Progress Report: Laughing Off Victims

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Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:08:23 -0800

Progress Report: Laughing Off Victims

" American Progress Action Fund "

<progress

 

 

The Progress Report

 

by Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin

 

December 16, 2004

ECONOMIC CONFERENCE Laughing Off Victims

HEALTH CARE The Revolving Door Swings Again

MISSILE DEFENSE Boys And Their Toys

UNDER THE RADAR Go Beyond The Headlines

 

 

ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

Laughing Off Victims

 

Knight-Ridder reports Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli and President

Bush took turns bashing trial lawyers to waves of audience laughter at

the White House economic summit yesterday. Nardelli said, " What you

have today is business on one side, and you've got the trial lawyers

on the other side. You've got deep pockets colliding with shallow

principles. " But if you ask scores of ordinary American shoppers and

workers killed or maimed at Home Depot – or hurt by poisonous Home

Depot products - they might not think bashing people's legal rights

and refusing to protect innocent victims is so funny. As the Atlanta

Business Chronicle has reported, Home Depot reported 185 customer

injuries a week in 1998 and has since refused media inquiries into its

safety record. The company also uses its vast legal team to bully

victims into signing confidentiality agreements about their injuries.

The federal government " has recorded nine worker deaths in the past

four years at Home Depot stores " and, in 2002, recorded a " 45 percent

jump " in workplace safety violations. In one high-profile accident,

NASA astronaut Jean-Loup Chretien's shoulder was crushed when a

68-pound drill press fell on him from more than 10 feet up – ending

his career. Because Home Depot refuses to take adequate safety

precautions, " They are creating canyons of death and injury and

inviting customers to walk down them, " said one attorney representing

families of victims. According to that attorney, the company has made

a management decision that it is cheaper to pay claims to injured

customers than pay for the necessary safety changes. Read the full

expose in the Atlanta Business Journal.

 

HEALTH CARE

The Revolving Door Swings Again

 

Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), one of the chief authors of the

industry-backed Medicare drug law pushed through Congress last year,

announced he will be the new president of the Pharmaceutical Research

and Manufacturers of America, the chief lobby for brand-name drug

companies. The Medicare bill Tauzin co-sponsored " showered billions of

dollars on the pharmaceutical industry while doing nothing to slow

increases in drug prices. " The legislation banned the reimportation of

prescription drugs from Canada and forbid the federal government from

using its bulk purchasing power to negotiate lower prices on

medicines. Today, Tauzin is reaping the benefits of that legislation,

landing a million-dollar job with the group he used to regulate.

 

GETTING LEGAL: Tauzin says his move is legal because he never

negotiated with PhRMA while he was chairman of the House Energy

Committee, where he had authority over the drug industry. The law

allows Tauzin to take any job he likes, as long as he refrains from

directly lobbying Congress for a year. That might not mean as much as

you think - he can still " legally tell other people how to lobby. In

addition, he can make campaign contributions, attend fund-raisers and

'interact socially' with people in Congress. "

 

TIMING IS EVERYTHING: The Medicare law, which " followed the industry's

specifications in many respects, " was signed by President Bush on Dec.

8, 2003. Just a few weeks later, in January 2004, Tauzin was put on

the industry short list for the job. Shortly after that, he resigned

his chairmanship to begin negotiations. As the Washington Post wrote

last January, " it will certainly be useful for the pharmaceutical

lobby to have one of the bill's godfathers as its paid advocate. "

 

A COZY RELATIONSHIP: Tauzin refused to disclose how much he would be

raking in with his new job, only saying it was " comparable " to pay at

other trade organizations. That going rate means Tauzin will make at

least $2 million a year, if not more. While in Congress, Tauzin raised

top dollar from the drug companies, taking in more than a quarter

million dollars since 2000. All in all, he accepted more than $218,000

from drug makers during his past 15 years in office. Rep. Pete Stark

(D-CA) summed it up, saying, " As a member of Congress, Billy

negotiated a large payout to the pharmaceutical industry by the

federal government. He's now about to receive one of the largest

salaries ever paid to any advocate by an industry. "

 

THE CAST OF CHARACTERS: Tauzin is far from the first to become a

lobbyist for the drug industry after working on legislation which

would benefit the industry. Last year, Medicare chief Tom Scully

obtained a waiver on a federal ethics rule to negotiate a job with the

drug industry at the same time he was running the Medicare program.

