00110-RH MED Chocola BU

8/14/2019 00110-RH MED Chocola BU

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MoveOn.org Political Action

TV :30

Red Handed Medicare

Chocola (IN-2)

MOP-06-301

BACKUP / SUBSTANTIATION

SCRIPT:

Congressman Chocola accepted forty thousanddollars from big drug companies.

SCRIPT:

And got caught, red-handed

SCRIPT:

voting for a law that actually preventsMedicare [federal government] fromnegotiating [for] lower drug prices for ourseniors.

BACKUP:

Contributions from Big Drug CompanyPACs1

Rep. Chris Chocola (R-IN) has accepted$48,500 from Big Drug Company PACs sincethe 2002 election cycle.2

Big Drug Company PACs are thePolitical Action Committees of the top40 biggest pharmaceutical companies byrevenue in 2004. See Appendix I forContributions.

BACKUP:

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Defines Red-Handed as: in the Act of Committing aCrime or Misdeed.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary DefinesMisdeed as: Wrong Deed.

Voting for a bill that expressly bans thefederal government from negotiating withdrug manufacturers for lower drug prices,3

while accepting $48,500 in contributionsfrom Big Drug Company PACs4 couldgive the appearance of favoritism, whichcould be construed as a misdeed.

BACKUP:

Medicare Prescription Drug Bill

Final Passage of the Bill Contains a Provisionthat Bans the Federal Government fromNegotiating with Drug Manufacturers for LowerDrug Prices


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SCRIPT:

Tom DeLay. Jack Abramoff. Dick Cheney. Andnow Chris Chocola. Another Republican caughtred-handed.

Tom DeLay [caught red-handed]:

Jack Abramoff [caught red-handed]:

In November 2003, Rep. Chocola votedfor the GOPs 2003 Medicare prescriptiondrug benefit legislation.5

In fact, the final legislation contains aprovision that expressly bans the federal

government from negotiating with drugmanufacturers for lower drug prices.6

The Medicare bill passed by the House[was] advertised as a way to provide along-awaited prescription drug benefit for

seniors.7

BACKUP:

Chris Chocola, Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff,and Dick Cheney are all members of theRepublican party.

Ex. Tom DeLay caught red-handed

On September 29, 2005, Tom DeLay wasindicted in a Texas finance probe.8

DeLay stepped aside as majorityleader after he was indicted in Texas. 9

After winning his GOP primary inMarch, he announced he would resignfrom Congress in the coming weeks. 10

According to theAssociated Press, while thestate case moves on, a continuing U.S. JusticeDepartment probe into Washington corruptionhas netted guilty pleas from two of DeLay'sformer aides and former lobbyist JackAbramoff, once a key DeLay ally.11

Ex. Abramoff caught red-handed

According to theAssociated Press, disgracedlobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced onMarch 29, to nearly six years in prison forcommitting fraud in the purchase of a fleet ofgambling boats. He will remain free whilehelping prosecutors with a vast briberyinvestigation involving members of Congress.12


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Dick Cheney [caught red-handed]:

Abramoff is cooperating with federalinvestigators in a wide-ranging probe ofcorruption on Capitol Hill that threatensseveral powerful members of Congressand their staff members. In January,

Abramoff pleaded guilty to federalcharges of conspiracy, tax evasion andmail fraud.13

According to the Center for ResponsivePolitics, during the time that JackAbramoff was their lobbyist his clientscontributed at least $5 million tomembers of Congress and their politicalaction committees, to candidates forfederal office and to political parties.14

Ex. Cheney caught red-handed

Cheney appears to have been incorrect instating that he did not have ties to Halliburton

even while his office was coordinating no-bidrebuilding contracts in Iraq for Halliburton.

