This is well worth reading, a look inside the FDA's relationship to the government

[Fiamma]

Perhaps some of our newer members will understand more after reading this how uphill the battle has been and will be.

Big Pharma's Influence Machine - Ring Of Fire Radio: Robert Kennedy Jr, Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder

 

[JerryRM]

Absolutely disgusting !!!!

 

[Petrodus]

Absolutely disgusting !!!!

That says it all !!

For the benefit of new members ...
You can forget the idea about writing your Congressmen/women about this information.
They've been bought and paid for ... years ago.

 

[Fiamma]

That says it all !!

For the benefit of new members ...
You can forget the idea about writing your Congressmen/women about this information.
They've been bought and paid for ... years ago.

I strongly disagree. Write them and write them and write them so they damned well know we see what is going on and we are watching. These people are elected you know. Americans need to shake off the apathy and start looking at congressional records and inform themselves about new people trying to get elected. We need to take our country back from the harlots.

 

[Berylanna]

I strongly disagree. Write them and write them and write them so they damned well know we see what is going on and we are watching. These people are elected you know. Americans need to shake off the apathy and start looking at congressional records and inform themselves about new people trying to get elected. We need to take our country back from the harlots.

Yes, Fiamma!

This is not a poor country, the Congressfolk NEED big donations...to advertise....to get YOUR vote. MY vote. Not to build houses for their 150 unemployed relatives and buy their Mom her first house or car.

If more of us voted on the congressional record instead of ads, they wouldn't need the money. And when they get the money, they'd rather not have to spend it fighting a well-organized, passionate group, even if that group is a minority. Depends if it's a growing or shrinking group, and how noisy.

Also, on this particular issue, a lot of the money BP spends has been spent on sending well-trained propagandists to snow the Congressfolk and their staff.
I'm sure they use a 3-prong approach: Warm Fuzzies: For the Children! Carrot: We'll donate to you For the Children Stick: If you are against Children we'll support your opponent with ads that BT has bought you! But one of their advantages is there're so durned many of them that over time, they can make their Big Lies sound like normal knowledge, just by having the time to hang out in the Beltway and flap their jaws at our reps while we're all at work.

We need to attack on as many of these fronts as possible. Every time we put a comment in to the media, or get the dept. secretary at work to gossip in our favor, we're taking the threat of #3 off of them. Every time we send scientific information we're reaching for #1. Every time we let them know we're paying attention, we're letting them know that we'll undermine their ads AT LEAST with word-of-mouth, and maybe more, preventing them from getting as much bang for their buck in ads as they NEED.

I think right now if someone was brave enough to bring up a bill to undo the tobacco Control Act, the media and ANTZ would CRUCIFY anybody from either party that voted to "cripple the FDA's ability to protect the children. " And they'd be successful. So we have to change the atmosphere first.

[Edit: I am NOT saying the FDA is not bought and paid for! They don't need your votes!]

 

[Paulette]

That says it all !!

For the benefit of new members ...
You can forget the idea about writing your Congressmen/women about this information.
They've been bought and paid for ... years ago.

I totally disagree also! If we don't do everything within our power to fight, really what good are we? We sit back in our lounge chairs and b*t*h up a storm, but do absolutely nothing else? Well, we all know where that will get you! Not only should we write our legislators, we should get our friends and family to write them; we should go see them and talk to them. As Berylanna says -- we do have a vote!

 

[Petrodus]

OK ...
Everyone write your Congressmen/women ...
Insisting on a Congressional Investigation into Big Pharma
and its relationship with the FDA.

Looking forward to the list of elected representatives
willing to take on that task.

 

[Berylanna]

OK ...
Everyone write your Congressmen/women ...
Insisting on a Congressional Investigation into Big Pharma
and its relationship with the FDA.

Looking forward to the list of elected representatives
willing to take on that task.

I'm more inclined to write them something along the lines of "Please Fact-Check the FDA on ecigs" and "OK, they found diethylene glycol NANO-traces in 1 cartridge from China 4 YEARS ago, but when we got leaded crayons from China, we did NOT ban all crayons, domestic or foreign. When we got melamine-contaminated candy from China, we did NOT ban all candy, foreign and domestic. We didn't even ban everything from China! Only the contaminated lots."

And we can say that BP has time time and money for repeated conversations which immerse t4e FDA in BP's vision for NRT and NOT THR, thus creating an insular subculture with tunnel vision.

And we can change the media so that if anybody ever DOES stand up to the FDA, they should not have to fear media crucifixion.

