LAT: Drug Firms Gave Money to Some Who Endorsed California's Prop 78

Drug Firms Gave Money to Some Who Endorsed Proposition 78
By Dan Morain, Times Staff Writer


SACRAMENTO — The nation's drug makers have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to political leaders and civil rights groups that have endorsed the industry's initiative on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The measure, Proposition 78, would avert state caps on the price of prescription drugs. Those embracing it while taking the industry's money include the conservative Traditional Values Coalition, an emergency-room physician in Los Angeles, the California arm of the NAACP and the Mexican American Political Assn.

The drug industry's campaign also has given $100,000 to Voter Education and Registration Action, a campaign committee that has distributed mailers supporting the drug industry's position.

State Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally (D-Compton) helped create Voter Education, and his campaign office shares an address and phone number with it. He is one of 12 statewide campaign co-chairs.

Mary Boyle, spokeswoman for Common Cause in Washington, D.C., said campaigns that pay for endorsements give voters the false impression that they have more support than they do....


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pharma4nov04,0,4941804,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines

It's the NEW American Way...bribery, payolla...on and on it goes.