This blog was inspired by a string of comments to one of my previous blogs relating to politicians and immigration, not politicians and drug firms. 

Please, please do not get all weepy about the poor drug corporations.  Or try to get me all weepy about them, either. 

Ask any CEOs of drug firms what they're raking in.  Where'd the money come from?  The air?  I don't think so. 

Go to a web site with information about amounts donated by drug firms to U.S. lawmakers -- in any given year or years.  It is truly astonishing. 

And, although this particular situation has improved in the last year or so, it used to be business as usual for the people at the FDA approving drugs to have nice little incentive plans in place for when they left the FDA.  Not only that, they were given certain monetary incentives.  If these incentives were not above a certain amount, they were not required to be claimed on income tax returns of the FDA personnel.  That is pure fact. 

Lush promises were made to FDA or HHS personnel for lucrative positions at drug companies.  I'll bet none of them came right out and said, now if you approve my drug, or if you propose its approval, here's a little incentive for you.  I believe it was probably a little more subtle than that. 

It hardly seems ethical for those approving drugs to be hand in glove with the drug makers.  And the matter used to be worse; they've improved it somewhat. 

And just to be a little repetitive, 20-year patents for drugs can be expected.

I was somewhat angry last year when, for about three months, I was able to purchase a drug at a generic price; however, because of legal patent wrangling, after those nice three months the drug went back to its original brand pricing.  I was somewhat miffed at this jerking around.  I really don't like being jerked around.  I believe the drug came into being in 1987. 

Let us not forget that drug companies with original patents will pay generic makers to stay out of the business.  That has come to be frowned upon by the legal community via some shamed lawmakers.  That doesn't stop it from happening. 

And as for the business of all these billions or millions or whatever are spent in research and development for new drugs, let us not forget that much of this research is MARKET research.  That is pure fact. 

I do not resent an American company doing well.  That's what makes America spin.  However, I resent being "gouged" (your word, Doc Steech) after taxpayers have contributed so very much to the product being used. 

And just look up the name Billy Tauzin.  Now there's a character for you.  The fact that he's from my home state embarrasses me -- even in view of my home state's colorful political past (and present).

The politics of drug-making will continue to make strange bedfellows.

Meanwhile, John Q. Public is being pushed off onto the floor.   

This blog post is inspired today by a column written by Michael Barone, "A Watershed Moment on Immigration."  The link to that column is as follows:  

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/MichaelBarone/2007/11/05/a_watershed_moment_on_immigration

Most of our politicians still don't get it.

Americans for the most part have nothing against legal immigration.

They are fed up with aliens in our midst who, being here, are illegals; are very likely taking jobs away from American citizens; in many cases are felons whose native countries are grateful to be rid of them; and, also in many cases, are drains upon our very weakened social services.

Americans are fed up with a bunch of airheads in Washington who apparently believe that the Americans who put them in office are airheads.

The only thing they will loudly, gladly admit is that we want our borders protected.  Many of the Presidential hopefuls promise that our borders will be protected.

The thing they apparently cannot do is to create a way to deal with the illegals here already and committing mayhem in one way or another.

My suggestion to anyone who wants to be President is that he put on a very tight thinking cap and do the thing mentioned in the preceding paragraph.  In addition, of course, to protecting our borders.

This blog post is inspired by the column today (10/25/07) by Rich Lowry entitled, "The Un-Katrina."

The link to that column is as follows:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/RichLowry/2007/10/25/the_un-katrina

The effects of Katrina cannot be compared to the horrific wildfires that have swept across parts of Southern California like the very winds of hades.

Louisiana, even with its inadequate leadership (and it had inadequate leadership from Washington as well), never in its wildest dreams could imagine its city deluged and blown away as it was.  Sort of like death -- it's not going to happen to me.

It reminds me of that old sign people used to put on their desks at work:  PLAN AHEad (with the last couple of letters drifting downward toward the edge).

California's people are probably also more accustomed to dealing with disasters.  There are died-in-the-wool residents who have been through earthquakes, fires, and what-not, and probably take on these disasters with cooler heads than those who, while familiar with hurricanes, never truly expected Katrina.  And like other nature-torn individuals throughout this nation, most of them want to rebuild at the site of the disaster.  The place is a part of them.  Home.

We think of those who lost more than property:  their very lives.  The rest of the country mourns for them and their families.

California's rescue teams and its residents are to be commended.  Bravery under overwhelming fire. 

Our "chosen ones," those Great Washed there in Washington, who were chosen by We, the People, herein known as the Great Unwashed, have done very, very little in the way of urging that immigration laws are obeyed. 

