Obama administration gives $433m no-bid contract to Democratic donor.

Saturday, November 12th at 11:17AM EDT

32 Comments

The last time I checked, didn’t the Left call this sort of thing ‘crony capitalism?’

Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work.

Senior officials have taken unusual steps to secure the contract for New York-based Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, one of the world’s richest men and a longtime Democratic Party donor.

As you probably know, smallpox was eradicated in the wild decades ago: mostly because it was a genuinely terrifying threat to humanity, and humanity didn’t get to the top of the food chain by being anything less than ruthlessly efficient when it comes to threats. So the virus now exists only in a few research locations, and we do in fact maintain sufficient stocks of existing vaccines to control an outbreak (whether via accident and/or terrorist activity).

Perelman’s drug (ST-426), on the other hand? Not tested on humans, costs 85x what the existing vaccine does, is only intended for people who missed a four day window after exposure – and was fast-tracked through the approval process by administration officials anyway, to the point of reassigning health care experts who kept pointing out all of this. And, oh yes, said officials denied the existence of correspondence between them and the company (Siga) that makes ST-426.

Read the whole article: there’s a lot in there, from the way that the administration deliberately eliminated competitors to Siga from the bid process (claiming urgent need) to the minor detail that Siga brought SEIU leader and key Obama ally Andy Stern literally on board in 2010. It’s also pretty handy as an example of how to break the intent of the law without actually quite having it proved that you broke the letter of it: the great flaw of bureaucracy is that there is always a loophole or an exception that can be manipulated. The only defense to that is public disapproval: and since the administration’s partisans can’t be bothered to watchdog their political faction, it’s up to us to do that…

Moe Lane

UPDATE: Pejman Yousefzadeh has thoughts on this.

32 Comments Leave a comment

Oh look. Another money laundering scheme.

NeoKong (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 12:05PM EDT (link)

How much of that money will end up paying for Obama’s reelection….?
Who will notice?

After a guy makes a couple of trillion dollars evaporate who would care about a paltry couple of hundred million ?

Follow me on Twitter.

The only thing worse than this crooked administration

Tbone (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 12:25PM EDT (link)

is The Republican Congressional leadership’s failure to respond to it.

They are just as morally and ethically bankrupt as Obama.

Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.

Actually, Obama's spending on these crony capitalist projects had to be authorized by Boehner's House of Representatives.

d_lamar Saturday, November 12th at 7:25PM EDT (link)

Under our Constitution, the president cannot spend a dime unless authorized by the House of Representatives. So when are the conservatives going to start demanding an explanation from Boehner why he authorized this kind of spending?

d lamar- Do you even have a clue

Scope (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 7:48PM EDT (link)

of how gov. budgeting goes for the various departments? I didn’t think so.

Are you denying that Boehner authorized the money that is being spent by Obama?

d_lamar Saturday, November 12th at 8:40PM EDT (link)

Perhaps he didn’t specifically authorize that exact expenditure, but her certainly gave Obama the broad spending authority that allows Obama to do what he wants to do with billions of dollars.

So I guess you’re ok with that? Thought so.

Actually most of these projects came from ARRA

Adjoran (Diary) Sunday, November 13th at 6:59AM EDT (link)

or “the Stimulus bill” which has many billions which have never been spent. That was passed before Republicans took the House.

So you have no clue what you are talking about at all.

You must be kidding

mikem13 Monday, November 14th at 10:54AM EDT (link)

This administration cares nothing about the Constitution. What makes you think obama would bother to even consult the House. Much less take no for an answer?

Superb essay.

daveoconnor (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 1:22PM EDT (link)

This and it’s link are informative and rightly disturbing. GOP primary candidates are you paying attention? The present administration is akin to a set of bowling pins ready for a strike.

Criminal

lightspeed Saturday, November 12th at 2:13PM EDT (link)

This, as well as a number of similar cases, is a criminal theft of OUR MONEY. We all know that much of this money stolen from the American people will return to Obama in the form of campaign donations and other more personal benefits. I am sick of the Democrats and Republicans siphoning off cash from the taxpayers for their own personal benefit. THIS MUST STOP! We need to expose the Jackass-In-Chief* and put these crooks in jail. This administration is engaged in the most brazen “welath transfer” to themselves and their friends in the history of the nation. It will only get worse if he is re-elected. And they will laugh all the way to the bank.

*I think this is the proper title for the head of the Democratic Party, no?

So we need to revive smallpox to make sure the vaccine works...

snowshooze (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 2:47PM EDT (link)

Of course. Absolutely, otherwise, what would be the point?
I wonder what the kickback percentage to Obama is going to be on his one.
These giveaways need to be immediately stopped.

