BS: $30,000,000 paycheck for Junior....

Subject: RE: BS: $30,000,000 paycheck for Junior....
From: Banjer
Date: 20 Jun 02 - 06:04 AM

Guest, if you had bothered to read the article that Kat posted you would see that the rant here is about G.W. Jr. apparently receiving his kickbacks for passing legislation in favor of the big pill pushers.

Subject: RE: BS: $30,000,000 paycheck for Junior....
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Jun 02 - 01:07 AM

What the heck are you guys writing about? It makes as much sense as this recent posting.

i got a question for ya all. i hope this dosen't seem to forward for any one but i got this quest i guse you could call it. i need some info, any one know any thing on day called: the night of the raven? it's driving me nuts what's worse is not only was i born on that night if you go back 9 mo plus the days i was "late" the date lands on the night of osiris. but if you go by what the dr predicted you fall on the night of diana (i think it's diana, i know it's greek or roman and it deals with her or artamis, plus i'm too lazy to get up and look at the calender again)? wierd or what? can some one help me find some info on theses nights the dates seem too hand picked to be just a random thing. well later. hope to be back soon if you'll have me. my dreams as well have been getting weirder and i'm starting to find out few things ni my life are truly random any more. and whats weireder is when i rember my dreams whitch is more frequently as of late, i'm finding myself in arcadia or in the mist covered isle of avolon. always a gaurdian of mine at my side but why is all this happening now? and can any one help me on my quest? i would be greatful for any help. raven, the wild child, aka wild one

Subject: RE: BS: $30,000,000 paycheck for Junior....
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Jun 02 - 11:10 PM

Yeah, you're right (hmmmm?). Make that Mr. Junior and Co. Jus funnin'. You all take the hillbilly too seriously sometimes. I point out the Mr. Junior is hauling in a lot of dough tonight and no one says much other than Emily Post stuff and that other folks are doing it. Yaeh, everyone says they want campaine finance reform but when the chips are down and the payoff is right there for everyone to see, folks just want to say, "Hey, that's the way it is." Meanwhile, our parents are making choices between food and medicine. And 'ol Bobert getting called to the carpet fir some protocol thing. Hmmmmmmm? Wait until we're the ones amking the choice betwen food and medicine. Then ol' Bobert's post tonight won't seem quite so off the wall....

Respect for those on fixed incomes.

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: $30,000,000 paycheck for Junior....
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 19 Jun 02 - 05:11 PM

And the last I looked it was only proper etiquette to address the President of the United States as Mr. - unless in West "By God" Virginia they have a different form of respect going.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: $30,000,000 paycheck for Junior....
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 19 Jun 02 - 05:09 PM

And this is something new for politicians? Sounds like the same thing all of them have always been doing. And that they see this as the last opportunity before the new law (campaign finance reform) comes in only reinforces the need for reform.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: $30,000,000 paycheck for Junior....
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Jun 02 - 03:29 PM

Not hard to see whose hands are in whose pockets, eh? Here's the article, in case it disappears from HERE

By Jim VandeHei and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 19, 2002; Page A01


Pharmaceutical companies are among 21 donors paying $250,000 each for red-carpet treatment at tonight's GOP fundraising gala starring President Bush, two days after Republicans unveiled a prescription drug plan the industry is backing, according to GOP officials.

Republican officials declined to disclose the donors to the event at the Mayflower Hotel, which is expected to net as much as $30 million for the party. But people familiar with the dinner said drug companies, as well as financial service firms, are among the biggest contributors. Both industries are lobbying aggressively to fend off new, costly regulations in the waning days of this congressional session.

Drug companies, in particular, have made a rich investment in tonight's event. Robert Ingram, GlaxoSmithKline PLC's chief operating officer, is the chief corporate fundraiser for the gala; his company gave at least $250,000. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group funded by the drug companies, kicked in $250,000, too. PhRMA, as it is best known inside the Beltway, is also helping underwrite a television ad campaign touting the GOP's prescription drug plan.

Pfizer Inc. contributed at least $100,000 to the event, enough to earn the company the status of a "vice chairman" for the dinner. Eli Lilly and Co., Bayer AG and Merck & Co. each paid up to $50,000 to "sponsor" a table. Republican officials said other drug companies donated money as part of the fundraising extravaganza.

Every company giving money to the event has business before Congress. But the juxtaposition of the prescription drug debate on Capitol Hill and drug companies helping underwrite a major fundraiser highlights the tight relationship lawmakers have with groups seeking to influence the work before them.

A senior House GOP leadership aide said yesterday that Republicans are working hard behind the scenes on behalf of PhRMA to make sure that the party's prescription drug plan for the elderly suits drug companies. Republicans favor a private-sector solution to lowering drug costs, one that requires seniors to buy insurance for drugs from companies or through a managed-care plan; Democrats want the drug benefit to be part of Medicare, a change companies fear could drive down profits.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee will debate the Republican plan today but break early so GOP lawmakers can attend the dinner.

GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman Nancy Pekarek said the fact that Congress was considering the GOP drug plan the same day as the annual fundraiser was "coincidental," though she said her company backed the principles behind the House proposal. "Generally we do support Republicans because they favor a business environment that is actually conducive to high-risk R&D investment," she said.

Both parties hold glitzy fundraising events here to wine and dine their most generous donors. Democrats often draw six-figure contributions from Hollywood stars, wealthy trial lawyers and the heads of labor unions, many of whom are looking for help on legislation.

Last night, Democrats were working with a group called the Progressive Donor Network, which is funded by their biggest donors, to pull together ads criticizing the GOP for its position on prescription drug coverage, according to a Democratic operative familiar with the discussions. Democrats are developing as one of their major campaign themes an attack on the GOP for its close relationship to businesses, especially those, such as drug companies, that polls show are unpopular with voters.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terence R. McAuliffe called the fundraiser an "explicit quid pro quo [that] speaks volumes about where Republican priorities lie."

Still, tonight's event shows how Republicans are smashing fundraising records under the leadership and guidance of Bush and his political team. They are approaching corporations and lobbyists early and often, offering face-time with Cabinet officials and party luminaries, such as Lynne Cheney, the wife of the vice president, who headlined a dinner last night for big donors at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Nancy Dorn, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, is co-hosting a briefing on the federal budget fight today, and Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans is the keynote speaker at a luncheon afterward.

With more than 6,000 guests expected, tonight's dinner is likely to be the best-attended GOP fundraiser since President Ronald Reagan endorsed Vice President George Bush in the 1980s. To accommodate the crush of guests, organizers have begun asking $100,000 donors to take just one table, instead of the four to which they are entitled. The event is unlikely to top the $33 million Republican National Committee gala featuring the president last month.

Many of the donors see this as the last "soft money" hurrah before the new campaign finance law takes effect after the fall elections. Most of the money raised tonight will be in the form of unregulated soft money; the proceeds will be split between the Republicans' House and Senate campaign committees. "This could be the last one of these," said Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the chairman of the event. Boehner raised more than $3 million.

In addition to GlaxoSmithKline, others that contributed $250,000 to the event include Blue Cross/Blue Shield, PepsiCo. Inc., Microsoft Corp., CSX Corp., Siebel Systems, Mandalay Resort Group, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Trade associations representing beer wholesalers and life insurers anted up the same amount. Smaller donors include MBNA Corp., Fidelity Investments, the Securities Industries Association, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Deloitte & Touche.


© 2002 The Washington Post Company

Subject: RE: BS: $30,000,000 paycheck for Junior....
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Jun 02 - 03:18 PM

Kat:

You know that my gray madda ain't into that blue stuff but yes, teh Washington Post, June 19 (today) page A1 entitled "Drug Firms QAmong Big Donors at GOP Event", written by Jim VadeHei and Juliet Eilperin. If you know how to access that and do a bluey thingy. ol Bobert would sure appreciate it and it might save poor ol' Douggie a red facing when he reads my post and fires off on of his famous stand-by-your-man tirades he likes to do when I casually mention that Junior and Co. are, well... crooks. Okay, I kindof take that back. Bullies who steal hard workin' folks money. Yaeh that's better, don't ya think?...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: $30,000,000 paycheck for Junior....
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Jun 02 - 02:58 PM

Bobertdarlin'...is there an article you can point me to with some fo those figures? I don't doubt you, at all, would just like to know more. Thanks!

kat

Subject: $30,000,000 paycheck for Junior....
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Jun 02 - 02:52 PM

Well, next time you write a check for a perscription drug, know that some of that money will be going to Junior and Co.. Yep, a whopping $30,000,000.00 is the expected payoff for the administration willingness to write their perspective drug plan that the pharmaceutical companies have been pushing in tonight's fund raiser at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. this evening. Hmmmmmmm? Make's ol' Bobert happy that McCann finally got the bucks out of politics. Yep, gonna go stick an extra flag on my 16 yera old Toyota.

Heck, the bill is so industry friendly that even Blue Cross dropped a quarter mill on Junior just fir good measure. Hmmmmmmmm? Wonder if this has anything to do with my health insurance going up 20% in the last year? But really, where'd they get that dough?

And there are still folks out there in the Cat World who steadfastly sit by their puters day and night ready and willing to defend, rationalize and otherwise avoid the reality that a lot of folks are getting tired of having their lunch money stolen from bullies who think it is their birthrite to do just so.

Beam my poor ol' overworked, underpaid and ripped off butt up, Scottie...

And, in case I haven't mentioned it lately, vote Green.

Bobert