February, 09 2022, 05:29pm EDT

Sanders Asks for Unanimous Consent on Legislation to Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs
Senators Sanders and Klobuchar introduced legislation today to empower Medicare to pay the same prices for prescription drugs as the Veterans Administration.
WASHINGTON
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today will deliver remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate asking for unanimous consent for debate to begin on legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs for millions of Americans. This legislation, introduced today by Sens. Sanders and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), empowers Medicare to pay lower prices for prescription drugs, like the Veterans Administration.
Sanders' remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:
"Mr. President: Let's be clear. There is significant discontent in our country today. The American people are worried about COVID, but they're worried about much more. They're worried about inflation - the price of food and gas and other products.
"They're worried about climate change and the kind of planet they'll be leaving their kids and future generations.
"They're worried about a middle class whose real inflation accounted for wages have not risen in almost 50 years and the reality that half of our workforce lives paycheck to paycheck.
"They're worried about the massive level of income and wealth inequality that we are experiencing in which, during this pandemic alone, the billionaire class saw an increase in their wealth by some $2 trillion while thousands of workers died doing their jobs.
"They're worried that their kids are not getting quality childcare or a decent education or that they're unable to pay the outrageous levels of student debt that they acquired because they chose to go to college.
"And, Mr. President, maybe above all else, the American people are outraged that in the midst of all of the crises that we face their elected officials are not responding.
"In my view, now is the time to tell the American people that Congress understands their pain and that we are prepared to fight for working people against the greed of the powerful special interests who wield so much power over the economic and political life of the nation.
"And today, Senator Klobuchar and I are going to focus on one of the many issues that must be addressed by Congress.
"Mr. President: For decades, decades, members of both political parties have come to the floor of the Senate and the House, bemoaning the high cost of prescription drugs in this country and promising the American people that they would lower those outrageous prices. They have given speech after speech and spent millions on 30 second campaign ads telling their constituents all that they were going to do to take on the pharmaceutical industry.
"And for decades they have failed to deliver.
"They have failed to deliver under Democratic leadership and they have failed to deliver under Republican leadership.
"They have failed to deliver because of the greed of the pharmaceutical industry - which today may well be the most powerful corporate interest in America and is certainly the dominant political force here in Washington, DC.
"My fellow Americans: Do you want to know why you're paying the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, sometimes 10 times more for the same exact drug that is sold in Canada and other countries?
"Do you want to know why 1 out of 4 Americans are unable to afford the prescription drugs their doctors prescribe?
"Do you want to know why thousands of Americans die every year because they can't afford their medicine?
"Do you know why millions of diabetic Americans actually ration their insulin?
"I will tell you why. During the past 20 years, the pharmaceutical industry has spent over $4.5 billion on lobbying and hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions.
"These are campaign contributions which go to Republicans. These are campaign contributions that go to Democrats. And I'm talking about hundreds of members of the House and Senate.
"Further, the pharmaceutical industry has, over the years, mounted an unprecedented lobbying effort in Washington and in states all over this country.
"I want you to hear this. Last year alone, the pharmaceutical industry hired more than 1,700 well-paid lobbyists to Capitol Hill to protect their interests --including the former congressional leaders of both major political parties. Got that? That's over 3 pharmaceutical industry lobbyists for every Member of Congress.
"And what is the result of all that lobbying and all those campaign contributions? The answer is clear. The pharmaceutical industry in America, uniquely in the entire world, is able to raise prices to any level that they want any time that they want.
"Tomorrow, if you walk into your pharmacy the price of the medicine you take could be much higher than it was yesterday. And the reason? Nothing more complicated than the drug companies simply wanting to make more money.
"And boy is that working. Eight of the largest drug companies in the United States made nearly $50 billion in profits in 2020, while the CEOs in those pharmaceutical giants took home over $350 million in total compensation.
"Let me repeat that. The 8 largest drug companies in the U.S. made nearly $50 billion in profits while paying their CEOs over $350 million in compensation in 2020.
"Let's be very clear. The overriding motivation of the pharmaceutical industry is greed. Their overriding goal is to make as much money as they can by squeezing as much as they possibly can out of the sick, out of the elderly and out of the desperate.
"Let me give you just a few examples of the greed within the pharmaceutical industry.
