Dem senators try to tank RFK Jr. despite seeing eye to eye on Big Pharma



Democratic senators took aim at Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, despite their shared views on tackling Big Pharma.

Kennedy testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, where Democrats relentlessly tried to discredit the nominee as being anti-vaccine and attacking his abortion stance. Kennedy, a former Democrat and longtime health care lawyer, has a lot in common with some senators when it comes to challenging Big Pharma.

"All these Democrats are opposed to me for partisan issues. They used to be my friends," Kennedy said. "They agreed with all the issues I've been working on my whole career. Now, they're against me because anything President Trump does has to be discredited, derided, and vilified."

'The first thing I've done every morning for the past 20 years is to get on my knees and pray to God that he would put me in a position to end the chronic disease epidemic and to help America's children.'

It appears that Democratic lawmakers would prefer to tank Trump's nominee rather than seizing the opportunity to make bipartisan progress to improve the health care industry.

"We need to figure out ways to improve care, and the current model is not doing that," Kennedy said. "I would ask any of the Democrats who are chuckling just now: Do you think all that money we're sending to Medicaid every year has made Americans healthy? Is it working for anybody?"

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have both been leading voices on the left against Big Pharma. Despite this great commonality, both Sanders and Warren berated Kennedy.

"I want to know if you will commit right now that not only will you not go to work for drug companies, you won't go to work suing drug companies and taking your break out of that while you are secretary and for four years after," Warren said.

"I'm asking about fees from suing drug companies," Warren clarified. "Will you agree not to do that?"

"I'll commit to not taking any fees from drug companies," Kennedy said. "You're asking me to not sue drug companies, and I'm not going to agree to that."

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Sanders similarly went on a tirade about vaccines, ranting about baby onesies that appear to have "anti-vaccine" messaging.

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Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon has also spent a large part of his political career criticizing Big Pharma and attempting to hold the health care industry accountable, much like Kennedy has. Yet, Wyden overlooked the opportunity to make progress in uprooting corruption in the health care industry and rather split hairs on Kennedy's past comments on vaccinations and abortion.

After Wyden attempted to incorrectly paint the nominee as anti-vaccine by referencing old and out-of-context statements, Kennedy clarified his comments and called the senator "dishonest."

"Every medicine has people that are sensitive to them, including vaccines," Kennedy said. "I've corrected [the vaccine statement] many times, including on national TV. You know about this, senator, so bringing this up right now is dishonest."

Kennedy reiterated his lifelong commitment to resolving America's health care epidemic, one that he has personally endured.

"The first thing I've done every morning for the past 20 years is to get on my knees and pray to God that he would put me in a position to end the chronic disease epidemic and to help America's children," Kennedy said.

Kennedy will again be testifying before the Senate Health Committee on Thursday.

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Trump Treasury Pick Says Biden Awarded ‘Oligarchs’ When Pressed On Musk, Bezos Being ‘Too Wealthy And Powerful’

'Qualify for [Biden's] oligarchs'

Bernie Sanders bashes controversial visa program



Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont chimed in on the H-1B visa debate, slamming the program for replacing American jobs with cheaper foreign labor.

The H-1B visa program allows foreign nationals to temporarily work in America for specialty workforces like Silicon Valley. In December, the debate surrounding the program was sparked by MAGA allies like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who advocated in favor of the visas.

'Bottom line,' Sanders said. 'It should never be cheaper for a corporation to hire a guest worker from overseas than an American worker.'

Discussion within the MAGA world persisted, with political heavyweights arguing both for and against the visa program. Notably, President-elect Donald Trump opposed the H-1B program in 2016, which he said had the "explicit purpose of substituting [American] workers at a lower pay." Trump has since changed his position in favor of the visa program.

While the debate has been lively on the right, Sanders offered an unexpected take on the issue, echoing concerns Trump himself had in 2016.

"Elon Musk is wrong," Sanders said. "The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to hire 'the best and the brightest,' but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad. The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make."

"If this program is really supposed to be about importing workers with highly advanced degrees in science and technology, why are H-1B guest workers being employed as dog trainers, massage therapists, cooks, and English teachers?" Sanders continued. "Can we really not find English teachers in America?"

Musk and Ramaswamy defended the visa program, saying the reason Americans were being displaced in the workforce by foreign workers was because American culture has "venerated mediocrity over excellence" and arguing that companies that utilize H-1B "made America strong."

Sanders pushed back, saying that although America needs skilled workers, there is no need to import them.

