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[Malvolio]

Won't Bernie please think of the children?!

Poor bastard lived long enough to see himself become the villain.

 

[TyrantII]

Right. It was, as I said, a bill which reinforces the current American pharmaceutical model and makes drugs more expensive - this was the main outcome of the bill. Drugs being more expensive kills thousands more people than speeding up paediatric drug development saves - I'm a healthcare economist, this is my job (I currently consult for a drug board on price-setting). This was a net harmful bill.

I have no doubt that if the paediatric reforms had been put forward as a separate piece of legislation, Sanders would have voted for it. Instead, he was the only Senator to vote against a net harmful piece of legislation.

It wasn't that bill either.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

It wasn't that bill either.

You can read the bill here. By expanding the user fee system instead of pushing for federal funding, the FDA is heavily incentivised to support drug development in obscure or monopoly fields rather than generics, since it receives higher fees from the former. It tacitly restricts the independence of the FDA. Generic drugs now comprise 88 percent of total prescriptions in the United States, but remarkably only account for 28 percent of pharmaceutical expenditures; much of that is because the FDA has an enormous backlog and prioritises non-generics because otherwise it ends up with a funding shortfall.

Regulatory bodies should not be dependent for funding on the industry that they have to regulate. This causes far more losses than a rider about paediatric drugs that would have almost no real consequences (the number of developments it applies to is probably less than 10 a year, of which the vast majority will not end up successful anyway).

 

[jph139]

Very iffy on anything that lowers the bar for drug approval. I understand that a lot of cancer patients have nothing left to lose, but I'm hesitant to put too much of that power in the hands of pharmaceutical companies.

Selling hope to the hopeless is always an easy way to make a quick buck.

When 99% of Congress agrees on something... red flags should be going up.

 

[Sirpopopop]

Yeah, they can, but time has shown that yeah - it usually is corporate money at the source of all this anti-Bernie crap.

Glad to know I'm being paid for my anti-Bernie positions. Do you know where I can collect the check?

 

[Sirpopopop]

Very iffy on anything that lowers the bar for drug approval. I understand that a lot of cancer patients have nothing left to lose, but I'm hesitant to put too much of that power in the hands of pharmaceutical companies.

Selling hope to the hopeless is always an easy way to make a quick buck.

When 99% of Congress agrees on something... red flags should be going up.

That bill fixing loopholes in the GI Bill allowing for-profit colleges to target vets passed with unanimous consent.

Clearly, red flags should be going up about that!

 

[excelsiorlef]

Yeah, they can, but time has shown that yeah - it usually is corporate money at the source of all this anti-Bernie crap.

Is this the left equivalent of Soros checks?

Do you mean I could be collecting two incomes? Damn I'm missing out

 

[Kayhan]

Won't Bernie please think of the children?!

Poor bastard lived long enough to see himself become the villain.

He is the most popular politician in the country.

 

[the-pi-guy]

Sanders said this:

The lone "no" vote came from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Spokesman Josh Miller-Lewis said Sanders voted no because the bill "does nothing to lower drug prices and is a giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry."

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/03/the...slation-to-ensure-no-halt-in-fda-reviews.html

 

[Paz]

Right. It was, as I said, a bill which reinforces the current American pharmaceutical model and makes drugs more expensive - this was the main outcome of the bill. Drugs being more expensive kills thousands more people than speeding up paediatric drug development saves - I'm a healthcare economist, this is my job (I currently consult for a drug board on price-setting). This was a net harmful bill.

I have no doubt that if the paediatric reforms had been put forward as a separate piece of legislation, Sanders would have voted for it. Instead, he was the only Senator to vote against a net harmful piece of legislation.

Damn so I was right earlier :/ It's almost like both this and the russian sanctions thread are filled with people angry at Sanders for voting against something that has a heap of harmful shit hidden inside of it but sounds good on a surface level.

American politics seems to be all about putting awful shit behind a veneer of stuff that people will be super mad about voting against. "BERNIE SANDERS VOTES AGAINST RUSSIA SANCTIONS, VOTES AGAINST FASTER CANCER DRUGS FOR CHILDREN" sure paints an easy to digest picture.

 

[low-G]

Bernie's reasoning makes sense. Not sure why you are shitting on a guy for having political principles.

Because he wasn't Hillary. Too much for these centrists.

