tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post4951222995108415458..comments2024-03-28T22:02:16.520-04:00Comments on Politics and its Discontents: Sounds Like Corporate Extortion To MeLornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-88084882251518931172019-04-15T14:22:16.669-04:002019-04-15T14:22:16.669-04:00It's no coincidence that there's always a ...It's no coincidence that there's always a shake down to it. Lavalin threatens to bugger off to the States. Big Pharma threatens to withhold new products from the Canadian market. Roosevelt and the progressives would have fought back. Governments today - Liberal, Conservative, even NDP instead accommodate and subordinate the nation to the narrow special interest.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-63946488231655514682019-04-15T13:16:40.578-04:002019-04-15T13:16:40.578-04:00Thanks for the link, Anon, but The Star is my go-t...Thanks for the link, Anon, but The Star is my go-to paper;I subscribe to it, and support its journalism.Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-18357238077783838762019-04-15T13:15:20.635-04:002019-04-15T13:15:20.635-04:00Somehow, Mound, public interest and the corporate ...Somehow, Mound, public interest and the corporate interest have been conflated. That is certainly what Trudeau has tried to do to defend his unwholesome efforts to get SNC-Lavalin off the hook. The same tactic is clearly being used by Big Pharma here: its health is being conflated with Canadians' health and economic well-being. <br /><br />I am absolutely disgusted.Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-49774115234009990642019-04-15T12:54:21.004-04:002019-04-15T12:54:21.004-04:00Please don't link to the Toronto Star. I'm...Please don't link to the Toronto Star. I'm not going to subscribe to their site. The CTV is carrying this story as well:<br />https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/big-pharma-might-cut-r-d-delay-new-drugs-if-pharmacare-means-more-generics-memo-1.4379277Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-29835419111193519042019-04-15T11:20:02.289-04:002019-04-15T11:20:02.289-04:00When the Liberals introduced the deferred prosecut...When the Liberals introduced the deferred prosecution option the subtext, still used by the government's defenders, was that "everyone else is doing it." That was used to avoid any discussion of whether such agreements are necessary or the collateral costs they carry for our governments and our society.<br /><br />It's part of early development for us to go to our parent and ask permission to do something harebrained on the strength of "all the other kids are doing it," to which the parent would respond with the pat, "does that mean if all the other kids were to throw themselves off the bridge I should let you do it too?" <br /><br />The inherent danger of these DPAs is that, over time, they can normalize, almost legitimize, bad or even harmful conduct. It becomes a "go ahead, just don't get caught" mentality. Even then the transgressor is usually let off upon coughing up the "filthy lucre" pocketed in the otherwise criminal deal.<br /><br />We've seen in the American experience how normal these deals between the powerful interests and governments can become and how, over time, the penalties exacted can become a pretty modest percentage of the illicit take. Once the penalties are low enough it can actually encourage the sector to pursue the once criminal conduct.<br /><br />The ultimate victim of this, there's no other word for it but "collusion," is the public interest.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.com