Scully, who threatened to fire the Medicare actuary if he revealed the

much higher cost of the legislation to Congress – resigned to become a

lobbyist for health care companies. And two top U.S. trade officials,

Ralph Ives and Claude Burcky, both left their government jobs this

past August to work for the same health care/drug industries for which

they went to bat in White House negotiations with Australia. They

crafted the deal that included provisions that " would allow

pharmaceutical companies to prevent imports of drugs to the United

States " and " watered down " the Australian government's ability to

negotiate lower medicine prices from drug companies before leaving to

work for the drug industry.

 

MISSILE DEFENSE

Boys And Their Toys

 

The Bush administration's rush to deploy a costly, unproven national

missile defense system " suffered an embarrassing setback yesterday

when an interceptor missile failed to launch during the first flight

test of the system in two years. " Pentagon officials could not

immediately explain the reason for the failure, which cast fresh doubt

on the feasibility of a system that " by some accounts has cost $130

billion and is scheduled to tally $50 billion more over the next five

years. " The previous test, in December 2002, " also flopped when the

kill vehicle failed to separate from the booster. " The most recent

failure comes as reports surface indicating there are questions about

another " major acquisition program " being pushed by the Bush

administration. That classified program, the details of which are

unclear, is believed to involve a " $9.5 billion spy satellite system

that could take photographs only in daylight hours and in clear

weather. " (For more on this issue, read this new report, " The Road To

Nuclear Security, " by American Progress's Lawrence Korb.)

 

A PATTERN OF FAILURE: The short history of the Bush administration's

favorite pet project, the national missile defense system, has been

fraught with failure. An April report by the Government Accountability

Office (GAO) warned the system was " largely unproven " because of a

lack of realistic testing and said the administration needed to

" enhance testing and accountability " before considering deploying the

system. The Pentagon's latest annual report, by Thomas Christie, the

director of operational testing and evaluation, reported that

assessments of the system's capabilities have so far been based on

" modeling and simulations, " rather than " operational tests of a

mature, integrated system. " And since last spring, three tests have

been delayed or canceled due to technical problems. Even if

yesterday's test had been successful, experts say the " rigged " nature

of the exercise would have rendered the results largely meaningless as

a tool for assessing the program.

 

THE COST OF FAILURE: Slate's Fred Kaplan points out that President

Bush's 2005 budget includes nearly twice as much funding for the

completely ineffective missile defense system as it allots for the

Department of Homeland Security to spend on customs and border patrol.

The $10.7 billion Bush plans to spend on missile defense is also " over

twice as much money as for any other single weapons system [and]…more

than the entire U.S. Army is spending on research and development. "

 

A FUTURE FOLLY?: Last week, four senators - John Rockefeller IV

(D-WV), Carl M. Levin (D-MI), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Ron Wyden

(D-OR) – issued a statement protesting the inclusion in the

Intelligence Reform Bill of a " program they believe is unnecessary and

the cost of which they believe is unjustified. " That program is

believed to be the " stealth satellite, " which would " probably become

the largest single-item expenditure in the $40 billion intelligence

budget. " It has been opposed by Republicans and Democrats on the

Senate intelligence committee, but continues to be financed at a cost

" of hundreds of millions of dollars a year " with support from the

House and the Bush administration. John Pike, an expert on space

imagery at GlobalSecurity.org, said the idea behind the stealth

satellite was " so the evildoers wouldn't know we are looking at them. "

But bipartisan opponents of the expensive program say it is unproven

and not " a good match against today's adversaries. "

 

 

Under the Radar

 

LEGAL – MILITARY LAWYERS OPPOSE GONZALES: According to the New York

Times, " Several former high-ranking military lawyers say they are

discussing ways to oppose President Bush's nomination of Alberto R.

Gonzales to be attorney general. " The military lawyers believe " Mr.

