Under The Radar

[Guest guest]

http://www.americanprogress.com

 

Under The Radar

 

 

TRADE – PROTECTING THE DRUG COMPANIES: HIV and AIDS

have exploded throughout the developing world; in

these poorer countries, most people are unable to

afford expensive, brand-name drugs.

 

Although President Bush has paid a lot of lip service

to fighting the battle against AIDS, the Wall Street

Journal reports today that U.S. trade negotiators are

opposing the proliferation of generic drugs,

supporting the powerful pharmaceutical lobby at the

expense of fighting the disease: " As public-health

groups urge wider use of generic drugs to lower the

cost of treating AIDS and other diseases in developing

countries, U.S. trade negotiators -- prodded by the

drug industry -- are taking the opposite stance in new

trade pacts, seeking to strengthen protections for

costlier brand-name drugs. "

 

HALLIBURTON – THE " GRAVY TRAIN " KEEPS ROLLING:

Pentagon documents obtained by NBC News support

charges the military contractor wasted precious

resources " even on routine services " in Iraq,

overspending for fancy computers, 5-star hotels, and

CD players in employee-driven SUV's.

 

Marie deYoung, a former Army chaplain who audited

accounts for a Halliburton subsidiary and had defended

the company against " political slurs " in the past, has

radically changed her opinion. " It's just a gravy

train, " she said, claiming " there was no effort to

hold down costs because all costs were passed on

directly to taxpayers.

 

She repeatedly complained to superiors of waste and

fraud. The company's response, according to deYoung,

was: 'We can be as dumb and stupid as we want in the

first year of a war, nobody's going to care.' " DeYoung

cited charges including " $50,000 a month for soda, at

$45 a case; $1 million a month to clean clothes — or

$100 for each 15-pound bag of laundry. 'That money

could have been used to take care of soldiers,' she

said. "

 

CONSUMER - KAISER WORKS TO WEAKEN PROTECTIONS: The LA

Times reports Kaiser Permanente, a major beneficiary

of the Bush administration's Medicare plan and a

contributor to the president and his allies, is

" joining an effort to weaken the 70-year-old consumer

protection law under which it was sued " and required

to disclose how it pays doctors to control costs.

 

The initiative would weaken California's tough Unfair

Competition Law, and " sharply limit who can sue and

under which circumstances. " Claiming the law leads to

frivolous lawsuits, affected businesses " say they are

prepared to spend tens of million of dollars if

necessary " to overhaul it.

 

The supposedly frivolous legislation has led to the

removal of tobacco billboard ads from within 1,000

feet of schools and forced bottled-water companies to

install filtration systems to remove illegal levels of

arsenic. Advocacy groups have also " used the law to

stop companies from marketing sugary children's

cereals as healthful " and they have sued insurance

companies for reducing earthquake coverage without

providing adequate notice.