"Just a few years ago, the former CEO of Gilead became a billionaire by charging a thousand dollars for the hepatitis C drug Sovaldi. As is often the case, the drug was developed by taxpayer dollars at the VA. The drug costs just $1 to manufacture and can be purchased in India for all of $4.
"In 2016, the chairman of Mylan, received a $164 million compensation package after his company jacked-up the price of an EpiPen by 550 percent over a nine-year period.
"Mr. President: All over this country, the American people are asking a simple question: How many people need to die, how many people need to get unnecessarily sicker before Congress is prepared to take on the greed of the prescription drug industry?
"Enough is enough. A life-saving prescription drug does not mean anything if you cannot afford to buy that drug.
"We cannot allow the pharmaceutical industry to charge the American people, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.
"That is why I have introduced legislation today with Senator Klobuchar that would cut the price of prescription drugs under Medicare in half.
"And it would do that by making sure that Medicare pays the same low prices for prescription drugs as the VA does.
"Mr. President: Why is it that the VA pays so much less for prescription drugs than Medicare? The answer is simple.
"While the VA has been able to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry for the past 30 years, Congress banned Medicare by law from doing anything to lower prescription drug prices.
"And the result is that, according to the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, Medicare pays twice as much for the same exact prescription drugs as the VA.
"Let me repeat that. Medicare, which is banned by law from negotiating with the pharmaceutical industry, pays twice as much for the same exact prescription drugs as the VA, which has been negotiating for lower prices for the past 30 years.
"That is totally absurd.
"If the VA can negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies to substantially reduce the price of prescription drugs, you know what? We can require Medicare to receive the same exact prices that the VA pays for prescription drugs. And when we do that, we could save Medicare some $900 billion over the next decade.
"And, Mr. President, the VA is not the only agency that negotiates for lower drug prices. This is something that every other major country on the planet does.
"Mr. President: As you may know, on two occasions, I have taken Americans over the border to Canada to purchase prescription drugs. In one case, it was the breast cancer drug tamoxifen. In the other case, it was the insulin needed by diabetics.
"In both cases, they were able to purchase these desperately needed prescription drugs for one-tenth of the price that they were paying in the United States. I will never forget the tears that were shed when these people, fighting life threatening illnesses were able to buy their medicine for a tiny fraction of the price that they were paying in the U.S.
"There is no rational reason, other than greed, for the pharmaceutical industry to charge the American people $98.70 for a standard unit of insulin that can be purchased in the United Kingdom for just $7.52.
"There is no rational reason, other than greed, for the pharmaceutical industry to charge the American people $242 for the asthma inhaler - Flovent Diskus - that can be purchased for just $27 in Canada.
"There is no rational reason, other than greed, for the pharmaceutical industry to charge the American people $686 for 2 EpiPens that can be purchased in Australia for just $169.
"And let's be clear. These are the same medications, manufactured by the same companies, in the same factories - that are all available in Canada, in Europe, in Australia and in Japan for a fraction of the price.
"For far too long, it has not been Congress that has been regulating the pharmaceutical industry. It has been the pharmaceutical industry that has been regulating Congress.
"Well, those days will be coming to an end if Members of Congress finally have the courage to stand up to the power of the pharmaceutical industry.
"And that is exactly what the American people want us to do.
"According to an October 2021 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 83% of the American people want Medicare to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry to lower the price of prescription drugs.
"According to a July 2021 poll by Gallup, 81% of the American people believe that Medicare should be empowered to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices and 77% of the American people believe that the federal government should limit price hikes on all prescription drugs.
"Mr. President. The time for talk is over. The time to act is now. It's time for the Senate to have a debate and a vote to bring down the outrageous price of prescription drugs.
"So, Mr. President, as if in Legislative Session, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined today by the Majority Leader, following consultation with the Republican Leader, the Senate proceed to the consideration of S.3615, which was introduced earlier today, that there be 2 hours for debate equally divided, that upon the use or yielding back of time, the bill be read a third time, and the Senate vote on passage of the bill, without intervening action or debate."
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27 Arrested for Defying UK Ban on Nonviolent Pro-Palestine Group
"We oppose genocide—I didn't think that was that controversial—and we support the people who resist genocide," said one arrested protester.
