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Tauzin pulls out of talks to become lobbyist
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| Contributor | User 13 |
| Last Edited | User 13 Feb 29, 2004 06:57pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Website - Yahoo News |
| News Date | Sunday, February 29, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Facing intense political pressure, a Republican who was a guiding force behind the new Medicare law said Thursday he had cut off negotiations toward becoming the top lobbyist for the drug industry until he leaves Congress at the end of this year.
Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., a colorful Cajun who until this month had been chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said through a spokesman that he wanted to end criticism of his long-anticipated move to head the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America at a reported salary of $2.5 million a year.
"He pulled the plug on it," Tauzin's spokesman, Ken Johnson, said. "This had become a monumental distraction. He wanted to put it behind him."
Democrats had pounced on Tauzin's expected move to the drug industry's trade group as a potent political issue. They said it could crystallize for the public a variety of issues and allegations haunting Republicans this election year, from coziness with health care and other industries to ethics cases and heavy-handed legislative leadership.
There's nothing new about members of Congress leaving to cash in on their experience as highly paid lobbyists for industries and corporations. But Tauzin's departure to run the brand-name pharmaceutical lobby would seem to have broken new ground in chutzpah as well as dollars. The trade group contributes heavily to political campaigns, favoring Republicans, and had lobbied vigorously to shape the Medicare law.
Tauzin, 60, switched parties in 1995 after Republicans won a House majority. He was closely identified with the new Medicare law that gives seniors prescription-drug coverage. Democrats charge that it provides a skimpy benefit, beginning in 2006, while delivering a windfall worth billions of dollars to drug companies and health insurers.
Thomas Mann, congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution, said Tauzin's move would have given Democrats an issue because it was easy to understand: "There is nothi |
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