U.S. Politics

[Richard Smith]

92% of House Republicans voted AGAINST lowering the cost of insulin.

193 House Republicans vote to keep insulin prices high

Only 12 Republicans in the House of Representatives joined all Democrats to vote for the Affordable Insulin Now Act.

Nearly all House Republicans on Thursday night voted against a bill that would dramatically lower the cost of insulin, the life-saving diabetes drug that has skyrocketed in price in recent years.

The House passed the Affordable Insulin Now Act by a vote of 232-193, with every Democrat and just 12 Republicans voting for the bill. If enacted, the bill would cap the price for a month supply of the drug at $35, or 25% of the negotiated insurance price.

According to the website GoodRx Health, the average price for insulin spiked by 54% between 2014 and 2019, an increase that's led to insulin rationing, a dangerous and sometimes deadly tactic in which diabetics use less insulin than needed in order to avoid depleting their supply of the expensive drug.

"Insulin prices are outrageous! Diabetics, like me, pay almost $100 for a unit that costs $12 in Canada. It causes some to ration or skip days to survive," Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ) tweeted. "Today, I voted for a bill to cap insulin prices at $35 per month. No one should have to choose between food or medicine!"

Republicans condemned the bill as government interference in health care.

"Today it's the government fixing the price of insulin. What's next?" Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said during debate on the bill. "Gas? Food? History tells us that price-fixing doesn't work."

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), while calling the legislation "another big government bill that claims to serve the American people by subverting basic economic theory with the proposed codification of government price controls," blamed the rising cost of insulin on increased demand due to Americans getting fatter.

"The number of diabetes cases in the U.S. has nearly doubled. The demand for insulin has increased and the requisite price increase has followed suit. In other words, the price of insulin increases as waistlines increase," Gaetz tweeted.

However, polling finds that voters support capping the cost of the drug.

A Data for Progress survey in November 2021 found that 87% support capping the cost of insulin at $35 per month.

Provisions that would have lowered prescription drug prices were included in President Joe Biden's Build Back Better framework, which stalled in the Senate.

It's unclear whether the standalone insulin bill can pass in the Senate.

Democrats would need to convince 10 Republicans to allow the bill to come up for a vote to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to stop a filibuster of it.

https://americanindependent.com/affordable-insulin-now-act-build-back-better-republicans-democrats-house-representatives-prices/

Great news.  Biden is finally implementing Trump's initiative after delaying it for years.

"The Trump administration finalized a rule in 2020 requiring federally qualified health centers to provide insulin at discounted prices, but the Biden administration has not implemented the rule. Former President Donald Trump also worked with drug manufacturers and insurance companies to allow Medicare enrollees to sign up for prescription plans offering insulin at $35 a month."

[Rick Plant]

President Biden is the greatest job creation president in history. This is the Biden Boom. Where was Donnie's jobs?

[Rick Plant]

Great news.  Biden is finally implementing Trump's initiative after delaying it for years.

"The Trump administration finalized a rule in 2020 requiring federally qualified health centers to provide insulin at discounted prices, but the Biden administration has not implemented the rule. Former President Donald Trump also worked with drug manufacturers and insurance companies to allow Medicare enrollees to sign up for prescription plans offering insulin at $35 a month."

Insulin was never capped at $35 and almost every single Republican just voted against capping it. Nice try.   

[Rick Plant]

Madison Cawthorn made bold allegations — here's why a legal expert thinks he might be right



Allegations from Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) of orgies and cocaine use among senior members of Congress he respects may not be entirely off base, a MSNBC analyst explained on Saturday.

On Saturday, MSNBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reported on the aftermath of Cawthorn's remarks.

"Madison Cawthorn is in hot water with the GOP after suggesting that members of his party participated in cocaine fueled orgies," Mohyeldin reported.

For analysis, the host interviewed attorney and comedian Dean Obeidallah.

"Didn't you see 'Eyes Wide Shut'? You're not supposed to tell people about these parties," he said, referencing the 1999 Stanley Kubrick movie staring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

He noted that 2020 GOP Senate nominee Lauren Witzke said Cawthorn was right.

"There might be something going on," he said. "I don't want to have any mental images of Kevin McCarthy at an orgy, but I think there might be something going on behind the scenes. It might be big Republican donors inviting these younger, attractive Republicans over for some fun," he said.

"But I will say, in all seriousness, I think there's something here. I think there really is something going on, maybe not to that extent, exaggeration is not a denial. So no mental images here, but I think there's something ugly going on in the GOP caucus.," Obeidallah said.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Biden got two more federal judges confirmed on Thursday.

Total # at this point of presidency:
TRUMP: 29
BIDEN: 58

Biden’s now confirmed judges at twice the rate of Trump

Biden has appointed most federal judges through March 1 of a president’s second year
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2022/03/04/biden-has-appointed-most-federal-judges-through-march-1-of-a-presidents-second-year/

[Rick Plant]

The United States is currently reporting 15,647 coronavirus hospitalizations, the lowest mark since reporting began in July 2020, according to data from @CNN and the Department of Health and Human Services.

President Biden promised to get the coronavirus under control and he has done it.

[Rick Plant]

The GOP is not "pro life" and they just proved it again by voting against millions of diabetic Americans and their families. Thankfully we have Democrats in charge of the House who voted to help millions of Americans pay $35 for insulin. There was absolutely no reason for Republicans to vote against capping insulin prices at $35. I agree, Remember in November.