Mandela Barnes Says Sen. Ron Johnson ‘Bought and Paid for’ by Big Pharma
The campaign of Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is running to unseat U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, declared Tuesday that the Republican incumbent “is bought and paid for by Big Pharma.”
That charge came in response to Johnson’s Monday comments about Medicare negotiating the cost of certain prescription drugs, which is included in the Inflation Reduction Act that U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law Tuesday afternoon.
Appearing on “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” Johnson told the Fox News host that “when you start punishing the pharmaceutical industry, you’re gonna have less innovation; you’re gonna have fewer lifesaving drugs. That’s not a good thing.”
Barnes—who won the Democratic primary last week—said Tuesday that “while Ron Johnson is worried about protecting the bottom lines of big pharmaceutical companies, I’m worried about working families across Wisconsin who are forced to choose between putting food on the table or affording the medication they need.”
“For over a decade, Ron Johnson has put big corporations and his wealthy donors before the working people he was elected to represent,” he asserted. “In the Senate, I’ll hold Big Pharma accountable and ensure every Wisconsinite has a fair shot.”
The progressive Democrat’s campaign also highlighted recent reporting by The Cap Times that Johnson, while chairing the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in 2018, “declined to subpoena Teva Pharmaceuticals as part of a Democrat-led investigation of the drugmaker’s role in the opioid epidemic.” In the months that followed, the company donated to both Johnson’s campaign and an affiliated political action committee (PAC).
In his bid to replace Johnson, Barnes has secured the support of various progressives groups across Wisconsin and the nation along with local, state, and federal elected officials, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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