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July 2010
You’ve heard of the “October surprise,” when politicians pull some stunt right before an election to try and salvage it. Well, this year we may see a “Christmas surprise.”
The Wall Street Journal’s John Fund recently explained that Democrats are considering an ambitious lame-duck session when Congress returns after the November elections.
If Democrats lose control of the House and maybe even the Senate, their congressional leaders could return in early December with plans to tax and spend like there’s no tomorrow -- which, for them, there wouldn’t be.
If a number of Democratic incumbents has been defeated, why not “go for the gold” -- your gold, that is -- and ram through their Christmas wish list? New taxes, new spending, maybe “card check” for the unions.
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There is at least one bright spot in the recently passed health care reform legislation. Well, sort of.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act finally established a much-needed regulatory pathway for “biosimilars.” Those are the generic versions of “biologics,” complex drugs made from living (or products of living) organisms, such as vaccines, insulin, human growth hormones and many others.
Innovator companies will get:
- 12 years of data exclusivity for their products, providing reasonable intellectual property protection;
- An arbitration mechanism to settle patent disputes; and
- A transition pathway to approve biosimilars, which have been regulated like traditional drugs despite their greater complexity.
That’s all good as far as it goes, but the legislation doesn’t address a number of issues. Read More...
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President Obama and the Democratic leadership, as well as many of the Washington chattering class, seem to agree: Failure to throw even more money at the economy will prove disastrous for Democrats in November.
Politico quotes Howard Gleckman of the Urban Institute as saying, “The question is, can [Democrats] create the perception that they have done all these things to create jobs, or that they tried but the dastardly Republicans prevented them from creating jobs?”
Rather than blaming Republicans, Democrats ought to thank them. Had Republicans been able to stop the Democrats’ uber-spending spree even earlier, the economy might have come back quicker and unemployment might be trending down.
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Author: Merrill Matthews Jr. || Location: Lewisville, Texas, USA