SENATOR BRAUN’S WEEK-IN-REVIEW

For the week beginning March 3

 This week, Senator Braun introduced three bills to tackle rising prescription drug costs through adding transparency to pricing negotiations, clearing the way for more prescription drug approvals by the FDA, and providing oversight and accountability for the pharmaceutical industry.

THE WASHINGTON TIMES:

Senator Mike Braun: Restoring sanity to our drug pricing

Senator Braun announced the drug price bills in an op-ed published by the Washington Times, detailing his solutions to lower prescription prices.

THE WASHINGTON POST:
Paulina Firozi: One GOP senator is urging the drug industry to make good on lowering prices

“Drug company executives indicated last week they would be willing to slash their prices if they no longer were forced to pay middlemen the kind of discounts that many blame for driving up the cost of prescription drugs for consumers.

Now, a first-term Republican senator is trying to turn that pledge into a reality with a new bill banning the practice of “rebates” in which drugmakers pay middlemen in the confusing drug-pricing chain to make sure their drugs are covered by insurers. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) this week introduced a measure to end rebates negotiated between drugmakers and pharmacy benefit managers in transactions conducted in the private sector.”

Click here or below to read the full article:

INDIANA FRONT PAGES

Braun’s drug price proposals were featured in front-page stories for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette and the Indianapolis Star, by Brian Francisco and Kaitlin Lange respectively:

Click here or below to read stories from the Journal Gazette and Indy Star:

FOX BUSINESS CHANNEL

Senator Braun took to Fox Business’s The Evening Edit to talk about the news of the day and his prescription drug price initiatives:

MSNBC LIVE WITH HALLIE JACKSON

Senator Braun appeared on MSNBC to offer his take on President Trump’s emergency declaration, trade talks with China, and the Michael Cohen hearings.

Click here to watch the full interview:

FOOTNOTES” For updates, follow Senator Mike Braun on Facebook and Twitter.

Watch CAGW’s February Porker of the Month Video

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has named Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) Porker of the Month for spreading wild inaccuracies about the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Restoring Internet Freedom Order (RIFO), which overturned Depression-era regulations intended for rotary-dial telephones that were imposed on the internet by the Obama Administration. Leading up to a February 7 hearing, Rep. Doyle, who is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, quipped that “the FCC’s repeal of these essential protections – known as net neutrality – has been a disaster for consumers.” In fact, the Obama-era regulations significantly hampered broadband investment during the two years they were in effect. After RIFO was enacted in 2017, internet speeds increasedby nearly 40 percent, and the U.S. rose from 12th to sixth worldwide in broadband internet speed in just one year. For arguing to reinstate ineffective, unnecessary, and harmful “net neutrality” regulations, Rep. Doyle is the February Porker of the Month. Read more about the Porker of the Month.

CAGW Releases Waste-Cutting Plan for the 116th Congress

In response to an annual deficit of $779 billion for fiscal year 2018 and a national debt of $22 trillion, CAGW released Critical Waste Issues for the 116th Congress on February 13. The report provides detailed proposals for creating a smaller and more efficient government. From civil service and regulatory reform to healthcare and defense spending, Critical Waste Issues details 18 policy areas that lawmakers should focus on to cut waste and improve management and transparency. In announcing the report’s release, CAGW President Tom Schatz commented, “[Critical Waste Issues] should be required reading for every member of Congress and serve as a blueprint for reining in out-of-control federal spending. The start of a new Congress is the perfect time to act on proposals that will begin to relieve America’s fiscal distress.” Read or download CAGW’s new report.

CCAGW Launches Campaign to Save Earmark Moratorium

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) spearheaded a grassroots drive to stop the return of pork-barrel earmarks this month. The push came in response to many House Democrats and even some Republicans who are clamoring to lift the moratorium on wasteful, self-serving earmarks that has been in place since 2011. Lifting the moratorium would lead to an avalanche of earmarks that would waste taxpayer dollars on pet special interest projects and cause federal spending to explode. To date, the campaign has delivered more than 7,000 constituent e-mails to House members demanding that the earmark moratorium remain in place. Tell your U.S. Representative to vote against any effort to restore wasteful and corruptive earmarks.

From “The WasteWatcher”

On February 7, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) released a 14-page resolution for their Green New Deal. “Saying that the plan is overly ambitious is an understatement,” opines CAGW Government Affairs Director Allen Johnson on CAGW’s blog, “The WasteWatcher.” The proposal calls for “a sustainable, pollution and greenhouse gas free food system,” as well as a “zero emissions” society in just 10 years. Under the plan, the federal government would pay to “build charging stations everywhere, build out highspeed rail at a scale where air travel stops becoming necessary, create affordable public transit available to all, with [a] goal to replace every combustion-engine vehicle.” Regarding payment for these endeavors, the authors of the Green New Deal write: “The Federal Reserve can extend credit to power these projects and investments and new public banks can be created to extend credit.” Ultimately, the Green New Deal is not a realistic proposal, but it shows how much control Democratic Socialists want over Americans and the economy, concludes Johnson. Read more on “The WasteWatcher,” CAGW’s staff blog.