"Mr. Musk, Mr. Ramaswamy, and others have argued that we need a highly skilled and well-educated workforce," Sanders said. "They are right. But the answer, however, is not to bring in cheap labor from abroad. The answer is to hire qualified American workers first and to make certain that we have an education system that produces the kind of workforce that our country needs for the jobs of the future. And that's not just engineering. We are in desperate need of more doctors, nurses, dentists, teachers, electricians, plumbers, and a host of other professions."

"Bottom line," Sanders said. "It should never be cheaper for a corporation to hire a guest worker from overseas than an American worker."

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Dems, Media Have New Strategy To Break Up Trump-Musk Honeymoon

'President Musk said 'don't do it! shut the government down!'

Bernie Sanders Says Amazon Warehouses are 'Uniquely Dangerous.' He's Spent Nearly $2 Million in Campaign Cash There, Disclosures Show.

Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders (I., V.T.) says Amazon's "obsession with speed creates uniquely dangerous warehouses." But his campaign appears to have an affinity for that speed, having spent nearly $2 million at Amazon since 2012, a Washington Free Beacon review of federal spending disclosures found.

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Dems in disarray over retiring Sens. Manchin, Sinema bucking party-line votes



Several Democratic senators have expressed disapproval as retiring Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona cast their final votes.

Manchin and Sinema, who were previously registered as Democrats before changing their affiliation to independent, have made a habit of breaking from their former party's voting patterns.

Most recently, Sinema and Manchin voted to block President Joe Biden's nominee, Lauren McFerran, from serving another term on the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, handing Senate Republicans another incremental victory. In response, several Democrats called the pair's votes "pathetic" and "disappointing."

This is not the first time Manchin and Sinema have butted heads with the Democratic Party.

"There's a tradition of having a balance on that board, and it's important, so it's disappointing they weren't able to get that done," Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota said.

"Millions of working people across the country will pay the price for their actions," Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said.

Like Sinema and Manchin, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont stepped away from the Democratic Party and changed his affiliation. Sanders' disapproval of the pair's "no" votes was kept short and sweet.

"Pathetic," Sanders said.

This is not the first time Sinema and Manchin have butted heads with the Democratic Party.

Although she voted with Biden most of the time, Sinema sided with the president less than her Democratic colleagues have. For example, Sinema eventually supported the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 after months of haggling and hesitating to support what has become one of Biden's most consequential pieces of legislation.

Manchin has also clashed with his former party, boasting the most conservative voting record of any Democrat or independent in the Senate this term. Manchin notably bucked Biden's Build Back Better legislation in 2021 and has consistently thwarted filibuster reform Democrats have put forward.

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Warren Says ‘Visceral’ Public Response to UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Murder ‘Should be a Warning’ to ‘Vile’ Health Care Industry

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) blasted the “vile” health care system in response to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, saying the public’s “visceral” reaction “should be a warning” to everyone in the industry.

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‘Cutting Waste Is Not A Partisan Idea’: Trump’s DOGE Secures Support From Dem Lawmakers

'Should not be a partisan issue

Bernie Sanders backs DOGE, says 'Elon Musk is right'



Former Democrat turned independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont publicly endorsed the Department of Government Efficiency, a new agency in the upcoming administration aimed at reducing the bloated bureaucracy.

President-elect Donald Trump announced that tech mogul Elon Musk will be at the helm of the department alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. While the department received a lot of expected praise from conservatives, Sanders also came out in support of DOGE.

'Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of "DOGE" for a very long time.'

"Elon Musk is right," Sanders said in a Sunday post on X. "The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions."

"Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud," Sanders continued. "That must change."

Trump announced on November 12, just one week after his landslide victory, that Musk and Ramaswamy would be leading the department.

"Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies - Essential to the 'Save America' Movement," Trump said in a statement on November 12.

"It will become, potentially, 'The Manhattan Project' of our time," Trump continued. "Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of 'DOGE' for a very long time. To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before."

Trump also detailed that the department will exist only through July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

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Resist the Global Intifada

As Israel defeats its enemies on the battlefields in Gaza and Lebanon, the intifada has gone global. The new fronts of the war against the Jewish state include America's cities, the United Nations, the U.S. Senate, and the International Criminal Court. Marches, resolutions, embargoes, arrest warrants—these are the tools by which Hamas sympathizers worldwide intend to isolate Israel diplomatically, undermine Israel's war against terrorism, and intimidate the Jewish people.

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