Also, because most of NeoGAF can't read. Probably all using text to speech to post here.

Really it's a safe time to make a statement, but it riles people up. He's the McCain of Democrats this way. If he were to run for an office again it'd look really bad "Sanders wants children to suffer from cancer..."

 

[rjinaz]

Kind of embarrassed I ever supported Bernie now. He would be fine with accomplishing nothing or even going backwards all for principle.

I mean I'm sure he knew this would pass and he's just trying to make a statement but all he really does here is come across as an asshole.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Because he wasn't Hillary. Too much for these centrists.

Also, because most of NeoGAF can't read. Probably all using text to speech to post here.

Really it's a safe time to make a statement, but it riles people up. He's the McCain of Democrats this way. If he were to run for an office again it'd look really bad "Sanders wants children to suffer from cancer..."

Always the centrist argument.

Y'all need to stop trying to claim exclusive rights to left wing/progressive designation.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Because he wasn't Hillary. Too much for these centrists.

Also, because most of NeoGAF can't read. Probably all using text to speech to post here.

Really it's a safe time to make a statement, but it riles people up. He's the McCain of Democrats this way. If he were to run for an office again it'd look really bad "Sanders wants children to suffer from cancer..."

This is embarrassing

 

[Demoskinos]

Kind of embarrassed I ever supported Bernie now. He would be fine with accomplishing nothing or even going backwards all for principle.

I mean I'm sure he knew this would pass and he's just trying to make a statement but all he really does here is come across as an asshole.

Yes because wanting families of dying kids to actually be able to afford said drugs makes him so horrible.

 

[dynamitejim]

Yes because wanting families of dying kids to actually be able to afford said drugs makes him so horrible.

So in the meantime, kids who had no choice in being born to parents who can afford said drugs should die? How sympathetic.

 

[rjinaz]

Yes because wanting families of dying kids to actually be able to afford said drugs makes him so horrible.

Or maybe make a bill that is strictly about that instead of trying to hijack one that actually does accomplish something?

 

[lush]

Jesus, this divisive moron is just going to keep us reliving the Democratic primary until the next Democratic primary huh?

 

[Cesare Borgia]

Because he's choosing to exercise those principles by denying cancer drugs to sick kids.

Fuck those principles.

His vote has no impact on the passage of the bill, he's not "denying" anyone anything.

 

[VendettaRed07]

So in the meantime, kids who had no choice in being born to parents who can afford said drugs should die? How sympathetic.

How many times does this need to be said

The bill passed so no that isn't what's happening. But I'm sure the children who will die because the prices of the drugs are still too much and can't afford them will go out peacefully knowing it was better to just accept a terrible bill rather than congress doing something to help them. I'm sure the ones who are still actively being screwed over are so happy this bill passed and only one "purity tester" was there looking out for them instead of 100.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Feel that burn, kiddies..

 

[GrapeApes]

I was sure the 1 vote against would be like Rand Paul. Figured the reasoning would be about government forcing private companies goes against the free market and all that jazz. Not a good look at all for Bern.

 

[jack_package_200]

Those who keep touting that one "Bernie is the most popular politician" poll should give this twitter thread a read

 

[UnObtainium17]

Man.. as a bernie stan he'd have difficulty getting shit done because he's uncompromising.

 

[VendettaRed07]

I'm sure soon when Sanders actually does introduce a bill that would provide affordable drugs to sick children who need them, and every republican votes against it, they won't be giving a fuck about "optics"

But I guess it's nice to see gaf has its priorities and order and who we should hold accountable for what. It's absolutely insane that we just accept republicans blatant opposition to every single possible bill that will actually improve healthcare in this country as normal and freak the fuck out whenever a single dem isn't tripping over themselves to pick up whatever scraps the opposition is willing to throw in to some bullshit degerulation bill

 

[excelsiorlef]

Those who keep touting that one "Bernie is the most popular politician" poll should give this twitter thread a read

Nice find

 

[Dr. Malik]

Those who keep touting that one "Bernie is the most popular politician" poll should give this twitter thread a read

Bookmarked

 

[thewaffles]

Those who keep touting that one "Bernie is the most popular politician" poll should give this twitter thread a read

Thank you for finding this. I only saw a problem with the amount of "lawmakers" in that poll, but this shows many more problems with the conclusion that people were drawing from that.