Jul 06, 2025
Metropolitan Police arrested at least 27 protesters who gathered in central London on Saturday to publicly support Palestine Action, a nonviolent direct action group now officially designated a terrorist organization by the U.K. government.
According to Middle East Eye, Palestine defenders including 83-year-old Rev. Sue Parfitt, a former government attorney, an emeritus professor, and health workers gathered by a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, where they held signs reading, "I OPPOSE GENOCIDE, I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION."
Members of the group Defend Our Juries informed Metropolitan Police of their plan prior to the demonstration.
"If we cannot speak freely about the genocide that is occurring... democracy and human rights in this country are dead."
"We would like to alert you to the fact we may be committing offenses under the Terrorism Act tomorrow, Saturday 5 July, in Parliament Square at about 1pm," the group said in an open letter to Met Commissioner Mark Rowley.
"If we cannot speak freely about the genocide that is occurring, if we cannot condemn those who are complicit in it and express support for those who resist it, then the right to freedom of expression has no meaning, and democracy and human rights in this country are dead," the letter argues.
Parfitt told Novara Media that members of Defend Our Juries were "testing the law."
"I know that we are in the right place doing the right thing," she said. "...We cannot be bystanders."
"We are losing our civil liberties, we must stop that for everybody's sake," Parfitt said in a separate interview with The Guardian.
Prior to his arrest, Defend Our Juries member Tim Crosland, the former government lawyer, told The Guardian that "what we're doing here as a group of priests, teachers, health workers, human rights lawyers [is] we're refusing to be silenced."
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Crosland said as he was being arrested, "This is what happens in modern day Britain for opposing genocide, it's quite something isn't it?"
A bystander told Novara Media: "I just feel disgusted by this government. I voted for them and they're now arresting people who are calling for a genocide to end. And this is a Labour government, they're meant to have left-wing roots."
Members of the group Defend Our Juries publicly declare their opposition to Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza and their support for the proscribed group Palestine Action while Metropolitan Police officers look on before arresting them during a July 4, 2025 demonstration in London. (Photo: Kristian Buus/In Pictures via Getty Images)
In a statement, Defend Our Juries sarcastically said that "we commend the counter-terrorism police for their decisive action in protecting the people of London from some cardboard signs opposing the genocide in Gaza and expressing support for those taking action to prevent it."
"It's a relief to know that counter-terrorism police have nothing better to do," the group quipped.
Last week, British lawmakers voted to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist group after some of its members vandalized two aircraft at a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire on June 20. The group—which was founded in 2020 and has also vandalized U.S. President Donald Trump's golf course in Turnberry, Scotland—is known for taking direction action against companies that supply weapons to Israel, which is accused of genocide in an ongoing International Court of Justice case concerning the war on Gaza.
On June 23, U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe the group under Section 3 of the Terrorism Act of 2000, introduced under former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair and widely criticized for its overbroad definition of terrorism. The House of Commons voted 385-26 Wednesday in favor of banning Palestine Action and the House of Lords approved the designation Thursday without a vote.
Palestine Action tried to delay the ban via legal action. However, the High Court on Friday denied the group's appeal for interim relief was denied on Friday, a decision that was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
The nonviolent group is now on the same legal footing in Britain as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Joining or supporting Palestine Action is now punishable by up to 14 years behind bars.
At midnight, Palestine Action will be proscribed under the Terrorism Act.Their real “crime”? Exposing the UK’s role in arming Israel’s genocide.This is a dark day for our democracy.Criminalising non-violent resistance won’t silence the truth.We are all Palestine Action 🇵🇸
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— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Earlier this month, a group of United Nations experts urged the U.K. government to not ban Palestine Action.
"We are concerned at the unjustified labeling of a political protest movement as 'terrorist,'" the experts wrote. "According to international standards, acts of protest that damage property, but are not intended to kill or injure people, should not be treated as terrorism."
The U.N. experts warned that under the ban, "individuals could be prosecuted for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion, assembly, association, and participation in political life."
"This would have a chilling effect on political protest and advocacy generally in relation to defending human rights in Palestine," they added.
Hundreds of jurists, artists and entertainers, and others have also decried the ban on Palestine Action.
