Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Despite expiring patents on blockbuster drugs and a wave of new regulation from the Affordable Care Act that will cost drug makers, the pharmaceutical industry will reap between “$10 billion and $35 billion in additional profits over the next decade,” a new analysis shows.
The health law, which will bring millions of uninsured Americans health benefits beginning in January 2014, will be a critical boon to pharmaceutical industry balance sheets, increasing revenue by one-third by the end of the decade, according to a new report from research and consulting firm GlobalData of London. That means the U.S. pharmaceutical industry’s market value will mushroom by 33 percent to $476 billion in 2020 from $359 billion last year…
“The (Affordable Care Act) represents a dramatic transformation in the fortunes of pharmaceutical companies in what is the world’s largest market for prescription drugs,” said Joshua Owide, head of GlobalData’s industry dynamics team in a statement to Forbes. “This reform was inevitable in the US, and while a number of the changes will negatively impact pharma’s fortunes, the overall balance could be positive, thanks to an additional 32 million formerly uninsured citizens becoming potential customers, resulting in up to $115 billion of new business over a period of 10 years.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-26 04:56:592016-04-11 11:20:21Obamacare Will Bring Drug Industry $35 Billion In Profits
Photo Credit: Town HallCharles Dickens’ novel called A Tale of Two Cities (1859) depicted the plight of French peasants’ civil conflict with its aristocracy in the years leading up to the French Revolution. Despite their linguistic differences, Dickens showed many parallels with the social atmosphere of London and Paris during that time period.
In contrast to Dickens’ work, my commentary today explores the dramatic difference in the value of human life (versus the value of animal life) in privileged versus impoverished communities in the same city – Philadelphia. I am concerned that Philadelphians seem more committed to protecting the lives of animals than they seem to be committed to saving the innocent lives of unborn children and their young mothers. Let me explain.
Last month, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was forced to cancel a planned book tour because of credible threats on his life. According to his publisher, “protests escalated into threats of violence.” Threats were made to harm Vick himself and the employees of bookstores and other venues planning to host the athlete as he promoted his new book, Finally Free. Everyone concerned decided it was safer to keep the athlete out of the public eye for the off season. The anger against Vick stems no doubt from his role in the death of between six and eight dogs in a dog fighting and gambling operation he owned. Vick pled guilty to felony charges in 2007 and has since been released from prison.
In contrast; two years ago, another Philadelphia man was indicted for the murder of seven human babies and one adult woman. Kermit Gosnell ran a late term abortion facility in Philadelphia and had been sued at least 15 times for malpractice before the FBI discovered the squalid conditions in his clinic during a prescription drug raid in February of 2010. Yet the same media that excoriated Vick— has been eerily silent on the murder of poor mothers and the murder of fetuses.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-26 04:50:182016-04-11 11:20:21A Tale of Two Cities: Named Philadelphia
What do you do when your base is angry about Guantanamo? I guess that you promise to close it again. You also blame Congress for not giving you the money to do it. The problem is that it was a Congress controlled by Democrats that did not provide the funding.
What about drones? You promise that we will “drone” more carefully from now on. Let’s hope that the terrorists will cooperate by keeping children away from them.
What about tapping reporters phones? You say that it was about national security and because that “darn Congress” didn’t pass the media shield law.
By the way, does anyone remember President Obama persuading members of Congress to pass the media shield law? I don’t!
Overall, I rate this as a speech trying to win back the left. I did not hear much more than that. My guess is that it will be largely forgotten when the next IRS official comes to Congress and says “I don’t know.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-26 04:44:572016-04-11 11:20:22Obama’s Speech to ‘Kiss and Make Up’ with His Base
Photo Credit: Life NewsDr. Anthony Levatino understands plenty about post-abortion grief. When the Ob/Gyn lost his little girl in a car accident, the man who had performed as many as 1,200 abortions said he couldn’t finish another one without getting sick.
“For the first time after all those years… I didn’t see her wonderful right to choose; I didn’t see what a great doctor I was helping her with her problem. All I could see was somebody’s son or daughter,” he said quietly.
Today, Dr. Levantino brings that passion and emotion to the debate over abortion–most recently in his testimony this morning for Rep. Trent Franks’s (R-Ariz.) fetal pain bill. In a roomful of people, the longtime doctor explained with stomach-turning clarity the reality of abortion.
“Imagine,” he said, “if you can, that you are a pro-choice obstetrician/gynecologist like I once was… and [your patient] is asleep on an operating room table.”
In graphic detail, he described the instruments he would use on women who, at 24 weeks, had already felt their babies kicking. Dr. Levatino talked about a specialized clamp, whose wide jaws and rows of sharp metal teeth were for “grasping and crushing tissue.” “When it gets a hold of something,” Dr. Anthony Levatino warns, “it does not let go.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-26 04:39:532016-04-11 11:20:22Time for Congress to Stop Painful Abortions on Unborn Babies
Photo Credit: KPTVA West Albany High School student is accused of planning a “Columbine-style” attack on his classmates.
Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson announced that 17-year-old Grant Acord will be charged as an adult on Saturday. He will face a charge of attempted aggravated murder. Prosecutors said he had a well thought out plan that included at date.
Haroldson said Acord had, “plans checklists, diagrams, inspirations, sources and a focus on recreating the model of Columbine, with adjustments that would make it more successful.”
According to Haroldson, police found at least six homemade bombs and bomb making materials hidden in a secret compartment in Acord’s bedroom at his mother’s house. The home is located on Northwest Raymond Court in Albany.
“The types of bombs include pipe bombs, a napalm bomb, Draino bombs and Molotov cocktails,” said Haroldson.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-26 04:27:052016-04-11 11:20:22Albany High School Student Accused of Planning ‘Columbine-Style’ Attack (+video)
Photo Credit: Reuters Libertarians eager to move beyond mere ideological victories are making progress in a long-term effort to migrate to one state to concentrate efforts and reshape communities based on their ideals of less government and individualism.
The grand social experiment can be traced to a 2001 essay by a Yale doctoral student who lamented about Libertarians’ failure to get candidates elected and argued the best way to make a real impact is for 20,000 activists to move to a relatively small state with low taxes and job opportunities, then making inroads in government, communities and courts.
New Hampshire won in a 2003 online vote. And 10 years later, more than 1,200 activists have already moved there, with roughly 13,000 others pledging to follow after the 20,000 sign up for the so-called Free State Project.
Though their numbers remain relatively small, and achieving full strength appears at least several years away, Libertarians now living in New Hampshire say they have already had several successes, including at least a dozen members winning seats in the 424-member state legislature.
“The first biggest success is we’re still around,” Carla Gericke, the project’s president, told FoxNews.com on Friday. “People are going forward, and we’re past the experiment stage. We’re now in the getting it done stage.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-26 04:14:502016-04-11 11:20:22Libertarian Movement Gaining Steam in New Hampshire
By Jason Howerton. During last week’s hearing, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) asked Holder about the potential to prosecute reporters under the Espionage Act of 1917.
“You’ve got a long way to go to try to prosecute the press for publication of material,” Holder answered.
He later added: “In regard to potential prosecution of the press for disclosure of material, this is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, of would think would be wise policy.” Read more from this story HERE.
As we reported yesterday, however, Holder was personally involved in the approval of the warrant and investigation of Fox News reporter Rossen.
Photo Credit: APGun owners could carry concealed weapons in Illinois, the last state in the nation to prohibit it, under legislation that swept through the House Friday with the backing of the powerful Democratic speaker from Chicago, a city torn by violence despite what critics claim are the nation’s toughest firearms restrictions.
The historic 85-30 vote would allow the carrying of concealed guns, a legislative task compelled by a federal appeals court ruling and precipitated by House Speaker Michael Madigan’s turnabout.
But its obliteration of all local gun laws, including Chicago’s ban on assault-style weapons, drew immediate resistance from Gov. Pat Quinn, a Chicago Democrat like Madigan. Quinn said the proposal endangers the public by pre-empting local gun laws, which have nothing to do with concealed carry, the only subject covered by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decree.
“We need strong gun-safety laws that protect the people of our state. Instead, this measure puts public safety at risk,” Quinn said in a prepared statement.
Senate President John Cullerton, another Democrat from Chicago, called the pre-emption provision “offensive.” Cullerton said he would meet privately with his majority caucus Monday to decide how to proceed. A Senate concealed-carry plan, which overrules local control only by requiring a statewide carry program, is on the Senate floor awaiting a vote.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-25 04:23:552016-04-11 11:20:23Lawmakers Vote to End Last Concealed Weapons Ban in the Nation
Photo Credit: APBy Susan Crabtree. In a bold move that demonstrates his commitment to an inner circle of close advisers — even those caught up in controversies, President Obama plans to nominate Victoria Nuland to assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, the White House said Thursday.
Ms. Nuland is the State Department spokeswoman who, emails revealed last week, expressed deep concerns about the implications of early versions of the “talking points” being prepared for the attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya. at one point asking that references to al Qaeda and previous CIA warnings about threats in Libya be deleted from the document. She said members of Congress might use them to criticize the State Department for not providing beefed-up security at Benghazi, where U.S. Amb. J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
She also memorably argued that her “building leadership” still had issues with the talking points even after some changes, a reference some Republicans believe could implicate then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or other senior leaders. Read more from this story HERE.
McCain, Graham laud nominee behind Benghazi talking-point edits
By Alexis Levinson. Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham were vocal critics of the administration’s messaging after the Benghazi attacks, but on Friday, they issued a laudatory statement about Victoria Nuland — the woman behind a number of the changes to the talking points — and her nomination to be assistant secretary of state for Europe.
