If you had any doubts that Bernie Sanders wants to control the 2020 narrative- either to run himself again, or pick who is the ultimate Democratic nominee- you can check those at the door now. With this week's prescription drug re-importation legislation that Bernie put together with another potential 2020 candidate, Amy Klobuchar, you have now seen Bernie's cards. You see, Hillary-supporter and New Jersey U.S. Senator Cory Booker was having a really good week. Senator Booker was grabbing headlines for his push against Jeff Sessions' Attorney General bid, establishing himself as a leading voice in the fight against the Trump Administration. Sanders is smart, he saw that. Like a well-timed, random event, along came his pharmaceutical bill.
The background here- Sanders and Klobuchar's bill is right on it's intentions. We should re-import drugs from Canada that are made by American manufacturers, because it lowers the price of medication. The bill, like most bills did have some flaws though, the most common of which being cited is safety protections. Could it have been fixed a bit? Sure. The thing is, there's another version of this bill, from Senator Ron Wyden, that is very nearly identical, but a little better on the concern areas some Senators have. Almost everybody in the party supports that bill. Most support both bills. Senator Sanders knew something though- Senator Booker could not vote for his bill- and when he didn't vote for his bill, Bernie could attack him later as a shill for the pharmaceutical industry.
You see, Cory Booker represents New Jersey. In New Jersey, pharmaceutical companies are plentiful. Yes, Cory Booker has taken money from pharma's political PACs. Everyone in New Jersey has. You see though, there are also tens of thousands of people in New Jersey who work in pharmaceutical jobs. In fact, most of them are Democrats, or at least have voted for Senator Booker before. Take one ride through the Princeton area- all along route 1, you will see pharma laboratories and headquarters. Senator Booker wins that area, and big. He represents those people. Does that mean he can't vote for re-importation? No, not at all. It means if he's going to take a vote that diminishes that industry though, the legislation better be pretty damn close to perfect. In most cases, Senator Booker is going to vote pro-pharma, because he represents them- this is what Congressional members have done as long as there has been a Congress, or at least the ones who want to get things done.
Bernie Sanders hasn't really had that problem very often. When he voted for the gun industry on giving the manufacturers immunity from lawsuits, Bernie was voting Vermont over his ideology, which is pretty similar to what Booker did here. For the most part though, Sanders represents one of the most liberal states in the union, and is free to move as far out as he wants. It's freed him up to be an anti-corporate crusader, and to rail against big industries from other states. Expect him to use that to his advantage in the next four years, as he has in the past. Remember, Senator Booker is a top potential rival to Sanders, and he represents New Jersey- a state with lots of Wall Street ties, lots of pharmaceutical ties, and big-city, machine politics. Sanders is going to try and use that to his advantage.
Now, the kicker- this piece of legislation was nothing but a sideshow from Sanders, something meant to give him a talking point against potential Democratic rivals, because this legislation has no chance of ever reaching the Presidents desk, either President Obama or President Trump. There is something called the United States House, which is far more conservative and Republican than the Senate, and they will never even consider a bill to lower pharmaceutical prices, at least not unless they are sure it will fail. This was all a big charade meant to embarrass a 2020 contender who did not support Bernie Sanders in his quixotic bid for President in 2016.
Welcome to the new norm, folks.
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