That sounds similar to the measles-mumps-rubella triple vaccinations shenanigans we've been having over here Doc.

[cjolley]

Originally posted by Dr Mordrid
...Who is doing the complaining about this immunity?

Those Senators who are beholding to the trial lawyers, of course.

Dr. Mordrid

Who is voting for immunity from any mistakes drug companies might make?

Those Senators who are beholden to the drug companies, of course.

Same game, different teams.

chuck

[RedRed]

I would hummbly suggest that the driver for that particular clause is being driven not by the 'Those Senators who are beholding to the trial lawyers' but rather by Those Senators who are beholding to the parmacutical giants instead.

BTW the reasons the US is down to 4 maufacturers of these vaccines is not fear of litagation - that can be tied up for decades.... rather it is because:
A:
most of the major manufacturers of such pharmacuticals have merged over the last 20 years, and
B:
this is coupled with the fact that they are relatively low margin solutions for the companies to produce and
C:
the gross profit managing a disease rather than preventing it happening in the first place is of huge benefit to the Parmacuticals.

The main point is though that these and many more reforms would never stand alone in a bill. These were added to push them through under a banner of nationalism and a blanket of fear, rather than reasonable debate. How can someone stand up and complain about the bill when the core of it is being pushed through in that way?



RedRed