Certainly our highest executive officer, one of the Greatest Washed, has done precious little along those lines.  In fact, it seems as though he has done everything in his power to completely ignore the matter unless he is in the process of making sure our Border Guards are properly guarded in prison for performing the work they were hired to do.

I have become completely jaded because even though it took much too long to come to my senses, I have learned that the "Great Washed" have no interest whatsoever in the Great Unwashed. 

The only things they care about are getting elected and re-elected, and, along the way, stuffing their drawers and any other piece of apparel with as much of the green stuff as they possibly can from any source they can. 

That is what the Great Washed care about.  They've got theirs.  Why should they care about the Great Unwashed?  The Great Unwashed comprise just another source.

Today we barely squeaked by in squashing one great, big amnesty bill called the "DREAM Act."  If the other side had gotten eight more votes, we would be staring at millions of amnesty seekers happily showing us one of their fingers, without our having recourse to do anything about it.  We would be helpless to stem the tide.  But the Great Washed will make a comeback if possible, and we must be ready for them.

Soon the Senate will be voting on a farm bill that I believe awards millions upon millions of dollars in farm subsidies to "gentlemen farmers" and big corporations.  Included among those farmers are a couple of Senate members, potato farmers, on the Agriculture Committee.  You don't suppose for a minute that either of these "Great Washed" would vote not to award themselves farm subsidies, do you?  And how about the big corporations receiving subsidies?  You don't suppose they would vote against subsidies there, do you? 

It is believed that one year one of these potato farmers received a subsidy of a little over two hundred thousand dollars.  The other is believed to have received "only" a little over a hundred thousand. 

Makes you want to be a potato farmer, doesn't it?  The only thing is, you'd need to be one of the Great Washed. 

Who would want to mix with the majority of that bunch?  There are a few exceptions, and I have mentioned them in some blogs and comments, but they are few indeed. 

For instance, if Jeff Sessions or Tom Coburn were in the running for the Republican nod, I would be torn, indeed.  Why hasn't somebody noticed them and dragged them into the fray?  Please. 

I'll let you all in on a secret:  I am not only one of the Great Unwashed, I am one very angry Great Unwashed. 

Through no fault of their own, the many U.S. Border Guards, according to Rep. Poe of Texas, are apparently guarding Interstate 10, which is a number of miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.  That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

The guards have been told specifically not to do what most of us would describe as "guarding the border."  That, in case any politicians happen to be reading this, means actually standing guard at the border and refusing entry to border-hoppers.

The guards have, according to Rep. Poe, been ordered to let people into the U.S. more quickly, that is, with fewer checks.  It takes less time that way.  Yes, indeed, it takes less time to allow more illegal entry into my country. 

This makes me very, very angry.  I have attempted for months and months to believe that I must be mistaken about what I could see happening before my very eyes.  The veil has been lifted, and what I see ain't pretty. 

The American people have been taken -- and are being taken -- for absolute fools.  What has happened to the spirit that, a few years ago, would cause us actually to guard our borders?  (Fight to keep that Second Amendment, my fellow Americans.)

I would like for some politician to tell me -- and quickly -- what happens when we become a third-world nation?  What happens when the majority of the hospitals close because they cannot afford to provide free health care from cradle to grave?  There are many questions to ask along these lines.

One very important question I would like to ask the politicians is this: 

WHERE IS THE FENCE?

I would like to know because I would like to boot some of those politicians right over it so that they hit the southern side with a nice, satisfying splat.

This blog post was inspired by a column today in Townhall (link follows), along with a comment thereto by "jlohman."  

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BillSteigerwald/2007/09/01/uh-oh,_canada?page=full&comments=true

To believe the Democrats (if elected) will "fix" the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan program is pie-in-the-sky hogwash.

Democrats wanted to give away even more of the farm than the Republicans did.

If elected, the Democrats will do exactly that:  they will give away even more of your grandchildren's retirement future, including whatever assistance they may have hoped for in the prescription drug realm.

The only thing any elected party could do to make this plan more palatable to its participants is to restructure that "doughnut hole" during which the entire "negotiated" price for a drug must be paid by the participant.

Just for the fun of it, see if you can check a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan "negotiated" price against a retail price for someone walking into a drugstore off the street -- someone with no drug insurance whatever.  That "negotiated" price would be found to be staggering of its own weight.

What is the sense in that?  My answer:  none.

In my opinion we were "done wrong" by the Republicans when they voted in this travesty and when the President signed it into law that December day. 

The Democrats should be reminded, however, that two wrongs do not make a right.  

Too many middlemen spoil the soup.

