No Shame: Big Pharma Using Illegal Immigration Issue to Trick Conservatives Into Dancing for Them |
Something that informed my decision as a young man to pursue politics was "Clear and Present Danger," the movie where Harrison Ford stands up to almost infinite Washington shenanigans. One of the more memorable lines is when the corrupt POTUS tells Ford that he needs to do the “old Potomac two-step”—say one thing while doing another.
I have been reminded of this as I’ve seen one of Washington’s biggest, most corrupt actors—Big Pharma—try to get conservative Americans to dance for them by using the issue of illegal immigration to train ire on drugmakers’ opponents in a major policy fight, while conveniently ignoring the industry’s role as a magnet for illegal immigration, including from migrants who will give birth to anchor babies while on U.S. soil.
Conservatives traditionally supported the pharmaceutical industry because we believed that the government should stay out of industries' way so they can do their best work, unencumbered by heavy-handed regulation. In the case of the drug industry, in theory, anyway, this means creating new, innovative medicines. But while we’ve been Big Pharma’s friend, its only friend is profits. Big Pharma gave red America the opioid crisis, which has become a........