Lest we forget: "Sen. Lieberman Literally in Bed With Drug Lobby"

[Bluebear]

Joe Conason: Sen. Lieberman Literally in Bed With Drug Lobby

Editor’s note: In this column, Conason points out that the Connecticut senator who would lecture us on ethics drafted a bill in 2005 that made generous giveaways to pharmaceutical companies—one month after his wife went to work in the pharmaceuticals division of a major lobbying and PR firm.


...This news marked Hadassah Lieberman’s return to consulting after more than a decade of retirement. “I have had a life-long commitment to helping people gain better health care,” she said in the press release announcing her new job. “I am excited about the opportunity to work with the talented team at Hill & Knowlton to counsel a terrific stable of clients toward that same goal.”

It would be uplifting to imagine that Hill & Knowlton—after spending the past decade as a defendant in tobacco class-action lawsuits because of its role in propaganda disputing the deadly effects of smoking—is now devoted to improving everybody’s health. More likely, the firm remains devoted to improving the profits of its clientele, which has historically included Enron, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, Saudis, Kuwaitis, American International Group and Boeing.

When a senator’s wife works for one of the capital’s largest lobby shops, appearances tend to matter. In this case, something happened immediately that didn’t look very good.

Mrs. Lieberman signed up with Hill & Knowlton in March 2005. The firm’s clients included GlaxoSmithKline, the British pharmaceutical giant that manufactures flu vaccines along with many other drugs. In April 2005, Sen. Lieberman introduced a bill that would award an array of new government “incentives” to companies like GSK to produce more vaccines—notably patent extensions on other products, at a cost of billions to governments and consumers....

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060712_conason_lieberman_drug_lobby/

[tabasco]

1. He's a crook. That's why he gets along with Bush so well.

Do they think we won't notice their corruption?

[Lautremont]

2. THAT'S A LIE!

I heard they don't sleep in the same bed.

[Bluebear]

3. ...

:spray:

[Bluebear]

7. .

[Skidmore]

4. So he helped give seniors the big Donut, eh?

Let the weasal run as an independent.

[gratuitous]

5. Hill & Knowlton

If you're looking for the dark heart of American corporatism, Hill & Knowlton is one of the major arteries coming out of it. This firm has done major, influential work for some of the worst corporate citizens in our country, including big pharma and big tobacco.

[killbotfactory]

6. Class act all around