The Oxymoron of House Democratic Governance

by

It was not a memorable week in the annals of Democratic policymaking. Earlier this week, I wrote a preview of H.R. 3, Nancy Pelosi’s drug-pricing bill, seen as the signature effort of this year’s legislative session. I mentioned in there that the summary, still riddled with questions, probably represented the high-water mark for the bill, because lobbyists were swarming around the process. Well, Pelosi released the actual text on Thursday, and that assumption proved sadly accurate.

The headline provision involves direct price negotiations with drug companies. Way back in February, negotiations were going to be limited to the costliest 25 drugs that lack competition to lower prices. Progressives howled in protest and Pelosi expanded that to 250 drugs. The summary referred to “negotiat(ing) as many as possible” up to 250. And now, the text makes 250 drugs a ceiling and 25 drugs a floor. It’s quite obvious that most administrations will make that floor a ceiling. So we came full circle.

In addition, the bill doesn’t crack the “closed-loop system rooted in the fact that the government gives pharmaceutical companies monopolies,” as Peter Maybarduk of Public Citizen explained to me. New drugs hitting the market could launch with high prices, or outside the countries in the international index meant as a guide to where to set the prices, and there’d be nothing the government could do about it. Loopholes shouldn’t be that easily discernible in the draft text.

Of course, Mitch McConnell has pronounced H.R. 3 dead on arrival, which means practicalities of what could pass shouldn’t have played any role here. The point was to get to conference with the Senate’s fairly weak, limited-to-seniors Grassley-Wyden bill with a strong hand, building on the fact that President Trump desperately wants something to get done. Instead, it’s pre-compromised mush.

But that’s a Lyndon Johnson level of pressure compared to the House meekly passing a clean stopgap spending bill with no demands on Trump, a rerun of the supplemental border bill sent without checks. It makes you wonder why Democrats were so insistent on running the House in the first place, outside of getting slightly nicer offices. If this is how this group of lawmakers conducts spending and health policy, what will happen when carbon emissions must be slashed for the survival of the planet?

It’s enough to make someone go on strike.

LINKS TO MY STORIES

The aforementioned sneak peek at Nancy Pelosi’s drug-pricing bill.

Why U.S. troops must ship back their own equipment from the battlefield instead of repairing it themselves.

THIS WEEK AT THE PROSPECT

Kalena Thomhave’s excellent feature on the summer meals program.

Mike Elk on the GM strike.

Marcia Brown on the Supreme Court’s leeway to Trump on immigration.

Sarah Jaffe on the British Labour party’s X factor, its community organizing unit.

Alex Sammon on the most radical part of Bernie Sanders’s housing plan.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

I’ll let you in on a secret: prospect.org will have a very different look soon, and we’re kicking it off with a series from our Fall issue that you are definitely going to enjoy. Look out for it next week!

YES, I KNOW

Trump promised Ukraine military support or something for dirt on Biden’s son. I mean that’s what it’s shaping up to be anyway.

SHARING THE WEALTH

In one bright spot in legislating, Mitch McConnell caved on spending for election security. (Talking Points Memo)

Farhad Manjoo’s op-ed on Obama’s mistakes really riled up his former staffers. (NY Times)

Tennessee trying to block grant Medicaid. (Tennesseean)

Elizabeth Warren letter to federal regulators cites my work on the Equifax settlement. (letter)

Trump revoking California’s waiver to set auto emissions standards. (LA Times)

Just what we need, pork slaughterhouses running faster with fewer inspectors. (NBC News)

Purdue Pharma paying out bonuses while in bankruptcy. (Washington Post)

GM plays hardball, cuts health insurance to striking workers. (MLive)

Pete Buttigieg actually calls out predatory hospitals, and his health care plan proposes doing something about it. (Andrew Sprung)

Free college for all in New Mexico. (NY Times)

WeWork fired a bunch of folks, then gave out tequila and had Run DMC do a concert. (Wall Street Journal)

CFPB files brief arguing to make CFPB unconstitutional. (Reuters)

This article is spying on you. (NY Times)

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