DRUG FIRMS PROBED IN IRAQ SCANDAL

[Bitwit1234]

London, England (AP) Britain's Serious Fraud Office has demanded documents from three major drug makers in connection with allegations the companies paid tributes to secure lucrative contracts in Iraq while Saddam Hussein was in power, the companies said.

GlacoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly and Co Ltd. the British affiliate of Indianapolis, Indiana-based Eli Lilly and Co - are all accused of violating thee U. N. oil-for-food program, established in the mid-1990's to ease the impact on Iraqis of sanctions imposed on Saddam's regime after his 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Under the program, money from Iraqi oil sales was to have been used for food and medicine.

All three companies have denied wrong doing and said they were cooperating with the investigation.

This fraud office launched an inquiry after former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Voicker detailed the scope of the corruption that marred the oil-for-food program.

His report, released in October 2005, accused 2,200 companies from some 40 counties of colluding with Saddam's regime to bilk the humanitarian program of $1.8 billion.

[seafan]

1. Link here.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/12/30/britain.oilforfood.ap/

[EFerrari]

2. Small world.

The Nation: Clinton Campaign Strategists Closely Tied to Union Busters, GOP Operatives, Conservative Media

A new expose in The Nation magazine finds that while Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is publicly trying to win support of unions in her presidential campaign, behind the scenes she is being advised by a team of strategists closely affiliated with unionbusters, GOP operatives and conservative media. We speak with the reporter who broke the story.

In campaign news, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton reached out to members of the Culinary Workers Union on Wednesday during a stop in Las Vegas.

The union represents casino and hotel workers. Senator Clinton said it should be easier for unions to organize and that private equity firms should honor union contracts after buyouts.

-snip-

Mark Penn’s list of previous and current clients reads like a who’s who of Corporate America: Texaco, Eli Lilly, Microsoft, Proctor and Gamble, Monsanto.

http://www.democracynow.org/2007/5/31/the_nation_clinton_campaign_strategists_closely

[EFerrari]

3. Big change in big pharma: Pfizer CEO supports Hillary

Big change in big pharma: Pfizer CEO supports Hillary
Posted by Peter Rost October 12, 2007 9:10AM
Categories: Politics

Pfizer Inc. CEO Jeff Kindler supports Hillary Clinton for president. This is a major departure from the path taken by Kindler's predecessor, Hank McKinnell. McKinnell was a Bush Ranger and right-wing Republican who repeatedly encouraged employees to support Republican candidates.

Kindler has a history of supporting Democrats, and his public contribution record shows that Kindler recently supported Hillary Clinton's bid for the presidency. Kindler has also, according to some recently revealed accounts, been outspoken inside Pfizer about his support for Hillary.

Since Kindler is a lawyer, and the trial bar often supports Democrats, his position may not be all that surprising - if it wasn't for the fact that he is now CEO of Pfizer and used to work for McKinnell and did McKinnell's bidding to get Pfizer employees to vote for Bush.

Question is what this means as far as Hillary goes - if the big drug companies start to support her, she sure has come a long way since she tried to implement healthcare reform. Click to enlarge image or go here to view web site with contribution details.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_peter_rost/