Continuing my tirade against prescription drugs from China, the fact is that we do not know exactly in what countries our drugs are manufactured, nor do we know whether the ingredients are "safe" (quotes used here because hardly any drug or ingredient can be thought of as completely safe to every potential consumer). Are there unsafe ingredients known to the manufacturer?  We will never know.  Who would make such an announcement?

I can see the headlines now:

    "___________ PHARMACEUTICALS ANNOUNCES DRUGS MANUFACTURED IN CHINA"

   "___________ Pharmaceuticals list all drugs it manufactured in China"

This post was inspired by an AP news article on 8/14/07 concerning Giuilani and his promise to stop illegal immigration in its tracks, and to get a bead on those illegals already here.  The title:  Giuliani Vows to Stop Illegal Immigrants."

The link to that article is as follows: 

http://www.townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2007/08/14/giuliani_vows_to_stop_illegal_immigrants

I would vote for Tiny Tim if I truly believed he could stop illegal immigration and get a track on the ones here, sending them to the "back of the line" if they want to be here so badly. 

I would vote for the Cookie Monster if I truly believed he could cause the capture, trial, conviction and lifetime sentencing (or death) for child perverts.  For murderers.  For drunk drivers.  For drunken vehicular murderers.  For jaywalkers, for heaven's sake. 

What in the world do you suppose would happen if somebody was trying to get into Mexico illegally?  Venezuela?  Germany?  England?  I believe that in the first two countries, the trespassers would be shot dead on the spot. 

Are we the only nation in the world that does not provide for border security?  What in the name of common sense has come over our government?  Our lawmakers?  Our courts?  Our law enforcement?  (Of course, we know what happens to U.S. Border Patrol Agents when they try their best to protect our borders.  They wind up with stiff prison sentences, that's what.  While the raggedy-rear-end illegal drug runners/murders run back and forth free as a breeze.  And not a pardon in sight for those unjustly imprisoned Border Guards.) 

Are we the only nation in the world that does not keep track of foreign "visitors" until they are here so long they just blend into the woodwork? 

Are we the only nation in the world where "catch-and-release" is an unfortunate description of what really happens to repeat offenders among the illegal alien population?  For this, are we the laughingstock of the world?  We should be, I am ashamed to say.  Repeat child rapists who are also illegal aliens have no place on earth, and certainly not roaming our country, also free as a breeze. 

How many terror cells have been created by not porous but completely open borders?  Is it not true that we have enough crackpot terrorists among our own citizenry so that we surely do not need any more from outside? 

As I said, I would vote for Tiny Tim or the Cookie Monster or just about anybody who could do what Giuliani is now promising.  Incidentally, this is the sticking point that lost McCain for most of us.  It's really too bad.  However, with that illegal immigrant attitude ..... well, that's the way it goes. 

This blog post is inspired by Phyllis Schlafly's 8/13/07 column entitled "Americans Need China-Free Food.  The link is as follows:  

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly/2007/08/14/americans_need_china-free_food 

Look at the tags in any piece of apparel you're wearing right now.  Odds are that at least one is from China. 

That is not as worrisome, however, as the idea that prescription drugs are manufactured in China. 

How much, and by whom?  Now there's a question for the sages. 

Next question:  who at the FDA inspects every little bottle and vial of prescription medication that reaches our shores from China?  Who? 

We already know that the FDA's resources are stretched to the limit.  Therefore, we cannot expect the FDA to assure us -- I mean really, really assure us -- that drugs from China are safe. 

The Federal government makes a big case out of the fact that there is no other country with safer drugs than the United States.  And that, my friend, is why there is absolutely, positively no "free trade" when it applies to an individual U.S. consumer. 

While it is true (per one of my U.S. Senators) that if an individual purchases drugs for his personal use from a foreign country, Customs will not hold it up.  However, the possibility hangs over one's head. 

I have drugs purchased four miles from home that are jet-setters of the first water:  they arrive from Ireland, England, Canada, and Germany, to name a few. 

Who inspects these drugs?  Who?  Aren't they drugs "from foreign countries"? 

There is nobody in the world who can assure me that my drugs are safe.  Certainly not the FDA. 

Drugs are beginning to be manufactured by the millions in China.  Do you want some?  Not me.  But who, pray tell, will advise me about this matter, particularly if the drug has been repackaged by the local pharmacy or by a Prescription Drug Plan mail-order company?

Would you rather have drugs manufactured in Canada or in China? 
This is part I.  The press of other matters calls me away from this subject which is one about which I care passionately.
There will be a Part II.  This subject needs press.