Update: Sen Carper confirms quid pro quo! Is Pharma the Chamberlain of the health care wars? YES!!!: Boehner to Big Pharma: Don’t be an appeaser….

Update: Courtesy of HA, Sen Carper CONFIRMS the quid pro quo deal b/w phaRma and TOTUS for the ad buy. He is actually whining about it, apparently not grasping the IMMORALITY snd perhaps ILLEGALITY of the deal. He is upset that Baucus isn’t sticking to the right $ figure! What a maroon!

Okay Seniors, it is up to you. TOTUS promised you could buy RXs from Canada and he sold you down the river for a 150m ad buy and buy in from phaRma for reforms.

CALL YOUR CRITTERS! JUST SAY NO TO THE QUID PRO QUO!

Right on John!

Politico:

In a scathing, borderline condescending, “dear colleague,” Boehner urged Tauzin to unwind PhRMA’s deal with President Barack Obama and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to support health care legislation in exchange for profit protection under rules established in the controversial 2003 prescription-drug bill….

…Drugmakers agreed to find tens of billions in savings in order to trim the federal government’s prescription-drug tab under Medicare in exchange for other protections, like allowing the industry to preserve a lucrative rebate structure under Medicare Part D and the White House’s agreement to oppose any move to force the government import lower-priced drugs from Canada. The industry also committed to spend $150 million to advertise in support of health care reform – although it has not yet endorsed any of the four bills to pass out of committee.

Boehner’s letter, which is excerpted after the jump, speaks for itself. But the central thrust is that PhRMA cut a bad deal, in large part, because Democrats will eventually renege, Boehner argues. It reads like a jilted lover laughing at his ex-girlfriend after she gets dumped by the replacement boyfriend. Check it out.

These are EXCERPTS of the letter:

“Dear Billy,

“Appeasement rarely works as a conflict resolution strategy. This is as true in the arena of policymaking as it is in schoolyards across America. When a bully asks for your lunch money, you may have no choice but to fork it over. But cutting a deal with the bully is a different story, particularly if the “deal” means helping him steal others’ money as the price of protecting your own.

“The simple truth is, two wrongs don’t make a right. And the short-sighted health care deal PhRMA struck with the Obama Administration at your urging provides confirmation of this time-tested maxim on an epic and tragic scale.

“The “bully” in this case is Big Government. At your behest, PhRMA has chosen to accommodate a Washington takeover of health care at the expense of the American people in hopes of securing favorable treatment and future profits. It’s a short-sighted bargain that leaves your own customers and employees behind. And it now has all the markings of a deal gone sour.

“The Obama Administration tacitly acknowledged last week that the President will not be bound by the $80 billion limit PhRMA and its board of directors were led to believe had been secured in exchange for your organization’s support of the Administration’s health care takeover, and key Democrats in Congress, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), have said explicitly they will not honor the agreement. In other words, now that the deal is publicly known and would be messy for you to reverse, Big Government is changing the terms. . .because it can. Consequently, the jobs of PhRMA workers are no more secure than they were before, the threat to PhRMA’s groundbreaking medical research remains, and the American people – including PhRMA’s customers and the families of PhRMA employees – face the prospect of higher costs and reduced quality in health care.

“You will inevitably object to this letter and quarrel with its premise. You’ll no doubt argue PhRMA has publicly opposed the version of the bill backed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). But the simple press release your organization issued objecting to the House bill is dwarfed by the $150 million advertising campaign your organization has launched in support of ObamaCare with the assistance of well-funded political organizations on the Left.

“PhRMA would do well to halt this short-sighted, misguided campaign and listen to the American people, rather than continue to collaborate on an effort to spin them.

“Republicans across the nation have listened, and here’s what we’ve learned: Americans are frustrated with their government in Washington and skeptical of those who run it. They want health care reform that lowers costs and increases choice – not government-run health care that increases costs and limits options. They want legislation that helps families and small businesses with their problems, not legislation that adds to their problems while empowering an elite few. They’re worried about the debt being piled on our children and grandchildren, and they want the spending and borrowing spree in Washington to stop. They want policies that support job creation and protect freedom, not bills that force responsible citizens to subsidize bad behavior from those who insist on being irresponsible.

“The millions of American families who are PhRMA customers and the hard-working professionals who work for PhRMA companies deserve better than the government takeover of health care being forced upon them. I urge you to rethink your organization’s stance, listen to the American people, and join the call for responsible bipartisan health care solutions that truly reflect their priorities.”

The letter is signed simply, “John.”

Firehouse courtesy of oldrocknroll78