On Thursday, Senator Bernie Sanders turned his eye of scorn to members of his former party and slammed the 13 Democrats who voted against his bill which would have allowed the U.S. to import pharmaceuticals from Canada in order to lower prices.
The Senator, who has made it clear before that the only group he is loyal to is the people, called the Democrats out on their lack of “guts,” in voting against his bill.
“The Democratic Party has got to make it very clear that they are prepared to stand up to powerful special interests like the pharmaceutical industry and like Wall Street, and they’re not going to win elections and they’re not going to be doing the right thing for the American people unless they have the guts to do that.”
Still, though Sanders was disappointed and angered by the Democrats’ decision to reject his big pharma bill, he remains hopeful that they will eventually come around and stand up to the corporations they most fear.
“That 13 Democrats did not is disappointing. I absolutely hope that in the coming weeks and months you’re going to see many of them develop the courage to stand up to Pharma.”
Sanders is right to be disappointed and angry with the Democrats who voted against his bill. If just half of them had voted for it, it would have passed. Even a handful of Republicans voted in support of the bill, including Senators John McCain, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul.
Most notable among the Democrats who voted “no,” was New Jersey Senator Cory Booker who claimed that he and the other opposing Dems worried about drug safety standards. The truth is likely that Booker was heavily influenced by his long list of Big Pharma campaign contributors – of all senators, Booker receives the third highest contribution from the drug industry.
To Booker and other’s feigned concern about drug safety, Sanders said this:
“If we can import vegetables and fish and poultry and beef from all corners of the Earth, please don’t tell me that we cannot bring in, from Canada and other major countries, name brand prescription drugs of some of the largest corporations in the world. That’s a laughable statement.”
Sanders may be ready to forgive, but the rest of his progressive wing have proven in the past that they have a long memory. May Booker long regret the time he voted against Sanders and the American people.