What would be the point?

ericblair00 Saturday, November 12th at 3:43PM EDT (link)

Before you demonstrate how stupid you are, why don’t you type in the name of the vaccine into google and read what it does and why it is being developed?

I think I'll just have to ask you to enlighten me.

snowshooze (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 5:05PM EDT (link)

Gee. How very eloquent of you.
Alrighty then… explain why we need to go to this expense.
Realize too that we could vaccinate everyone in the country for less with the current vaccine.
I don’t know where you are coming from, possibly you are just a bit sensitive about the Obama Kickback Re-election Program.
Possibly you are a conspiracy theorist.
Really, maybe you are so many levels of intelligence above me that we cannot communicate.
But you are still rude. I get that part.

That's because he's a leftist.

Bill S (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 5:07PM EDT (link)

They tend to be that way.

“It’s such a fine line between stupid, and clever.” – David St. Hubbins

Not a leftist

ericblair00 Saturday, November 12th at 5:13PM EDT (link)

but that was a cute comment. Conservatives are generally very well mannered right? Like Coulter, Hannity and Rush?

You're right

ericblair00 Saturday, November 12th at 5:11PM EDT (link)

I was rude and I apologize. Some people on this site are so blind to anything they don’t hear from Hannity or Rush that it upsets me. I shouldn’t have been rude to you and I apologize.

Accepted.

snowshooze (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 5:14PM EDT (link)

No bones.

Vaccine Policy, RedState, and Crony Capitalism

jseville Saturday, November 12th at 3:20PM EDT (link)

It’s funny to see this dramatic piece and outrage over how corrupt this nearly half a billion dollar contract is. Just a couple months ago RedState was referencing those asking hard questions about vaccines “wackos”.

In case writers hadn’t figured it out yet…vaccine policy in heavily corrupted by crony socialism/capitalism with industry executives sitting on committees with the CDC and FDA and getting their agenda $$$ as law. Duh.

Same thing with food policy and the FDA and EPA. You have a judge recenty ruling that farmers could not drink their own raw milk…then he leaves his position to work as an executive at Monsanto. Classic.

Bottom line, vaccine policy is a hugely $$$ conflicted arena that is so corrupt to render it as having no credibility. 1 small example of this is why 5 year old kids need their SECOND Hep B shot again after having received at 12 hours old. The high risk groups for Hep B are prostitutes and drug users. It’s supposed benefits are temporary though–5 year ish.

You better believe some Big Pharma co. is making a LOT of money of millions of extra Hep B shots though. And you better know that they had heavy influence on the vaccine schedule that exploded in the 80s-today.

Seeing how corrupt this process is should cause all parents to want to go research each vaccine one by one and sift through the bullcrap instead of som bizarre religious faith in government vaccine policy with its massive crony capitalist influences.

I guess the commons sense thereof makes me a wacko.

Common sense never makes someone wacko

center77 (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 3:27PM EDT (link)

but it is unwise to turn down something that saves lives because those who make it have found ways to make bucks off of it. We must remember, Vaccines save billions of lives over that last hundred years, and there is no doubt parents should do research into them, but politicians should not scare people away from them for political purpose.

My name is Timothy Bladel. I’m from Davenport, Iowa. I am a Undergraduate, Double Majoring in Journalism & Mass communication, with my other major being political science. I am conservative in nature, sometimes a tad bit libertarian; the Tenth Amendment is vital to changing this country for the better.

Mitt Romney 2012, but not without the truth of who he is.

www.timothy-bladel.com

“We the people” tell the government what to do, it doesn’t tell us. We the people are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast.” Ronald Reagan’s farewell address (January 11, 1989)

Hepatitis B vaccine / Smallpox vaccine

greyeagle Saturday, November 12th at 6:08PM EDT (link)

I understand your point about vaccines and instance of Smallpox vaccine. The illustration of Hepatitis B vaccine probably should not have been used. The two groups utilized are not the only groups. Hepatitis B can be transmitted by body fluids especially blood, human bites, cuts etc Healthcare workers, Fire/EMS/Police are also at risk. If a baby is born to a Hepatitis B positive mother, they will likely wind up a chronic Hepatitis B carrier unless they receive the vaccine. They would likely develop liver cancer at a young age. It always takes at least 2 doses, and likely at least one more dose after age 18. This disease is very easy to contract, because of the large amount of Hepatitis B virus present in blood or body fluid. The vaccine is made from yeast.The current smallpox vaccine is what was used years ago. It has a LOT of side effects. Smallpox disease can also be transmitted from the vaccine to others who come in contact with fluid from the large blister. There has been a search for a safer vaccine. That may not be what is at stake here. I did read that there is a plan to test on children. That would NOT be something I would allow on my children.

There is no need for millions of dollars on a no-bid contract

Adjoran (Diary) Sunday, November 13th at 7:02AM EDT (link)

for a vaccine for a disease which exists only in a couple of labs in the world.

