Sherrod Brown: “Americans as much as any people on Earth have a sense of fair play. That is why I believe 3 or 4 years ago, when the…”

“Americans as much as any people on Earth have a sense of fair play. That is why I believe 3 or 4 years ago, when the Medicare law was passed literally in the middle of the night in the House of Representatives, where the Presiding Officer and I served at that time, by one vote--the rollcall vote was kept open for 3 hours, arms were twisted, calls from the President and pleas and all kinds of begging on the House floor, and who knows what else--that is why people were angry with the way the Medicare law passed. They were also angry especially because of the sense of betrayal they felt with the Medicare law that clearly was written by the drug companies and for the drug companies and by the insurance companies and for the insurance companies. In fact, that Medicare law meant as much as $200 billion in extra profits for the drug industry and meant as much as $70 or $80 billion in directed subsidies for insurance companies to entice--the word our friends used--entice those insurance companies to write standalone Medicare prescription drug coverage. Americans know the score.”