By Jason Agne, Iowa City
In every instance of right-wing propaganda that I’m aware of, throughout history, there is a common thread of unchecked victimhood. Most LV readers are probably aware that Miller-Meeks received death threats when she changed her vote on Jim Jordan. That’s awful in every way but I’d encourage people to check their sympathy with the reminder that the people making those threats will certainly vote for her in 2024 (assuming they are eligible to vote) — indeed, votes are far more powerful than threats.
She is entering a campaign. And in this campaign her opponent wasn’t going to have a problem tethering her to the far right and certainly not to Jim, since she did town halls with him and already voted for him once. She needs to appear to moderate without actually moderating. Getting threats from the far right, over a vote that wasn’t deciding the outcome anyway, provides that illusion. Yet, in the same letter where she procures her victimhood, she repeats the exact misinformation about Biden that has kept the right perpetually enraged and eager to make death threats in the first place.
She has not changed. Her top priority, as implied in her debate with Christina Bohannon, is still to protect wealthy tax cheats, possibly none of whom live in her district. She’s just another hard-right candidate campaigning in a swingy district. That’s all.
The Office of Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks has released the following statement:https://t.co/7l2EkLagx4 pic.twitter.com/R8mUPQ6RRW
— Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (@RepMMM) October 18, 2023
By Ellen Ballas, Iowa City
Submitted Sept. 10
Who exactly does 1st-District U.S. House Republican Miller-Meeks represent? She objected to the first 10 drugs targeted for Medicare price cuts. She posted on X (formerly Twitter): “There are better ways to lower drug costs.” Why does she oppose Medicare-negotiated lower prices?
Miller-Meeks accepted $130,000 in campaign donations from Big Pharma.
She voted against “The Inflation Reduction Act” (HR 5376) that (a) allowed Medicare to negotiate reduced pricing and, (b) capped insulin costs at $35.
Big Pharma lines the pockets of politicians like Miller-Meeks who surreptitiously protect higher costs. High prices for medications are the main reason patients skip doses.
Since 2014, medication costs have quadrupled. Medicare recipients paid $3.4 billion out-of-pocket.
Clearly, patients will benefit from Medicare-negotiated pricing, $98.5 billion over 10 years.
Also, on lower drug prices, Miller-Meeks said: “And it’s already having a negative effect both here and abroad on the pipeline for new cures.“
That pipeline for new medicines begins in the public sector: our tax dollars. It’s “a free ride for companies; yet they include it in their high estimates and multiply it…”, “…84.2% of all funds for discovering new medicines come from public sources.”
Subscribe to LV Daily for community news, events, photos and more in your inbox every weekday afternoon.
In 2020, Miller-Meeks promised, “…because the people of Iowa deserve someone who will never quit fighting for them…”.
It’s 2023. We cannot trust Miller-Meeks.
In 2024, candidate Christina Bohannan for 1st-District U.S. House representative is eager to work for us.
