Bernie Sanders Blocks Obama's Food and Drug Administration Nominee Over Pharmaceutical Ties Abigail Abarams, International Business Times Abrams writes: "Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Tuesday that he is formally blocking President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, citing concerns about his ties to the pharmaceutical industry and a lack of commitment to lowering drug prices." READ MORE
.S. President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will meet Wednesday at the White House, according to the White House press secretary. Josh Earnest released a brief statement Tuesday evening announcing the meeting.
The Vermont senator and the president "will meet privately in the Oval Office and there will be no formal agenda," according to the statement from Earnest.
Obama on Monday praised Sanders' rival and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton as being "extraordinarily experienced," though it was not a formal endorsement of Obama's former secretary of state.
Original story:
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Tuesday that he is formally blocking President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, citing concerns about his ties to the pharmaceutical industry and a lack of commitment to lowering drug prices. The Democratic presidential candidate expressed opposition to Robert Califf last year, when Obama announced the doctor would be his pick, MSNBC reported.
“Dr. Califf’s extensive ties to the pharmaceutical industry give me no reason to believe that he would make the FDA work for ordinary Americans, rather than just the CEOs of pharmaceutical companies,” Sanders said in a statement Tuesday, six days before he faces Hillary Clinton in the crucial Iowa caucuses.
Califf, a cardiologist and researcher at Duke University, has been deputy commissioner at the FDA since last February. Obama nominated him to be the agency’s next commissioner in September.
The decision to place a hold on Obama’s nominee comes one day after Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) also put a hold on Califf’s nomination. The nomination passed the Senate Health Committee earlier this month, but Markey said he will block the nomination until the FDA changes its approval process for opioid painkillers, the Hill reported. The agency decided last year to approve the use of OxyContin for children as young as 11 years old, and Markey wants the agency to promise to hold advisory committees before making similar decisions in the future.
Sanders said he agreed with Markey’s concerns, emphasizing that “the FDA must change the way it approaches addiction.” The Vermont senator has made the pharmaceutical industry one of the many establishment targets of his White House bid.
“I also strongly believe that at a time when millions of Americans cannot afford to purchase the prescription drugs they require, we need a leader at the FDA who is prepared to stand up to the drug companies. We need someone who will work to substantially lower drug prices, implement rules to safely import brand-name drugs from Canada and hold companies accountable who defraud our government,” he said in the statement.
It's time for a federal criminal investigation into House
Republicans regarding the deceptive Planned Parenthood videos.
POLITICUSUSA.COM
Supreme Court Hands A Big Victory To President Obama And Environmentalists
By: John Lundin
Monday, January 25th, 2016
Snow is mostly cleared from around the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C
The Supreme Court today rescued an administration-supported rule that promotes electricity conservation, handing a big victory to environmentalists and President Barack Obama.
The 6-2 decision overturned a federal appeals panel ruling and affirmed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission‘s authority to incentivize programs that reduce power consumption during peak demand periods by paying large users to curb their demand. Although states could opt out of FERC’s regulation, the lower court argued that the agency had overstepped its powers.
Those “demand response” programs help grid operators avoid blackouts and keep consumer costs down, reducing the need for generators to turn on older, dirtier power plants.
The ruling is a win for the Obama administration, environmental groups and other supporters who said the plan saved billions in energy costs, improved reliability of the power grid and reduced air pollution since it was put in place in 2011. Utility companies challenging the rule argued it was too generous and trampled state rights over retail electricity sales.
A federal appeals court ruled 2-1 last year that the plan intrudes on state power over retail electricity sales.
Federal law gives the commission authority to regulate wholesale markets, while retail sales are governed by states.
Writing for the court, Justice Elena Kagan said the commission acted within its authority and was not attempting to regulate retail sales.
The demand response program pays large electricity consumers to reduce energy consumption on hot summer days and other times of peak demand. The reduction in power use means electric utilities don’t need to turn on backup power plants, which cost more to run and boost electricity prices.
The rule won wide praise from environmental groups because it curbed the need for utilities to build expensive and air-polluting power plants. The demand response program saved customers in the mid-Atlantic region nearly $12 billion in 2013, according to PJM Interconnection, which manages the wholesale power supply for all or part of 13 states.
But the rule meant millions in lost profits for utilities. Those companies argued that the program impermissibly targets retail customers.
Justice Antonin Scalia dissented, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.
Former Defense Secretary Bob Gates has gone on the record this week criticizing the national security dialogue in the 2016 race for the Republican presidential nomination, saying it would "embarrass a middle schooler."
Gates said Monday during a Politico Playbook event in Washington that "people are out there making threats and promises that are totally unrealistic, totally unattainable," according to The Guardian.
"The level of dialogue on national security issues would embarrass a middle schooler," he was quoted as saying about the GOP candidates.
Gates expanded on those comments during a Tuesday interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. He said he was referring to candidates' plans for dealing with the Islamic State terror group, including "carpet bombing them and making the sand glow and other such things."
Mitchell noted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) had proposed carpet-bombing the group and that real estate mogul Donald Trump had suggested taking away oil and other assets from the extremists.
“My view is, either they really don’t understand how difficult this is or they’re being pretty cynical and opportunistic," Gates said. "They’re putting forward simple solutions that are simply unattainable as opposed to suggesting to the American people that these are complex problems that are going to take time to solve.”
Former Defense Secretary Bob Gates has gone on the record
this week criticizing the national security dialogue in the
2016 race for the Republican presidential…
TALKINGPOINTSMEMO.COM
Sanders Places Hold on FDA Nominee
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced today that he has placed a hold on Food and Drug Administration Commissioner nominee Dr. Robert Califf because of his close ties to the pharmaceutical industry and lack of commitment to lowering drug prices. Sanders joins with Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who also placed a hold on Califf’s nomination.
“I share Sen. Markey’s concerns that the FDA must change the way it approaches addiction. Too many Americans are dying from what has become an opioid epidemic,” Sanders said in a statement. “I also strongly believe that at a time when millions of Americans cannot afford to purchase the prescription drugs they require, we need a leader at the FDA who is prepared to stand up to the drug companies. We need someone who will work to substantially lower drug prices, implement rules to safely import brand-name drugs from Canada and hold companies accountable who defraud our government.”
Last year, one in five Americans – 35 million people – were unable to afford to fill their prescriptions. Prices for some prescription drugs soared 1,000 percent or more in recent years. Since 2002, total spending on medicine in the United States went up by more than 90 percent.
“Dr. Califf’s extensive ties to the pharmaceutical industry give me no reason to believe that he would make the FDA work for ordinary Americans, rather than just the CEOs of pharmaceutical companies,” Sanders reiterated.
Califf has deeper ties to the pharmaceutical industry than any FDA commissioner in recent history. He ran a multimillion-dollar clinical research center at Duke University that received more than 60 percent of its funding from the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. And his financial disclosure form last year listed seven drug companies and a device maker that paid him for consulting and six others – including Merck, Novartis and Eli Lilly – which supported his university salary.
To see Sanders' legislation to lower skyrocketing drug pricesclick here.
OBAMA has discredited himself with this nomination!
.S. President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will meet Wednesday at the White House, according to the White House press secretary. Josh Earnest released a brief statement Tuesday evening announcing the meeting.