Gonzales's supervision of legal memorandums that appeared to sanction

harsh treatment of detainees, even torture, showed unsound legal

judgment. " Retired Brig. Gen. James Cullen, said Gonzales " purposely

ignored the advice of lawyers whose views did not accord with the

conclusions he sought. " For more detail on the Gonzales record, check

out this document from American Progress.

 

HOMELAND SECURITY – SHOW ME THE NANNY: There are serious questions as

to whether former Secretary of Homeland Security nominee Bernard B.

Kerik ever employed an illegal immigrant as a nanny. The White House

and Kerik have repeatedly cited the nanny as the one and only reason

that his name has been withdrawn. But the New York Times reports, six

days after Kerik's withdrawal, " the figure central to the scandal -

the nanny - remains a complete mystery. " Neither Kerik nor the White

House will provide even basic details, including " where she came from,

and even whether she was actually working in the country illegally. "

Mr. Kerik's lawyer said he " knows nothing about the nanny's identity,

the length of her employment or even her nationality. " A neighbor

" noted that Mr. Kerik's wife, Hala Matli Kerik, a former dental

hygienist, not only seemed to care for Celine [their daughter], now 4,

by herself, but that she did her own laundry as well. " Meanwhile, " the

Bronx District Attorney's Office said yesterday it will investigate

allegations that Kerik, " as the NYPD's top cop, " used a mob-connected

contractor to renovate an apartment he purchased. " Read all the

details on Kerik's record of corruption and graft.

 

POLITICS – CONSERVATIVES FRUSTRATED WITH RUMSFELD'S FAILURES: Defense

Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's condescending remarks to American troops

last week in Kuwait have sparked a barrage of criticism from fellow

conservatives in recent days. Over the weekend, Sen. Chuck Hagel

(R-NE) claimed the " irresponsible " Rumsfeld had " dismissed his

generals… [and] all outside influence, " while Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

said he had " no confidence " in Rumsfeld, citing " very strong

differences of opinion. " Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf has confessed

to being " angry " at Rumsfeld for acting like he " didn't have anything

to do with the Army and the Army was over there doing it themselves,

screwing up. " More recently, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), noted

" increasing concerns about the secretary's leadership of the war. " And

Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) said that he is " not a fan " of Defense

Secretary Rumsfeld, adding, " we do need a change at some point. " Even

GOP hawks are eyeing Rumsfeld like vultures. William Kristol, the

prominent neoconservative cheerleader for the Iraq invasion, slammed

Rumsfeld Wednesday in the Washington Post, arguing American soldiers

" deserve a better defense secretary than the one we have. " Will these

conservatives demand accountability and call for Rumsfeld's

resignation? Stay tuned. In the meantime, we echo the Republican

Senate aide quoted in the New York Times: " What does it take to get

fired around here? "

 

HEALTH – SCIENTISTS PRESSURED TO APPROVE DRUGS DESPITE RESERVATIONS:

The Washington Post reports, " almost one-fifth of the Food and Drug

Administration scientists surveyed two years ago as part of an

official review said they had been pressured to recommend approval of

a new drug despite reservations about its safety, effectiveness or

quality. " The survey also found " a majority had significant doubts

about the adequacy of federal programs to monitor prescription drugs

once they are on the market " and " more than a third were not

particularly confident of the agency's ability to assess the safety of

a drug. " The findings " appear to support some portions of the

controversial Senate testimony last month by FDA safety officer David

J. Graham. "

 

POLITICS – QUINN CASHES IN ON PUBLIC SERVICE: Retiring New York

Republican Rep. Jack F. Quinn Jr. has landed " one of the top lobbying

jobs in the capital. " Next year, he'll become president of Cassidy

Associates, " a gold-plated Washington lobbying firm whose clients

include Major League Baseball, Saudi Arabia, Boeing, D'Youville

College and 175 other entities. " The hiring indicates the continued

success of the so-called " K Street Project, " an attempt led by " House

Republican leaders, particularly House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of

Texas, " to systematically install conservatives at high-level

positions in firms on K Street, which " is to influence-peddling what

Wall Street is to finance. " The Buffalo News notes that Quinn " will

rank third [at Cassidy Associates] and will be the firm's only former

elected federal official who is a Republican. "