Reason #28: Hell Care - How Big Business is (Literally) Killing Us

Billy Tauzin’s work for drug makers while he was in Congress is not rare. Other than arms contractors, perhaps no other business buys off politicians quite like the medical industry.

The U.S. healthcare system is a disgrace. We spend up to 14 percent of our Gross Domestic Product on medical care, yet 45 million Americans have no health insurance. That’s almost 7 percent of the national population. Maybe 7 percent doesn’t sound like much to you, but think of it this way: Every year 18,000 people in the U.S. die because they do not have medical coverage. And yet, year in and year out, our leaders in Washington do nothing about it. Why not? Because big business is making a killing off the sick and the dying.

Consider this: prescription drugs in the U.S. cost 81 percent more than in other western countries. Many foreign governments like Canada do not permit pharmaceutical companies to gouge their sick citizens. But here in America, our government sits idly by as top drug producers rake in billions by charging top dollar for their compounds. Pill makers guarantee this shameful status quo by recycling a portion of their profits in Washington DC.

From 1998 to 2005, pharmaceutical companies spent almost $90 million on campaign contributions. During the 2004 election alone, they injected $17 million into politicians’ pockets - including $1 million to President Bush and $500,000 to his rival, John Kerry. In 2008, they gave over $3 million to the presidential primary contenders alone, with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton each getting well over $500,000.

With that kind of cash getting spread around, do you really have to ask why medicine costs an arm and a leg? Pharmaceutical companies bribe both sides of the aisle, dangling huge donations out to Democrats and Republican alike. Meanwhile, tragically, half of all bankruptcies in this country are caused by medical problems. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your financial security if you get sick. But our bought off leaders are all too willing to let that happen to millions of Americans.

It’s a lot like the subprime housing crisis. Millions of Americans were conned into bad mortgages by unscrupulous lenders. Now, they’re literally being thrown into streets. Yet our leaders have refused to crack down on the bankers and mortgage brokers. That’s because, like Big Pharma, they’ve been generous with political contributions. From 1999-2007, the home lending industry gave over $20 million to members of congress and spent almost $200 million lobbying them. All that cash did the trick. Numerous attempts to regulate the industry died quiet deaths, usually without even coming to a vote.

In other words, our elected officials are willing to let us lose the very roofs over our heads, and even die, before they’ll challenge their big corporate donors. If that doesn’t show you just how powerful corporations are in this country, I don’t know what else to say. When our political leaders won’t even safeguards basic human needs like our health and shelter, there’s something seriously wrong.

NEXT: Reason #29: The Well-Oiled Revolving Door