Cheney said September 21, 2003 on NBC thatsince becoming vice president, I've severed allmy ties with the company, gotten rid of all my

financial interest. I have no financial interest inHalliburton of any kind and haven't had, now,for over three years. 15

A report by the Congressional Research Serviceundermines Vice President Dick Cheneysdenial of a continuing relationship withHalliburton Co.16

The report says deferred salary orcompensation received from a privatecorporations in the reportable year isconsidered as among the ties retainedin or linkages to former employers thatmay represent a continuing financialinterest in those employers, whichmakes them potential conflicts ofinterest. 17


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Cheneys 2003 Executive BranchPersonnel Public Financial DisclosureReport indicates that he received anElective Deferred Compensation Planfrom Halliburton.

18

In March 2003, the Pentagon awarded asubsidiary of Halliburton a no-bid contractworth $7 billion to help rebuild Iraqi oil fields.According to court documents obtained by TimeMagazine, an internal Pentagon e-mail saidaction on the contract was coordinated withthe Vice Presidents office.19

According to the Washington Post, in the fallof 2002, a senior political appointee in the

Defense Department chose oil services giantHalliburton Co. to secretly plan how to repairIraqi oil fields, and then briefed Vice PresidentCheney's chief of staff and other White Houseofficials about the sole-source contract before itwas granted.20


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1 Political Money Line, www.tray.com2 Political Money Line, www.tray.com; See Appendix I below for Political Money Line chart containing Chocolas Big

Drug Company donations since the 2002 election cycle. Big Drug Company PACs are the Political ActionCommittees of the top 40 biggest pharmaceutical companies by revenue in 2004.3New Medicare Drug Plans Fail to Provide Meaningful Drug Price Discounts, United States House of RepresentativesCommittee on Government Reform, Minority Staff Special Investigations Division, November, 2005; Public Law 108-

173, 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 HR 1, CQ Vote 669, November 22, 2003; http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll669.xml6 New Medicare Drug Plans Fail to Provide Meaningful Drug Price Discounts, United States House of RepresentativesCommittee on Government Reform, Minority Staff Special Investigations Division, November, 2005; Public Law 108-

173, 1860D-2(l).7Washington Post, 11/23/03

http://www.peaceredding.org/Medicare%20Bill%20Partly%20a%20Special%20Interest%20Care%20Package.htm8 Washington Post, 9/29/05 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092800270.html9 Associated Press, 4/19/06; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041901097.html10 Associated Press, 4/19/06; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041901097.html11 Associated Press, 4/19/06 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041901097.html12 Associated Press, 3/29/06 http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060330/NEWS06/603300449/101213 Associated Press, 2/11/06 http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060211/D8FMJP6G1.html14 Center for Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.com; http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=21015 Associated Press, 9/26/03 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/26/politics/main575356.shtml16 Memorandum, Officials 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.pdf17 Memorandum, Officials 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.pdf18 Vice President Dick Cheneys 2003 Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report,http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/pfd2003/N00006237_2003.pdf19 Time Magazine, 5/30/04; Washington Post, 6/14/04

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/05/30/cheney.halliburton/20 Washington Post, 6/14/04

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39073-2004Jun13.html


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Appendix I:

Chocola Big Drug Company Donations Since 2002 Election CycleSource: Political Money Line (www.tray.com)

PFIZER INC. PAC $9,000ELI LILLY AND COMPANY POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $10,000PFIZER INC. PAC $7,000SMITHKLINE BEECHAM CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (GLAXOSMITHKLINE PAC) $4,000AMGEN INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $2,000AVENTIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,000ABBOTT LABORATORIES EMPLOYEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,000HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE INC. GOOD GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE $1,000JOHNSON & JOHNSON EMPLOYEES' GOOD GOVERNMENT FUND $1,000MERCK PAC THE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE FOR MERCK & CO INC $1,000

NOVARTIS CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (A.K.A. NOVARTIS PAC) $1,000WYETH GOOD GOVERNMENT FUND $1,000ZENECA INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,000ELI LILLY AND COMPANY POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $5,000SMITHKLINE BEECHAM CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (GLAXOSMITHKLINE PAC) $3,000BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB COMPANY EMPLOYEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $500

$48,500

Chocola Big Drug Company Donations Since 2002 Election Cycle

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00110-RH MED Chocola BU