Joe votes no on negotiating lower drug prices

Anyone surprised? I didn't think so. 24 Republicans crossed over and voted for passage, but Joe voted with 169 of his friends.

If it passes the Senate, there's an excellent chance Bush will veto it, along with the stem cell bill, and it's far from veto proof. It's great that we're passing all this important legislation, but if Bush finally starts using his veto power, we're going to have to do it all again once we have a Democrat in the White House.

Here's the full language of the bill:

A BILL
To amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower covered part D drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007'.
SEC. 2. NEGOTIATION OF LOWER COVERED PART D DRUG PRICES ON BEHALF OF MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES.
(a) Negotiation by HHS- Section 1860D-11 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-111) is amended by striking subsection (i) (relating to noninterference) and inserting the following:
`(i) Negotiation of Lower Drug Prices-
`(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers the prices (including discounts, rebates, and other price concessions) that may be charged to PDP sponsors and MA organizations for covered part D drugs for part D eligible individuals who are enrolled under a prescription drug plan or under an MA-PD plan.
`(2) NO CHANGE IN RULES FOR FORMULARIES-
`(A) IN GENERAL- Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to authorize the Secretary to establish or require a particular formulary.
`(B) CONSTRUCTION- Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed as affecting the Secretary's authority to ensure appropriate and adequate access to covered part D drugs under prescription drug plans and under MA-PD plans, including compliance of such plans with formulary requirements under section 1860D-4(b)(3).
`(3) CONSTRUCTION- Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as preventing the sponsor of a prescription drug plan, or an organization offering an MA-PD plan, from obtaining a discount or reduction of the price for a covered part D drug below the price negotiated under paragraph (1).
`(4) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS- Not later than June 1, 2007, and every six months thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a report on negotiations conducted by the Secretary to achieve lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries, and the prices and price discounts achieved by the Secretary as a result of such negotiations.'.
(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall first apply to negotiations and prices for plan years beginning on January 1, 2008.

Knollenberg Votes NO on Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act

Congressman Joe Knollenberg voted NO today on the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.

SUMMARY AS OF: 1/4/2007--Introduced.

Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells, regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo.

Limits such research to stem cells that meet the following ethical requirements:
(1) the stem cells were derived from human embryos donated from in vitro fertilization clinics for the purpose of fertility treatment and were in excess of the needs of the individuals seeking such treatment;
(2) the embryos would never be implanted in a woman and would otherwise be discarded; and
(3) such individuals donate the embryos with written informed consent and receive no financial or other inducements.

Knollenberg opposed this Act which would have provided funding for life-changing and lifesaving medical research on embryonic stem cells -- even though the stem cells would otherwise be destroyed.

What a waste.

Knollenberg's Response to President Bush's Speech on Escalating the War in Iraq

According to The Detroit News,

"Rep. Joe Knollenberg of Bloomfield Hills offered "conditional support," [to the President's Plan] but without real progress in Iraq "within 90 days," he said, "we really have to evaluate what we're going to do."

Since President Bush generally says that you are either with him or against him, Knollenberg is certainly not against him, so he must be with him. Lockstep.

Joe skips another vote

Unbelievable! Is he going to sit out the whole 110th Congress? Joe didn't vote on the minimum wage bill today, which passed with a number of Republicans joining the Democrats. Maybe he thinks no one in the 9th district works for minimum wage, but he's wrong.

Maybe he thinks if he never votes "no" no one will notice that he's not voting at all.

Knollenberg Sends Letter to 2008 GOP Hopefuls Encouraging Them to Oppose Increasing CAFE

Congressman Knollenberg has just sent a letter to the GOP's 2008 Presidential candidates urging them not to support any increases in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for automobiles.

Knollenberg said that increases in CAFE "would have devastated tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in electoral vote rich states". He fails to mention the devastation that trade and tax policies, that he has supported, have had on the auto industry.

It would be difficult to find ANY legislation to protect the environment that Knollenberg has or would support.

Joe skips vote on implementing 9/11 commission recommendations

Joe's name is among those not voting on HR 1 to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations. Wonder what he was doing that was so important that he couldn't show up to vote.

Check out this thread on MichiganLiberal: http://www.michiganliberal.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=7856

And the documentation of the vote:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/house/1/votes/15/

Joe Votes No on Ethics Reform

On H.R.6, passed in the House during the first session of the 110th Congress, Joe voted in lockstep with other Republicans, as expected. Although Titles III, IV and V passed by both sides of the aisle -- Civility, Fiscal Responsibility, and some miscellaneous sections -- not one Republican voted Yes on Title V to adopt the rules. In addition, 48 Republicans voted Yes on Title II, Ethics, however, Joe was one of 152 Republicans voting No. After what went on during the 109th Congress, it's mindblowing that any Congressperson wanting to stay in office the next time around would vote No on ethics reform, which comprised a number of sections under Title II. Maybe Joe was hoping for another trip to Hawaii. Following are the topics falling under Title II of H.R. 6:

Title II. Ethics
SEC. 202. ENDING THE K-STREET PROJECT.
SEC. 203. BAN ON GIFTS FROM LOBBYISTS.
SEC. 204. VALUATION OF TICKETS TO SPORTING AND ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS.
SEC. 205. RESTRICTION OF PRIVATELY FUNDED TRAVEL.
SEC. 206. LOBBYIST ORGANIZATIONS AND PARTICIPATION IN CONGRESSIONAL TRAVEL.
SEC. 207. FURTHER LIMITATION ON THE USE OF FUNDS FOR TRAVEL.
SEC. 208. EXPENSES FOR OFFICIALLY CONNECTED TRAVEL.
SEC. 209. ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURE.
SEC. 210. CLERICAL CORRECTION.
SEC. 211. ANNUAL ETHICS TRAINING FOR MEMBERS, OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE HOUSE.
SEC. 212. DESIGNATING COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR.
SEC. 213. DESIGNATING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
SEC. 214. DESIGNATING COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES.
SEC. 215. DESIGNATING COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM.
SEC. 216. DESIGNATING COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
SEC. 217. SEPARATE ORDER: NUMBERING OF BILLS