AL KAMEN, IN THE LOOP, WASHINGTON POST - Loop Fans were saddened when
colorful former Louisiana congressman Billy Tauzin (R) took his fine
Cajun Web site and left the House to be head of PHRMA, the drug lobby.
But Tauzin continues to delight. CBS's "60 Minutes" on Sunday will have
a piece by Steve Kroft on the high price of prescription drugs in this
country, tracing it back to the infamous House vote in the dead of night
to pass the Medicare prescription drug bill. Tauzin, who chaired the
committee overseeing the pharmaceutical industry, was working hard to
pass the measure, which made it illegal to import cheaper drugs from
Canada or Mexico.
Asked why the vote was taken about 3 a.m., Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) told
Kroft: "Well, I think a lot of the shenanigans that were going on that
night they didn't want on national television in prime time."
And Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), recalls the arm-twisting by the GOP
leadership to get Republican defectors to fall in line. "I've been in
politics for 22 years, and it was the ugliest night I have ever seen in
22 years," Jones says in the segment. "Well, he's a young member,"
Tauzin responds jokingly. "Had he been around for 25 years, he'd have
seen some uglier nights."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/
AR2007032901967_2.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns
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colorful former Louisiana congressman Billy Tauzin (R) took his fine
Cajun Web site and left the House to be head of PHRMA, the drug lobby.
But Tauzin continues to delight. CBS's "60 Minutes" on Sunday will have
a piece by Steve Kroft on the high price of prescription drugs in this
country, tracing it back to the infamous House vote in the dead of night
to pass the Medicare prescription drug bill. Tauzin, who chaired the
committee overseeing the pharmaceutical industry, was working hard to
pass the measure, which made it illegal to import cheaper drugs from
Canada or Mexico.
Asked why the vote was taken about 3 a.m., Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) told
Kroft: "Well, I think a lot of the shenanigans that were going on that
night they didn't want on national television in prime time."
And Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), recalls the arm-twisting by the GOP
leadership to get Republican defectors to fall in line. "I've been in
politics for 22 years, and it was the ugliest night I have ever seen in
22 years," Jones says in the segment. "Well, he's a young member,"
Tauzin responds jokingly. "Had he been around for 25 years, he'd have
seen some uglier nights."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/
AR2007032901967_2.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns
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