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MoveOn.org Political Action TV :30 “Red Handed – Medicare” Drake (VA-2) MOP-06-302 BACKUP / SUBSTANTIATION SCRIPT: Congresswoman Drake accepted thousands of dollars from big drug companies.

BACKUP: Contributions from “Big Drug Company” PACs1 Rep. Thelma Drake (R-VA) has accepted $5,000 from “Big Drug Company” PACs since the 2004 election cycle.2 •

SCRIPT: And got caught, red-handed…

“Big Drug Company” PACs are the Political Action Committees of the top 40 biggest pharmaceutical companies by revenue in 2004. See Appendix I for Contributions.

BACKUP:

• Merriam-Webster Dictionary Defines RedHanded as: ‘in the Act of Committing a Crime or Misdeed.’

• Merriam-Webster Dictionary Defines “Misdeed” as: “Wrong Deed.”

• Voting for a bill that “expressly bans the

federal government from negotiating with drug manufacturers for lower drug prices,”3 while accepting $5,000 in contributions from “Big Drug Company” PACs4 could give the appearance of favoritism, which could be construed as a “misdeed.”

SCRIPT: …supporting a law that actually prevents Medicare [“federal government”] from negotiating [for] lower drug prices for our seniors.

BACKUP: Statements of Support from Thelma Drake

• Congresswoman Thelma Drake: “As a

cancer survivor myself, I voiced very strong opposition to the changes in reimbursement. However, I did feel that

the bill contained many positive programs and benefits that are essential to seniors. Therefore, I supported H.R. 1's final passage.5

• Congresswoman Thelma Drake: “After

decades of attempts to no avail, the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate have both passed a prescription drug benefit for America's seniors. I am pleased to have played a role in this historic legislation that represents the most comprehensive reform of the Medicare program since its inception in 1965. On December 8, 2003 the President signed H.R. 1, the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003 into law.”6

Medicare Prescription Drug Bill Final Passage of the Bill Contains a Provision that Bans the Federal Government from Negotiating with Drug Manufacturers for Lower Drug Prices

• “In fact, the final legislation contains a

provision that expressly bans the federal government from negotiating with drug manufacturers for lower drug prices.”7

• The “Medicare bill passed by the House… [was] advertised as a way to provide a long-awaited prescription drug benefit for seniors.”8

SCRIPT: Tom DeLay. Jack Abramoff. Dick Cheney. And now Thelma Drake. Another Republican caught red-handed.

BACKUP: Thelma Drake, Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, and Dick Cheney are all members of the Republican Party.

Tom DeLay [caught red-handed]:

Ex. Tom DeLay caught red-handed On September 29, 2005, Tom DeLay was “indicted in a Texas finance probe.”9 •

DeLay “stepped aside as majority leader” after he was indicted in Texas. 10

•

After winning his GOP primary in March, he announced he would “resign from Congress in the coming weeks.” 11

According to the Associated Press, “while the state case moves on, a continuing U.S. Justice Department probe into Washington corruption has netted guilty pleas from two of DeLay's former aides and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, once a key DeLay ally.”12 Jack Abramoff [caught red-handed]:

Ex. Abramoff caught red-handed According to the Associated Press, “disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced” on March 29, “to nearly six years in prison for committing fraud in the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats. He will remain free while helping prosecutors with a vast bribery investigation involving members of Congress.”13

Dick Cheney [caught red-handed]:

•

“Abramoff is cooperating with federal investigators in a wide-ranging probe of corruption on Capitol Hill that threatens several powerful members of Congress and their staff members.” In January, Abramoff “pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud.”14

•

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, “during the time that Jack Abramoff was their lobbyist his clients contributed at least $5 million to members of Congress and their political action committees, to candidates for federal office and to political parties.”15

Ex. Cheney caught red-handed Cheney appears to have been incorrect in stating that he did not have ties to Halliburton even while his office was coordinating no-bid rebuilding contracts in Iraq for Halliburton.

