Big Pharma has spent almost $263 million lobbying Congress not to lower the price of prescription drugs. And, that's just the bill for this year so far.
The industry is employing three lobbyists for every Congressional member, if OpenSecrets is correct. OpenSecrets tracks campaign financing and lobbying.
Much of the money reaches the pockets of the legislators via campaign donations.
Clearly, the lobbying industry should be reined in.
Do we have any lids on how much they can spend? Do we have any caps on how much legislators can take in? If not, why not? If we can see this destroys us so, why do we let it happen? Members of Congress perhaps like the money. With it, they campaign for re-election at great advantage against their challengers. And, if Big Pharma sees a challenger who might win, they can step in and contribute to that campaign, hedging their bets.
So, Congress is not likely to do something unless the people rise up and demand it. Corruption protects itself. If something is to be changed, it will take pressure from the outside.
Have you ever seen a group carrying protest signs outside of a hospital? Have you ever read of such a thing? If the nation has anything more important to protest, I don't know what it is.
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