“Ambassador Victoria Nuland has a long and distinguished record of service to our nation in both Republican and Democrat administrations. She is knowledgeable and well-versed on the major foreign policy issues as well as respected by foreign policy experts in both parties. We look forward to her upcoming confirmation hearings in the United States Senate,” the two senators said in a joint statement. Read more from this story HERE.
Photo Credit: The BlazeBy Jason Howerton. London is still reeling from the horrific terror attack that took place earlier this week.
Both of the suspects accused of butchering a British soldier during broad daylight on a London street had long been on the radar of Britain’s domestic spy agency, though investigators say it would have been nearly impossible to predict that the men were on the verge of a brutal killing.
Still, counter-terrorism officials said they are reviewing what – if any – lessons can be gleaned from the information they had leading up to the slaying Wednesday.
Authorities in the U.S. have similarly pledged to review their procedures in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, with the Boston police commissioner saying that cities should consider deploying more undercover officers and installing more surveillance cameras.
The British review comes amid an outpouring of grief over Wednesday’s slaughter of 25-year-old Lee Rigby of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Rigby, who had a two-year-old son, had served in Afghanistan. Detectives say they do not believe the attackers knew him or that he was specifically targeted, but they are still investigating. Read more from this story HERE.
To the Slaughter: British Lions Come up Lambs in Woolwich
Photo Credit: National Review By Mark Steyn. On Wednesday, Drummer Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, a man who had served Queen and country honorably in the hell of Helmand Province in Afghanistan, emerged from his barracks on Wellington Street, named after the Duke thereof, in southeast London. Minutes later, he was hacked to death in broad daylight and in full view of onlookers by two men with machetes who crowed “Allahu akbar!” as they dumped his carcass in the middle of the street like so much road kill.
As grotesque as this act of savagery was, the aftermath was even more unsettling. The perpetrators did not, as the Tsarnaev brothers did in Boston, attempt to escape. Instead, they held court in the street gloating over their trophy, and flagged down a London bus to demand the passengers record their triumph on film. As the crowd of bystanders swelled, the remarkably urbane savages posed for photographs with the remains of their victim while discoursing on the iniquities of Britain toward the Muslim world. Having killed Drummer Rigby, they were killing time: It took 20 minutes for the somnolent British constabulary to show up. And so television viewers were treated to the spectacle of a young man, speaking in the vowels of south London, chatting calmly with his “fellow Britons” about his geopolitical grievances and apologizing to the ladies present for any discomfort his beheading of Drummer Rigby might have caused them, all while drenched in blood and still wielding his cleaver.
If you’re thinking of getting steamed over all that, don’t. Simon Jenkins, the former editor of the Times of London, cautioned against “mass hysteria” over “mundane acts of violence.”
That’s easy for him to say. Woolwich is an unfashionable part of town, and Sir Simon is unlikely to find himself there of an afternoon stroll. Drummer Rigby had less choice in the matter. Being jumped by barbarians with machetes is certainly “mundane” in Somalia and Sudan, but it’s the sort of thing that would once have been considered somewhat unusual on a sunny afternoon in south London — at least as unusual as, say, blowing up eight-year-old boys at the Boston Marathon. It was “mundane” only in the sense that, as at weddings and kindergarten concerts, the reflexive reaction of everybody present was to get out their cell phones and start filming. Read more from this story HERE.
Cameron calls for probe on word terrorists were known to UK authorities prior to attack
By Fox News. The savage attack mounted by Muslim terrorists on a soldier on a busy London street has prompted a parliament inquiry into what the nation’s vaunted MI5 domestic intelligence agency could have done to stop the suspects, both of whom had raised alarms with authorities.
The two suspects accused of hacking 25-year-old British soldier Lee Rigby to death Wednesday remained hospitalized under guard after being shot by police following the shocking incident, the aftermath of which was caught on cellphone video by passersby.
Michael Adebolajo, 28 and Michael Adebowale, 22, hit Rigby with their car and then attacked him with knives and a meat cleaver, according to witnesses.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday a parliamentary committee will carry out an investigation into the role of the security services in tracking the suspects before their bloody rampage. MI5 was apparently aware of the men, and while Adebolajo had handed out radical Islamist pamphlets neither was considered a serious threat, a government source told Reuters. Adebowale is a naturalized British citizen born in Nigeria, while Adebolajo was born in Britain to a Nigerian immigrant family, according to a Reuters report.
“To find the signals, the red flags as it were, I think is enormously hard,” Richard Barrett, former head of counter-terrorism at the Secret Intelligence Service MI6, Britain’s foreign spy agency, told the BBC. Read more from this story HERE.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-25 04:21:192016-04-11 11:20:23Widow of Butchered British Soldier Gives Heartbreaking Tearful Interview: ‘I Love Lee and Always Will’