sprawler47
Voice of One
Ask any RI-er and they will tell you how she destroyed RI in her 6 years as governor. Now she is doing the same in her federal post.
Before there even was a Biden presidential transition, the corporate wing of the Democratic Party was desperate to place then–Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo in the administration. The Prospect reported in late October that she was under early consideration for Treasury secretary, and she then reappeared in early December as a potential head of Health and Human Services. Both times, progressives, including ourselves, shouted her down. Why? Just look at … well, any part of her record, really.
April 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Raimondo did as health care lobbyists asked and immunized Rhode Island nursing homes and hospitals from civil liability for surging deaths. Four months later, Raimondo approved steep health insurance rate hikes. Then a month after that, Raimondo’s administration cut aid for Rhode Island’s poorest, “distressed” communities by 50 percent, all as her state faced record-breaking COVID-19 spread.
As for Big Pharma, Raimondo accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the Sackler family, whose Big Pharma company, Purdue Pharma, drove the opioid epidemic, and only relinquished the money after a yearslong pressure campaign. In 2017, the Raimondo administration awarded Big Pharma company (and embattled vaccine manufacturer) Johnson & Johnson a $1 million taxpayer-funded benefit package to build out a space for the company to use for just two years. According to GoLocalProv, Johnson & Johnson received the most lucrative package of any business from Rhode Island—nearly $6 million to bring just 75 jobs to the state.
Now, as commerce secretary, Raimondo is a key figure interacting with other administration leaders on her department’s issue portfolio, including intellectual property. She also surely will play a part in picking the permanent director of the Patent and Trademark Office. Read full article here:
prospect.org
Before there even was a Biden presidential transition, the corporate wing of the Democratic Party was desperate to place then–Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo in the administration. The Prospect reported in late October that she was under early consideration for Treasury secretary, and she then reappeared in early December as a potential head of Health and Human Services. Both times, progressives, including ourselves, shouted her down. Why? Just look at … well, any part of her record, really.
April 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Raimondo did as health care lobbyists asked and immunized Rhode Island nursing homes and hospitals from civil liability for surging deaths. Four months later, Raimondo approved steep health insurance rate hikes. Then a month after that, Raimondo’s administration cut aid for Rhode Island’s poorest, “distressed” communities by 50 percent, all as her state faced record-breaking COVID-19 spread.
As for Big Pharma, Raimondo accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the Sackler family, whose Big Pharma company, Purdue Pharma, drove the opioid epidemic, and only relinquished the money after a yearslong pressure campaign. In 2017, the Raimondo administration awarded Big Pharma company (and embattled vaccine manufacturer) Johnson & Johnson a $1 million taxpayer-funded benefit package to build out a space for the company to use for just two years. According to GoLocalProv, Johnson & Johnson received the most lucrative package of any business from Rhode Island—nearly $6 million to bring just 75 jobs to the state.
Now, as commerce secretary, Raimondo is a key figure interacting with other administration leaders on her department’s issue portfolio, including intellectual property. She also surely will play a part in picking the permanent director of the Patent and Trademark Office. Read full article here:
Place Human Lives Over Pharma’s Property Rights
The Biden administration is divided over whether to waive trade protections for Big Pharma—with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo as a key industry ally.
prospect.org