Hmm. Not QUITE at the anti-vac wacko level.

Moe Lane (Diary) Sunday, November 13th at 10:13AM EDT (link)

Impressive, in its way. Fairly pointless, but then you could say that about so much of the Internet.

The Kim Kardashian of blogging.

Check out my blog at http://moelane.com/.
http://moelane.com/filthy-lucre-filthy-lucre/
http://twitter.com/moelane

My (combined) wish list.

This makes me sick

joecollins (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 3:28PM EDT (link)

This president must be defeated.

yea!

ericblair00 Saturday, November 12th at 3:40PM EDT (link)

Fast-tracking development of a bio-defense vaccine is appalling! And did you hear the owner of the pharmaceutical company gave money to democrats?! Why in a country with two political parties, the fact that a pharmaceutical company owner gave money to the democrats and then got a contract to produce medicine is clear evidence of criminality! yeaaa!!

Haliburton! YEAH!! n/t

NightTwister (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 5:19PM EDT (link)

.no.text.

“Baseball fits America well because it expresses our longing for the rule of law while licensing our resentment of law givers.” ― Major League Commissioner of Baseball A. Bartlett Giamatti

My only point on this is it is a non-problem

snowshooze (Diary) Sunday, November 13th at 2:10AM EDT (link)

And if they think that smallpox might be weaponized, we merely inoculate against it with the current form of vaccine. Forget the four day window…
And why rush it anyway? Because there is money to be laundered.
And it may not be available for long. So the time to grab is now.
Absolutely transparent.

But they told us he would be different

Neil1030 Saturday, November 12th at 3:32PM EDT (link)

Oprah and the rest of the elites told us things would be different under 0bama. He would bring us “to a higher plane!” Ha ha. I have always been a cynic but it was easy to see how wrong they would be. Too many people with brains of mush allow themselves to be duped.

On a related topic, did you see Sec. Shinseki’s speech at the Veterans Day memorial yesterday? Sounded more like a campaign speech for the president, IMO. I watched a few minutes of 0bama’s speech and found it dull, and the delivery uninspired, as usual. I didn’t even watch it all.

hmm.. I thought biodefense was a conservative value?

ericblair00 Saturday, November 12th at 3:37PM EDT (link)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2346641/?tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/bt/smallpox/news/may0808poxdrug.html

hmm... I thought Big Government solutions were best?

NightTwister (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 5:32PM EDT (link)

If the government solution is always the best solution, why would standard government processes and controls need to be bypassed in this situation? Are you suggesting that typical government bureaucracy can actually get in the way of accomplishments critical to our nation’s success?

“Baseball fits America well because it expresses our longing for the rule of law while licensing our resentment of law givers.” ― Major League Commissioner of Baseball A. Bartlett Giamatti

Strawmen

ericblair00 Saturday, November 12th at 5:38PM EDT (link)

I never said that government solutions were always the best and I would never argue that bureaucracies are always right.

I don’t even know if this drug is necessary or cost/effective. All of this should be examined.

What I do know is that blindly attacking a bio-defense drug because an executive suprorts democrats is no more credible than a leftist blindly attacking Halliburton.

Nice try.

NightTwister (Diary) Saturday, November 12th at 7:57PM EDT (link)

Your mask already slipped. We know who you are.

“Baseball fits America well because it expresses our longing for the rule of law while licensing our resentment of law givers.” ― Major League Commissioner of Baseball A. Bartlett Giamatti

Times change

renl57 Saturday, November 12th at 4:54PM EDT (link)

“we do in fact maintain sufficient stocks of existing vaccines to control an outbreak (whether via accident and/or terrorist activity)”

Not true.

The smallpox vaccine is the old-style “dryvax” live virus vaccine. But today we have a lot of folks who are not able to take a live virus vaccine like that one:

Patients taking steroids
Patients taking immunosuppressants (like me, I have a kidney transplant)
Patients battling cancer
Patients who are HIV positive

This vaccine was developed a very long time before organ transplantation became commonplace; before HIV and AIDS became widespread; and before patients started taking oral steroids to treat all kinds of inflammatory conditions.

This new drug, ST-426, is intended as an antiviral treatment after you’ve already caught smallpox (like the way they give Tamiflu to patients who caught the flu).

It’s not a bad idea.

But the crony capitalism aspects of the ST-426 development are a bad idea.

Fortunately for me, I had the smallpox vaccine when I was 11 years old, back when it was still routinely prescribed in America, long before I got my kidney transplant.

Czar Obama

billstanley Monday, November 14th at 7:34AM EDT (link)

Obama enjoys being the Czar of the USA. If he wins in 2012, he will have four years as a lame duck … that is scary. www.newsandopinions.net