Cheney said September 21, 2003 on NBC that since becoming vice president, “I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years.” 16 A report by the Congressional Research Service undermines Vice President Dick Cheney’s denial of a continuing relationship with Halliburton Co.17 •

The report says “deferred salary or compensation received from a private corporations in the reportable year is considered as among the ‘ties’ retained in or ‘linkages to former employers’ that may ‘represent a continuing financial interest in those employers, which makes them potential conflicts of interest.” 18

•

Cheney’s 2003 Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report indicates that he received an “Elective Deferred Compensation Plan” from Halliburton.19

In March 2003, the Pentagon awarded a subsidiary of Halliburton a no-bid contract worth $7 billion to help rebuild Iraqi oil fields. According to court documents obtained by Time Magazine, an internal Pentagon e-mail said “action” on the contract was “coordinated” with the Vice President’s office.20 According to the Washington Post, “in the fall of 2002, a senior political appointee in the Defense Department chose oil services giant Halliburton Co. to secretly plan how to repair Iraqi oil fields, and then briefed Vice President Cheney's chief of staff and other White House officials about the sole-source contract before it was granted.”21

1

Political Money Line, www.tray.com Political Money Line, www.tray.com; See Appendix I below for Political Money Line chart containing Drake’s “Big Drug Company” donations since the 2004 election cycle. “Big Drug Company” PACs are the Political Action Committees of the top 40 biggest pharmaceutical companies by revenue in 2004. 3 “New Medicare Drug Plans Fail to Provide Meaningful Drug Price Discounts,” United States House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, Minority Staff Special Investigations Division, November, 2005; Public Law 108173, § 1860D-2(l). 4 Political Money Line, www.tray.com; “Big Drug Comany” PACs are the Political Action Committees of the top 40 biggest pharmaceutical companies by revenue in 2004. 5 From Thelma Drake’s website, http://drake.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=909 6 From Thelma Drake’s website, http://drake.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=909 7 “New Medicare Drug Plans Fail to Provide Meaningful Drug Price Discounts,” United States House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, Minority Staff Special Investigations Division, November, 2005; Public Law 108173, § 1860D-2(l). 8 Washington Post, 11/23/03 http://www.peaceredding.org/Medicare%20Bill%20Partly%20a%20Special%20Interest%20Care%20Package.htm 9 Washington Post, 9/29/05 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092800270.html 10 Associated Press, 4/19/06; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041901097.html 11 Associated Press, 4/19/06; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041901097.html 12 Associated Press, 4/19/06 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041901097.html 13 Associated Press, 3/29/06 http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060330/NEWS06/603300449/1012 14 Associated Press, 2/11/06 http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060211/D8FMJP6G1.html 15 Center for Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.com; http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=210 16 Associated Press, 9/26/03 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/26/politics/main575356.shtml 17 Memorandum, Official’s Stock Options In and Deferred Salary From a Corporation as a “Financial Interest” of an Executive Branch Official in Such Corporation, Congressional Research Service, 9/22/03, http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/crs.pdf 18 Memorandum, Official’s Stock Options In and Deferred Salary From a Corporation as a “Financial Interest” of an Executive Branch Official in Such Corporation, Congressional Research Service, 9/22/03, http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/crs.pdf 19 Vice President Dick Cheney’s 2003 Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report, http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/pfd2003/N00006237_2003.pdf 20 Time Magazine, 5/30/04; Washington Post, 6/14/04 http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/05/30/cheney.halliburton/ 21 Washington Post, 6/14/04 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39073-2004Jun13.html 2

Appendix I: Drake “Big Drug Company” Donations Since 2004 Election Cycle Source: Political Money Line (www.tray.com) Drake Big Company Donations Since 2004 Election Cycle PFIZER INC. PAC SMITHKLINE BEECHAM CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (GLAXOSMITHKLINE PAC) PFIZER INC. PAC

$1,000 $2,000 $2,000 $5,000