Define Conservatives vs. Liberals

Saturday, March 13, 2004

It's refreshing to see another Minnesota Republican embracing Democratic values in direct opposition to the White House.

Pawlenty to FDA: 'Where are the dead Canadians?: Q Is it then what some critics are alleging, that there is greater fealty to the pharmaceutical industry than to the public at large?

"Well, it's at least an open question. I'm an optimist and prefer to assign the best of motives to people, but here I'm beginning to wonder. They started with a lot of different arguments and kind of, shall we say, polished them down to what became safety. And I think we even got them on that one. If safety is their argument, I repeat, where are the dead Canadians? I think the pharmaceutical industry has enormous power in the Congress and the federal government and they are wielding that in ways that are unfair and disadvantage the American consumers. They are one of the, if not the, most powerful lobbies in the country and they pretty much get their way. That's not going to change unless people stand up to them."