Top House Republican Opposes Drug Import Bill (breaks promise)

[Nambe]

WASHINGTON (Reuters)

The House Republican leader said on Tuesday he was "working hard" to defeat a bill set for a vote this week that would allow imports of cheaper drugs from Canada and certain other foreign countries.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, said the Republican leadership had made the commitment to hold a vote on the bill but "there was no commitment to pass it." ---

However, his stance against the bill angered its key sponsors, who said they had been promised neutrality by Republican leaders.

"I thought we were having a fair fight," said Jo Ann Emerson, a Missouri Republican who gave the Republican leadership the one-vote margin needed to pass a Medicare bill last month after she was promised a vote on drug import legislation.

The House will vote, probably on Thursday, on a proposal by Minnesota Republican Gil Gutknecht that would allow importation of drugs from approved industrialized countries, including much of Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Africa.

Banish bush From Texas Too

[I AM SPARTACUS]

1. slimy slimy...d'ya think that this'll escape the attention of AARP?

[alaine]

2. "He wouldn't let them in" even though they were already

there...'we committed to hold a vote, but not to pass it'...'the cops were called on Stark, not on the dems in the library'...'it's the CIA's, no , Condi's fault'...

All this spin is making me awful dizzy.

[Mithras61]

3. I can't figure out why...

the 'Pukes keep alienating such large segments of the population.

Do you suppose that they really think we'll vote against our own self-interests simply because they tell us loudly and frequently that THEY are looking out for us, when every bit of evidence demonstrates clearly that they are really only interrested in raising money and screwing the poor to benefit the corporations and the extremely wealthy?

[LauraK]

5. Remember the short term memory of middle America.

You can beat on them until a month before the election. Then tell them sweet lies and they vote for you.

[snippy]

4. Emerson switched her vote on the Medicare bill only after heavy pressure

from Hastert and DeLay. After the vote she said: "I guess I was praying I could trust what the leadership said."
http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/politics/story/929452p-6476654c.html

Several people here commented at the time that if she belonged to a decent party she would not have to pray that she could trust its leadership. It also was pointed out that Hastert and DeLay would not keep their word as she understood it.

The democrats should jump on this and link the lies of Hastert and DeLay on this vote to the lies of Bush on Iraq. They need to run ads saying that even republican members of Congress can not believe the leaders of the republican party. In fact, republicans are forced to pray that the leaders of their party are not lying to them again. Republicans lied about Iraq. Republicans lied about Medicare. Republicans lied about tax cuts. Republicans lied about the economy. And so on.