 

[kirblar]

You can read the bill here. By expanding the user fee system instead of pushing for federal funding, the FDA is heavily incentivised to support drug development in obscure or monopoly fields rather than generics, since it receives higher fees from the former. It tacitly restricts the independence of the FDA. Generic drugs now comprise 88 percent of total prescriptions in the United States, but remarkably only account for 28 percent of pharmaceutical expenditures; much of that is because the FDA has an enormous backlog and prioritises non-generics because otherwise it ends up with a funding shortfall.

Regulatory bodies should not be dependent for funding on the industry that they have to regulate. This causes far more losses than a rider about paediatric drugs that would have almost no real consequences (the number of developments it applies to is probably less than 10 a year, of which the vast majority will not end up successful anyway).

Deliberately supporting the creation of new drugs to treat rare diseases instead of looking for generic treatments for existing ones is exactly what the FDA should be doing!

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

Those who keep touting that one "Bernie is the most popular politician" poll should give this twitter thread a read

Thank you for this.

That graph never made sense to me. Now I know why.

I'm tired of the "everyone likes him, but you! get on the bandwagon already!" argument.

 

[D4Danger]

Those who keep touting that one "Bernie is the most popular politician" poll should give this twitter thread a read

the opinion poll is really just an opinion poll. got 'em.

 

[jack_package_200]

Nice find

Bookmarked

Thank you for finding this. I only saw a problem with the amount of "lawmakers" in that poll, but this shows many more problems with the conclusion that people were drawing from that.

Thank you for this.

That graph never made sense to me. Now I know why.

I'm tired of the "everyone likes him, but you! get on the bandwagon already!" argument.

Glad to be of service

 

[NeOak]

Because he's choosing to exercise those principles by denying cancer drugs to sick kids.

Fuck those principles.

Ayyyy lmao

 

[Kayhan]

Those who keep touting that one "Bernie is the most popular politician" poll should give this twitter thread a read

This confirms the poll. I don't know what you think that tweets means.

 

[Regiruler]

It's whatever. The bill passed which is what's important. In a vote that matters, I better see Sanders vote yes though. It's the same standard I hold anyone to, vote whatever the fuck you feel like pleases your constituents or personal ideological goals when it doesn't matter. But the second a vote does matter you best get your ass in your seat and vote in line with your party (or caucus or coalition or w/e).

This is why democracy is broken.

When Republicans are coerced into voting on party lines they're cowards. But God help Bernie Sanders if he doesn't vote the way people want him to for his principles.

We need more legislators like Sanders that act as a steward instead of acting enslaved to their voter base.

 

[Ekai]

That this thread isn't even about the effort itself or what is in it but an effort and excuse to act like Bernie was evil for voting no/dredges up the primary yet again, I really question the point of this at this point.

How did I know going into this thread that Bernie would be the 1 no vote? How??? Goddammit Bernie.

If you bothered to see why he voted no, it makes sense..............just saying. But hey, we gotta demonize the left-wing don't we? Instead of, you know, fixing the drug pricing in this country.

This confirms the poll. I don't know what you think that tweets means.

That was my conclusion as well.

Jesus, this divisive moron is just going to keep us reliving the Democratic primary until the next Democratic primary huh?

He doesn't control how people react to his vote.

Didn't he also vote against the russia sanctions bill?

Maybe the bills don't pass his purity tests.

You should really learn why senators vote on these bills the way they do instead of reviving tired old memes.

Very iffy on anything that lowers the bar for drug approval. I understand that a lot of cancer patients have nothing left to lose, but I'm hesitant to put too much of that power in the hands of pharmaceutical companies.

Selling hope to the hopeless is always an easy way to make a quick buck.

When 99% of Congress agrees on something... red flags should be going up.

I would generally say this is my thought as well but hey, why talk about that when we can reignite the primary for the umpteenth time.

 

[Koomaster]

This confirms the poll. I don't know what you think that tweets means.

That was my conclusion as well.

Did either of you actually read through that? The only conclusion to be drawn from that poll is that he's more popular than these 6 other politicians - Trump being one of the ones listed. The poll doesn't say what you think it does.

