We take refuge in Latin when we make a mistake, and State Rep. Kathy Stein points out an inaccuracy in my piece the other day about Merck contributions to legislators, one which is fairly minor, but we do want to keep things as accurate as possible here.
It was not "Front Page with Sue Wiley," on which State Sen. Dan Kelly appeared (and into which Rep. Stein called in), but the "Kruser Show." She also says that she has a recording of the program in which Sen. Kelly was talking about "payoffs from drug companies" (or something similar to that--Rep. has the recording), to which, of course, she takes exception.
Well, I'll take her word for it. And I wouldn't use those words myself (and didn't the other day), but the problem is that when you take money from a company who developed a drug, and the drug company stands to make literally billions of dollars from a piece of legislation mandating that drug, and then you vote for the bill, you open yourself up to such charges, and its hard to sort out whether there was a relationship between the campaign donation and the vote in favor of the bill or not.
That's why I stressed the importance of the appearance of impropriety in my post--precisely because it looks to some people like this is exactly what is happening.
Plus, that is precisely what has been happening around the nation; look no further than Texas. The Republican Governor has decreed that the vaccine will be given while up to his eyeballs in Merck aides and Merck money. So this "marketing" effort has been no respecter of political party, either. Stein is just a small-time Hilary Clinton. She probably thinks that's a compliment.
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