Look Out Mr. Bill! Oh Nooooooooooo

December 20, 2005 and February 9, 2006, this blog relayed the outrageous information that Senator Dr. Bill "grease my pockets" Frist and his compadre in ne'er-do-well Speaker Bill Hastert inserted a gift-of-a-lifetime for big pharma into a defense bill--in the middle of the night while literally no one was paying attention.

...a provision in the Defense Appropriations bill that granted vaccine manufactures near-total immunity for injuries or deaths (even in cases of “gross negligence”) caused by their drugs during a viral pandemic, such as an outbreak of the avian flu. The legislation was “worth billions of dollars” to a small group of drug makers.

The provision was inserted in the dead of the night, after House and Senate conferees had agreed the provision would not be included in the bill. According to Roll Call, the brazen move was completely unprecedented.--ThinkProgress.org

The article goes on to bring out the news that the legislation itself was written by--none other than the lobbyists themselves!

How did the industry get such VIP treatment from First and Hastert? Generous campaign contributions always help. Another key component: the vaccine industry was represented by a lobbying team that included three former Frist staffers and Dennis Hastert’s son, Joshua Hastert.--ThinkProgress.org

And I thought Hollywood was nepotistic!