So what does Obama get for dealmaking with Billy Tauzin and PhRMA, supposed "ally"? $150 million in pro-reform ads which is chump change from PhRMA's perspective. But now reports coming out that PhRMA's support is only skin deep, and that they actually have a NEGATIVE ANTI-HEALTH REFORM AD set to run, demolishing Obama's and Democrats' efforts to pass reform. It's 1994 all over again..., and PhRMA and AHIP are taking a NO PRISONERS approach
They could also give cover to some big business players, who’ve shied away from challenging the White House, to turn their guns on the reform agenda and kill it — just like they did more than a decade ago.
that from Politico
TPM reports:
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) was an early White House health care ally, and, despite a recent controversy, has teamed with some unlikely interest groups to spend millions advertising in support of reform. But according to a report in Politico, they also have produced an ad--in the can, ready to go-- attacking one of the key Democratic proposals emerging on Capitol Hill.
PhRMA senior Vice President Ken Johnson denies the report unequivocally, saying the notion that there's any such ad is "absolutely false."
LIARRR!!! PhRMA lied about the whitehouse backdoor deal twice in one week, you think they won't lie again?
More on this:
Whether or not such an ad exists, the controversy over it goes to the heart of the highly tactical game the major health care industry stake holders have played as nominal supporters of the White House's push for reform. Early in 2009, pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurers and other trade groups aligned themselves with the White House figuring reform was unstoppable and that their best play was to influence its scope from the inside--that they needed the White House more than the White House needed them. But that balance is changing. And the groups now show a greater willingness to jump ship if it becomes clear the final deal is not sufficiently in their interests or, more tellingly, if the political climate suggests there's more to be gained by going into outright opposition.
But then again, "After all, ad or no ad, PhRMA's support doesn't run very deep." In fact, it outright opposes the House bills.
In a July 31 statement, Johnson said "the totality of the efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives, while well-intentioned, represents a step in the wrong direction in the health care reform debate."
PhRMA isn't the only group that nominally supports the idea of "reform" but remains staunchly opposed particular legislative proposals. AHIP, the health insurance industry's main professional association, is part of the same White House-based reform coalition as PhRMA. Like the administration, it endorses, "health care reform that makes care more affordable, improves quality, and covers all Americans." But behind the scenes AHIP is trying to kill the public health insurance option, which it calls "a roadblock to reform."
Check out this ad that makes it sound like they're pro-reform, but the end of the ad demands that there be "BIPARTISAN" reform. No way that's going to happen considering Grassley's multiple stabs in the back, and signaled by Obama's 8x mention of Baucus at today's Montana townhall which was only to give Baucus cover so we could get through with an all-democratic bill:
This ad is a dig at the House bill. And they're also tracking the townhalls to kill the Public Option.
In other words, as congressional Democrats approach votes on actual legislative packages, industry is demonstrating more clearly than ever what many observers suspected all along: that stakeholder support for the Obama administration's efforts is a means to the end of getting a seat at the table--and those stakeholders will quickly rescind it if Democrats appear set to enact a proposal that they regard as contrary to their interests.