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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RMF who wrote (36210)	8/7/2009 11:35:16 AM
From: Jim S	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 71588

"The Drug Companies and the Defense Companies seem to get CARTE BLANCHE in the U.S" I can't speak to the drug companies. But for the defense companies, I can tell you with some certainty that they DON'T get "carte blanche." I could write a long explanation, but I know it wouldn't influence your thinking. I'll just say that you're mistaken, and leave it at that.

To: RMF who wrote (36210)	8/7/2009 12:45:38 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

The drug companies are indeed researching useful drugs, and I'm not talking about "the next viagra" (despite the fact that there is a serious demand for it because many people find it useful) but life saving drugs. I'm not talking about "price controls", I'm just talking about CAPITALISM. We where talking about forcing prices down like they do in Canada, you seemed to approve. That's effectively price controls (or technically monopsony buying) not normal capitalism. The Drug Companies and the Defense Companies seem to get CARTE BLANCHE in the U.S. 1 - Other than committing specific crimes, people and private organizations generally should be able to do what they want. The default should be "yes its allowed". When it isn't going to be the prohibition should be specific and well justified. 2 - Both industries are heavily regulated. That isn't exactly carte blanche. They can charge anything they want... Which isn't carte blanche, and isn't a bad thing. Companies should generally be able to charge what they want.