"Palestine Action is intervening to stop a genocide. It is acting to save life. We deplore the government's decision to proscribe it," Artists for Palestine U.K.—whose members include Tilda Swinton, Paul Weller, Steve Coogan, and others—wrote in a statement last month.
"Labeling non-violent direct action as 'terrorism' is an abuse of language and an attack on democracy," the artists added. "The real threat to the life of the nation comes not from Palestine Action but from the home secretary's efforts to ban it. We call on the government to withdraw its proscription of Palestine Action and to stop arming Israel."
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Yearning for a time when every new day isn't exponentially dumber than the day before.
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— Dave Vetter (@davidrvetter.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 2:57 AM
While Octagon aficionados cheered the prospect of a 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue fight card, many observers couldn't help but notice parallels with the plot of Mike Judge's 2006 film "Idiocracy," a satirical skewering of issues including the erosion of White House decorum in a future when IQs have plummeted and a sports drink corporation owns the country, whose voters elect Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho, "five-time ultimate smackdown champion and porn superstar," as president.
"If anyone defends Trump saying there will be a UFC fight on the White House lawn never listen to them again," former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois wrote on the social media site X Friday, adding that Trump's announcement was like the "plot to 'Idiocracy' with an equally stupid-ass president."
Another X user fumed: "This is what happens when a failed empire hits rock bottom and throws a party about it. UFC fight on the White House lawn to celebrate 250 years of what used to be a country with brains. This ain't strength, this is pure fucking Idiocracy. Straight out of Rome before it burned, give the mob a fight and some burgers while the world collapses around them.
Yet another social media critic joked that "'Idiocracy' was actually a documentary from the future, sent back in time as a warning to us all."
Some critics pointed to the decadeslong business ties between Trump and UFC President and CEO Dana White, who has donated at least $1 million to Trump's campaign coffers.
Others noted the "bread and circuses" vibes of Trump's proposed event, which some called a cynical ploy meant to distract from the devastating impact of policies like Friday's signing of a multi-trillion-dollar tax cut that will overwhelmingly benefit the rich and corporations, while ballooning the deficit and leaving millions of Americans without desperately needed health insurance coverage and food assistance.
"Americans, you won't have healthcare, Medicaid, public schools, nursing homes, rural hospitals, or SNAP. But, you'll get UFC fights on the White House lawn," New York Times opinion contributor Wajahat Ali wrote on Bluesky. "America, F-YEAH!"
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As catastrophic flooding left scores of people dead and missing in Texas Hill Country and President Donald Trump celebrated signing legislation that will eviscerate every aspect of federal efforts to address the climate emergency, officials in the Lone Star State blasted the National Weather Service—one of many agencies gutted by the Department of Government Efficiency—for issuing faulty forecasts that some observers blamed for the flood's high death toll.
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"Everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service... It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw."
"The camp was completely destroyed," Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic, told the AP. "A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary."
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After media reports & experts warned for months that drastic & sudden cuts at the Nat Weather Service by Trump could impair their forecasting ability & endanger lives during the storm season, TX officials blame an inaccurate forecast by NWS for the deadly results of the flood.
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— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) July 5, 2025 at 3:19 AM
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Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice also said during the press conference that the storm "dumped more rain than what was forecasted" into two forks of the Guadalupe River.
Kerr County judge Rob Kelly told CBS News: "We had no reason to believe that this was gonna be anything like what's happened here. None whatsoever."
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Many of the fired NWS staffers were specialized climate scientists and weather forecasters. At the time of the firings, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, was among those who warned of the cuts' deadly consequences.
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Writing for the Texas Observer, Henry D. Jacoby—co-director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change—warned that "crucial data gathering systems are at risk."
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On Friday, Trump put presidential pen to congressional Republicans' so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a $4 trillion tax and spending package that effectively erases the landmark climate and clean energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act signed by then-President Joe Biden in 2022.
As Inside Climate News noted of the new law:
It stomps out incentives for purchasing electric vehicles and efficient appliances. It phases out tax credits for wind and solar energy. It opens up federal land and water for oil and gas drilling and increases its profitability, while creating new federal support for coal. It ends the historic investment in poor and minority communities that bear a disproportionate pollution burden—money that the Trump administration was already refusing to spend. It wipes out any spending on greening the federal government.
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