Boehner blasts PhRMA’s Tauzin over healthcare deal
By Jeffrey Young
Posted: 08/17/09 05:53 PM
The pharmaceutical industry's trade group has bowed to bullying by Democrats and sold out its members and the public, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) charges in a strongly worded letter to a former GOP congressman who helms the organization.
“Appeasement rarely works as a conflict resolution strategy,” Boehner wrote Monday to Billy Tauzin, the former Republican House member from Louisiana who has been president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) since 2005.
The House GOP leader takes Tauzin and PhRMA to task for striking a deal with Senate Democrats and the White House under which the group agreed to take an $80 billion hit on behalf of President Barack Obama’s campaign for healthcare reform.
“We’re at a pivotal moment in the debate and everyone’s jockeying for position,” PhRMA Senior Vice President Ken Johnson said in response to the letter. “Everyone has an opinion and everyone has the right to an opinion.”
“We remained convinced that we’re doing the right thing for patients and for our country,” Johnson said. “We have been working for more than a year to advance comprehensive healthcare reform.”
Boehner’s frustration with Tauzin and PhRMA seep out of practically every word of his letter. Outrage has been swelling in Republican ranks for months, meanwhile, as PhRMA and other erstwhile GOP allies in the healthcare and business community continue to support Obama’s push for healthcare reform – or at least refuse to aid Republican efforts to scuttle it.
more...
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/boehner-blasts-phrmas-tauzin-over-healthcare-deal-2009-08-17.html
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