 

[SapientWolf]

You can read the bill here. By expanding the user fee system instead of pushing for federal funding, the FDA is heavily incentivised to support drug development in obscure or monopoly fields rather than generics, since it receives higher fees from the former. It tacitly restricts the independence of the FDA. Generic drugs now comprise 88 percent of total prescriptions in the United States, but remarkably only account for 28 percent of pharmaceutical expenditures; much of that is because the FDA has an enormous backlog and prioritises non-generics because otherwise it ends up with a funding shortfall.

Regulatory bodies should not be dependent for funding on the industry that they have to regulate. This causes far more losses than a rider about paediatric drugs that would have almost no real consequences (the number of developments it applies to is probably less than 10 a year, of which the vast majority will not end up successful anyway).

In a perfect world, yeah, but I'm not sure where they're going to find a giant pile of money for the FDA right now.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

This confirms the poll. I don't know what you think that tweets means.

Bernie is the most popular active politician in the entire US*** (when only looking at 9 politicians, in a poll about taxes***)

A bit more context is needed, when this image gets posted ad nauseam as a discussion 'checkmate'

 

[Kayhan]

It is the poll we got.

If anyone got newer or more expansive polls please feel free to post them.

But there is no reason to think that America regards Bernie as some sort of boogie man. On the contrary, he appears to be quite popular.

 

[excelsiorlef]

It is the poll we got.

If anyone got newer or more expansive polls please feel free to post them.

But there is no reason to think that America regards Bernie as some sort of boogie man. On the contrary, he appears to be quite popular.

That's ummm not how polls work.

 

[jakonovski]

No wonder America is in such a shit shape. So many even on Neogaf falling for cheap parlor tricks like attaching emotional riders to bills.

You'll all feel really good for a while about this bill (much like pissing down a pants leg), but the continual reinforcement of the corporate vice grip on drug prices will make it feel really really cold in the end.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

It is the poll we got.

If anyone got newer or more expansive polls please feel free to post them.

But there is no reason to think that America regards Bernie as some sort of boogie man. On the contrary, he appears to be quite popular.

"Bernie Sanders is quite popular" and "Bernie Sanders is the country's most popular politician" have two very different rings to them, no?

Absolutely no one said that American thinks Bernie is a boogie man. People are just tired of being berated with his popularity stats.

 

[kirblar]

No wonder America is in such a shit shape. So many even on Neogaf falling for cheap parlor tricks like attaching emotional riders to bills.

You'll all feel really good for a while about this bill (much like pissing down a pants leg), but the continual reinforcement of the corporate vice grip on drug prices will make it feel really really cold in the end.

Ensuring that new drugs keep getting reviewed rather than the system collapsing to a halt when its current authorization bill runs out is a good thing!

You have the GOP in charge. Nothing will be reformed right now because their caucus is a dumpster fire. Keeping the system from self-destructing until the next election is about as good as you can get.

 

[norm9]

He's an annoyance like Lieberman.

 

[Mutant]

When 99% of Congress agrees on something... red flags should be going up.

Yup, when all the Republicans agree to it something HAS to be up. Those fuckers have been trying to kill millions with the Obamacare repeal, and people now think they grew a conscience? Give me a break.

 

[Ekai]

No wonder America is in such a shit shape. So many even on Neogaf falling for cheap parlor tricks like attaching emotional riders to bills.

You'll all feel really good for a while about this bill (much like pissing down a pants leg), but the continual reinforcement of the corporate vice grip on drug prices will make it feel really really cold in the end.

Why talk about that when we can just rant again about how much we hate Bernie/the left wing for the umpteenth time? Seriously people, at least read why he voted no. It's ridiculous to make this yet another witchhunt about Bernie when the topic could instead be about the bill itself and it's implications.

 

[Archaix]

Jesus christ, this thread seems full of people who would have freaked out at anybody having the gall to vote against the Patriot Act. It's got patriot right in the name and 99% of senators agreed on it! It has to be good!

 

[shnurgleton]

I liked Bernie during the nomination race but seeing how he's voted since has tempered my enthusiasm greatly

This protest vote is a misguided attempt on his part to change the subject to his favorite talking point, which only succeeds in making him come off as stubborn

 

[kirblar]

Jesus christ, this thread seems full of people who would have freaked out at anybody having the gall to vote against the Patriot Act. It's got patriot right in the name and 99% of senators agreed on it! It has to be good!

Comparing this bill to the Patriot Act is ridiculous.