The Clinton's are *never* more popular than when they are the "victims" of smears. Rush may have just bumped both of them up 5 points with this tale.
Hey, I hate the Clinton's just as much as the next guy
But would Rush have proof of this??
Right now he sounds like he is being chewed out by a few callers
From Inside Politics in today's Washington Times.
Three senators
"A few weeks from now, when the country has run out of flu vaccine and people want to know why, we suggest they knock on the doors of Senators Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Lincoln Chafee. Perhaps the three Republicans can explain when they intend to honor their promise to hold an open debate about the tort liabilities facing vaccine makers," the Wall Street Journal says.
"The reason for today's shortage -- as well as seven previous preventive vaccine shortages since 2000 -- is that there are just five vaccine makers. This lack of suppliers is partly thanks to Hillary Clinton, who as first lady turned government into the majority buyer of vaccines and pushed prices so low as to make business unsustainable. (This price control approach, we'd note, is what Democrats would now like to inflict on the Medicare drug program.)
"But just as worrying to manufacturers is an explosion of class action lawsuits. Vaccine makers are supposed to be protected from suits by 1986 legislation, but tort lawyers have found loopholes and filed more than 200 cases. The Republican leadership fixed this by including a liability provision in the Homeland Security legislation of a year ago. That is, until Ms. Snowe, Ms. Collins and Mr. Chafee objected to its 'dark of the night' insertion and forced Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist into repealing it," the newspaper said in an editorial.
"In return for their victory, the senators promised an open debate on broad liability reform within six months. That would have been ... June. But the Senate canceled a markup on a reform bill in April and the senators have gone quiet. Apparently, making sound vaccine policy isn't as politically rewarding as preening before the media by standing up to 'special interests' (vaccine makers). So, what's your solution for the flu-shot shortage, senators?"
The Clinton's are *never* more popular than when they are the "victims" of smears. Rush may have just bumped both of them up 5 points with this tale.
I'm not sure how to take this: as sarcasm or honest belief. So at the risk of stepping on your toes let me say: 1) Pharmaceutical companies aren't in business for their health. It doesn't matter what business you're in; if a product doesn't make you one thin dime (or even ends up costing you money) after paying all expenses, why the heck bother to make it? 2) In Thomas Sowell's latest book "Applied Economics: Beyond Stage One" he states (and I'm paraphrasing here) that out of something like 5,000 compounds only about a half dozen are worth pursuing further; that it takes between $250-$800 million from start to finish to bring 1 new drug to market. Hence the "obscene" cost of $6 a pill. While I don't have the figure in hand, somehow I suspect the actually free-and-clear profit these companies make is no more "obscene" or "unconscionable" than, say, the local movie theater or grocery store...or your local MD.
(And let's not even go into how possibility/threat/expectation of law suits in today's trigger happy climate effects these prices.)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/964497/posts
GENEVA - The World Health Organization said Tuesday that it is aware of reports of flu vaccine running out in areas of the United States, but said supplies appear to be adequate around the world.
Spokesman Iain Simpson said the U.N. health agency had heard the Centers for Disease Control were looking into the possibility of a vaccine shortage in the United States.
"But as far as we're aware globally, no there's no shortage," said Simpson.
Health authorities in different parts of the United States said they were running out of flu vaccine after demand soared because of reports that this year's epidemic was having a heavier impact than usual. Shortages have also been reported in Singapore.
Simpson said WHO monitors the annual flu season, including availability of vaccine, through a network of health professionals who report outbreaks and other developments.
"It's basically set up to identify the type of the virus that's circulating this year," said Simpson. "But it also acts as a clearing house for other information including information on vaccines, so if there were a vaccine shortage, then we would find out about it like that."
Simpson said there might be a shortage at one doctor's clinic or at one hospital, but government authorities would have to declare that there's a shortage in an entire country to raise the level of concern.
"Obviously if it's a shortage in a region, then it's about distribution within the country," he said. "If it's a shortage in a country, then WHO might get involved, but not necessarily."
Simpson said that shortages typically appear much later in the season, in February or March.
"Frankly by then flu vaccine is less worthwhile anyway because it takes several weeks to have its full effect," he said. "We recommend that people get vaccinated before or at the very beginning of the flu season.
"Vaccine does tend to run out at the end of the flu season, and that's not a cause for concern. If vaccine were running out at this point, then it might be. It would depend on the circumstances in a particular country."
When I posted this, I posted it under "Breaking News" and shortly afterwords, it was hard to find. Why was it moved to "chat"?
In 1999 Congress charged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the establishment of the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile (NPS). The mission was to provide a re-supply of large quantities of essential medical materiel to states and communities during an emergency within twelve hours of the federal decision to deploy.