Dr. Mercola:
As a sobering example of how members of Congress can be spoon-fed the views and even the exact words of high-powered lobbying firms, consider remarks inserted into the Congressional Record after the debate and vote on health care reform in the House.
Statements by more than a dozen lawmakers were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by Washington lobbyists working for Genentech, one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies.
E-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that the lobbyists drafted one statement for Democrats and another for Republicans.
The lobbyists, employed by Genentech and by two Washington law firms, were remarkably successful in getting the statements printed in the Congressional Record under the names of different members of Congress.
The apparent goal was to show that, even though there were sharp divisions between the parties on the overall reform bill (only one Republican voted for it), there was bipartisan support for provisions relating to drugs produced by the biotechnology industry. One provision, for example, would allow generic competition to expensive biological drugs but only after the original manufacturer had enjoyed 12 years of exclusive use, a generous period by anyone’s standards.
Asked about the Congressional statements, a lobbyist close to Genentech said: “This happens all the time. There was nothing nefarious about it.”
Sources:
New York Times November 14, 2009
New York Times November 16, 2009
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
Let's remember that it all started with a gaggle of moralizing and marginalized religious dissidents who feasted on fowl, and a native relish of sour red berries.
On Thursday, Americans will stop and share a meal like these long-ago Pilgrims. Thanksgiving is the holiday of hope, as well as drumsticks and football. It is also the emblem of American identity -- of who we are as a people and our distinctive role in history.
The two New York Times’ articles above provide a powerful commentaryabout health care “reform,” and the true power behind the US health care system in general. They document the level of influence, corruption, and conflict of interest that affects your health.
There should be no doubt about the power the drug industry wields in shaping the US health care system.
Big pharma has been the driving force behind conventional medicine, and the beneficiaries of exploding health care costs for well over a century, and there are no signs that the current health care reform will change any of this.
Yes You, One Person, CAN Make a Difference
During this Thanksgiving season, I want to express my thanks to you for your partnership in the movement of awakening our culture to the truth about natural health and how the drug companies currently control the conventional medical system. And the best way I know to do that is to share with you how your partnership is making a difference.
This past year our partnership together has been able to FINALLY make a significant dent in the culture. We provided powerful explanations from some of the top experts in the world on these issues, and you were able to spread and share that message with MILLIONS.
You were so effective that the MAJORITY of the US population have refused the H1N1 vaccine despite the massive government propaganda and deception.
Doctors Typically Destroy Health Because It’s about Wealth, Not Health
Drug companies are not here to bring health to the population but to scam them on one level for vast amounts of money, by treating the symptoms and not addressing the cause.
Sir William Ossler, MD (1849-1919), one of the leading physicians at the turn of the twentieth century, and considered by many to be the founder of modern medicine, said that one of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine.
You are Making a Difference
Most everyone reading this does not understand that when I started this newsletter I was not a natural medicine expert. I was a simple family physician seeing patients in my office, who just decided I wanted to tell the truth about health to more people.
When I first started Mercola.com in 1997, to educate people about natural medicine, I had less than 100 subscribers and 300 page views per month. Twelve years later we have 1.5 million subscribers from nearly every country in the world, and we have over twenty million page views per month.
Do we have a ways to go?
Absolutely, but together we are making a difference.
You need to remember the obvious. We OUTNUMBER the evil doers by thousands to one. However, they are very well organized and have loads more money, power, and influence than we do.
You need to know that their Achilles Heel is our ability to communicate with each other and learn the truth about their lies and scams.
So persistently reading our newsletter and others that share the truth, and spreading the message with those you love and care about, will ultimately unite us enough that we can defeat them.
Mercola.com Charity Project
Many of you probably don’t realize that one-third of our staff of over 100 is based in Manila, Philippines. They are an absolutely amazing group of people, and are directly responsible for allowing us to have such a huge impact on the web.
Recently, the team decided to support the Kythe Foundation. It is an organization dedicated to treating cancer in children.
Our team built the website for them, and are helping provide the infrastructure to support their efforts.
I thought you would enjoy a video of how some of the efforts have been working to date and have included it below.
My primary passion is optimal health, so I have not specifically focused on cancer treatment. However, I know many of my readers know of experts in this area. If you know of anyone that is passionate about treating cancer in children, please have them contact BrianB@mercola.com so we can incorporate them into our team.
Remember, this is the Philippines, so most of the crazy prohibitions that exist in the US are absent and we can go all out to provide therapies that REALLY work. With your help, we can begin to replicate the work of how health care was effectively administered before the government got involved.
We can form the equivalent of charity hospitals, and leverage the Internet to provide life saving treatment to innocent kids who are suffering with tragic cancer. At this time, my only request is that you help us provide natural health experts who can help train the volunteer physicians in the Philippines with treatments that can help save these kids' lives.
Food for Thought
The nice thing about truth is that it never goes out of style. Here are several quotes that are as timely today, as when they were first uttered.
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
Thomas Jefferson
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
George Bernard Shaw
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
P.J. O‘Rourke, Civil Libertarian
Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.
Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)
If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it‘s free.
P.J. O‘Rourke
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn‘t mean politics won‘t take an interest in you.
Pericles (430 B.C)
What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.
Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)
