In one TV ad, Obama blistered Tauzin for the kind of inside corruption that’s made Washington famous.
“The chairman of the committee, who pushed the law through, went to work for the pharmaceutical industry, making $2 million a year,” Obama announced to the camera, his sleeves rolled up for action. “That’s an example of the same old game-playing in Washington. You know, I don’t want to learn how to play the game better; I want to put an end to the game-playing.”
A year later, he would find that game not so unpleasant after all.
After he became president, Obama would indulge Tauzin in the same closed-door dealings he once lambasted. The drug industry agreed to taxes and rebates involving $80 billion in savings over ten years. In exchange, Obama welshed on three crucial promises: to speed generics to market, to allow the importation of cheaper drugs, and to retain the right to negotiate Medicare drug prices.