The Week in Review
Sharp increases in prices for many generic drugs were examined at a Senate hearing on Thursday. Three pharmaceutical companies were invited by Chairman Bernie Sanders to testify. All three refused. The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on Wednesday looked into why about 22 veterans a day commit suicide. The Senate on Tuesday defeated a House-passed bill to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline.
Generic Drug Prices Generic drugs – copies of drugs no longer protected by patents – historically have cost much less than brand-name prescription medicines. “Drug companies have seen the opportunity to make a whole lot of money and they are seizing that opportunity,” Sanders said. “This is greed at work in the pharmaceutical industry.”
Immigration The Republican-controlled House refused for more than a year to vote on a Senate-passed immigration bill, so President Obama acted on his own to protect millions of families. Sanders applauded the president but criticized the major broadcast TV networks for refusing to air Obama’s prime-time address. “People can be for immigration reform or against it, but clearly we need an intelligent, informed debate. It is incomprehensible that the major television networks refused to air the president’s speech.”
Veterans Suicides Valerie Pallotta’s son, Pfc. Joshua R. Pallotta, was a 25-year-old Vermont Army National Guard member who was deployed in 2010 to Afghanistan. While in the war zone, he watched two fellow soldiers die. He took his own life last Sept. 23 after a long struggle with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. Susan Selke’s son, Marine Cpl. Clay Hunt, served in Afghanistan with a unit that lost 20 lives in the war. Since they came home, another 20 members of the same unit have been lost in suicides. Both mothers were witnesses on Wednesday at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs into VA mental health services.
Keystone Pipeline “The scientific community is telling us that we have a narrow window of opportunity to address the crisis of climate change and to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy. The idea of encouraging production of the dirtiest oil on the planet is totally insane,” Sanders told Chris Hayes in an interview on MSNBC after the Senate vote.
Fighting for Working Families “The average person is working longer hours for lower wages and they do not see any political party standing up and fighting for their rights. They see a Republican Party becoming extremely right wing, controlled by folks like the Koch brothers, but they do not see a party representing the working class of this country,” Bernie said in an interview with NPR” Morning Edition” host Steve Inskeep.
The Colbert Report Sanders on Monday returned to “The Colbert Report” for the fourth and final time before Stephen Colbert leaves to host “The Late Show.”
