Under Republican rule, lobbyists for corporate and industry interests had it relatively easy. Sure, the “K Street Project” forced them to hire an exclusively Republican staff, but the lobbyists and their firms knew that they could get the job done for their clients. Indeed, thanks to the GOP rule, they could simply buy access — and then write the legislation themselves.
Now, these same lobbyists aren’t at all happy. Not only are they scrambling to hire Democrats, they’re facing the reality that new Dem lawmakers aren’t willing to “play ball” with their agenda. Take, for example, the pharmaceutical industry.
Drug companies are particularly hungry for Democratic help, including the industry’s trade association. “We woke up the day after the election to a new world,” said Ken Johnson, spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. “We’re going to have tough days ahead of us.”
A post-election e-mail to executives at the drug company GlaxoSmithKline details just how tough. “We now have fewer allies in the Senate,” says the internal memo, obtained by The Washington Post. “Thus, there is greater risk over the next two years that bad amendments will be offered to pending legislation.” The company’s primary concerns are bills that would allow more imported drugs and would force price competition for drugs bought under Medicare.
The defeat of Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) “creates a big hole we will need to fill,” the e-mail says. Sen.-elect Jon Tester (D-Mont.) “is expected to be a problem,” it says, and the elevation to the Senate of Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) “will strengthen his ability to challenge us.”
Poor pharmaceutical industry, all their friends have gone home. Now, after years of writing their own bills, pharm lobbyists will have to appeal to new senators who put consumers’ interests above the industry’s breathtaking profits.
It’s a real “tale of woe,” isn’t it?