Only use that article if a rep replies "We should trust the FDA" -- and I would not use it alone, I'd look up that whistle-blower stuff to send with it.

 

[Petrodus]

Writing letters to our elected officials regarding e-cigarettes ... Sure !!
However, the topic of this post (the article) is Big Pharma and its relationship
with the FDA.

So ... Yeah, we need to pressure our elected officials regarding e-cigarettes.
However, there ain't no chance in hell our elected officials will call for an open
discussion exposing Big Pharma and its corrupt association with their employees
at the FDA.

 

[Berylanna]

Writing letters to our elected officials regarding e-cigarettes ... Sure !!
However, the topic of this post (the article) is Big Pharma and its relationship
with the FDA.

So ... Yeah, we need to pressure our elected officials regarding e-cigarettes.
However, there ain't no chance in hell our elected officials will call for an open
discussion exposing Big Pharma and its corrupt association with their employees
at the FDA.

Not openly, at least not this decade. However, they can quietly become more skeptical, and that would be good for us. So I'd send it to anybody that writes back with anything as stupid as "we trust the FDA."

 

[Elnroth]

I'm more inclined to write them something along the lines of "Please Fact-Check the FDA on ecigs" and "OK, they found diethylene glycol NANO-traces in 1 cartridge from China 4 YEARS ago, but when we got leaded crayons from China, we did NOT ban all crayons, domestic or foreign. When we got melamine-contaminated candy from China, we did NOT ban all candy, foreign and domestic. We didn't even ban everything from China! Only the contaminated lots."

And we can say that BP has time time and money for repeated conversations which immerse t4e FDA in BP's vision for NRT and NOT THR, thus creating an insular subculture with tunnel vision.

And we can change the media so that if anybody ever DOES stand up to the FDA, they should not have to fear media crucifixion.

Only use that article if a rep replies "We should trust the FDA" -- and I would not use it alone, I'd look up that whistle-blower stuff to send with it.

Wouldn't the most likely source of that diethylene glycol be contaminated glycol from China? Wasn't that what spurred the creation of the FDA in the first place? Virtually all us juice vendors purchase fda approved pg/vg. So if we had issues with diethylene glycol today, wouldn't it be the fda's fault for not properly regulating the glycol juice vendors are purchasing here in the USA?

Bottom line. The fda is full of #/&@.

 

[Petrodus]

Bottom line. The fda is full of #/&@.

Pretty much sums it up for me !!

 

[Faylool]

A lot of us aren't political activist informed and it's a specialty that's gotten complex. Where to begin? We sign petitions happily and hopefully. I'm thinking maybe a form letter and a significant list of addresses might be useful. I'd be willing to invest in postage and envelopes paper and print options, fold stamp and seal to certain amount...a percentage of my personal income and hopefully the addresses are the kind where they pretty much have to open and acknowledge. I'd supply my email address ( my second email address anyway that I rarely visit). I really don't know the numbers as far as fairly active memberships but a nice big push to drown them in paperwork might wake some people up? Or would that be counter productive? I really don't know. Would ecf be allowed to banner a form letter link to addresses and printable plea and assertion of knowledge how things are and the voice to demand change?

 

[Berylanna]

A lot of us aren't political activist informed and it's a specialty that's gotten complex. Where to begin? We sign petitions happily and hopefully. I'm thinking maybe a form letter and a significant list of addresses might be useful. I'd be willing to invest in postage and envelopes paper and print options, fold stamp and seal to certain amount...a percentage of my personal income and hopefully the addresses are the kind where they pretty much have to open and acknowledge. I'd supply my email address ( my second email address anyway that I rarely visit). I really don't know the numbers as far as fairly active memberships but a nice big push to drown them in paperwork might wake some people up? Or would that be counter productive? I really don't know. Would ecf be allowed to banner a form letter link to addresses and printable plea and assertion of knowledge how things are and the voice to demand change?

Form letters get discounted as mass-produced. The congressfolk are judging our level of passion. They actually have a multiplying-factor, I don't know the 2013 math, but it might go like this (the following numbers are pulled out of my ... ^H^H^H^H^H^H the dustbin from 40 years ago when I was almost young, NOT REAL! )

1 petition signature == 3 people who care
1 email == 10 people who care
1 paper form letter == 50 people who care
1 call == 75 people who care
1 original letter == 150 people who care
1 office visit to local office == 500 people who care
1 flight to D.C. plus hotel and meet in their main office == 10,000 people who care
(I'm sure the calculation there is a lot smaller for Virginia residents than Alaska or Hawaii residents )

CASAA has example letters, which are much better. It's better to forget political activism if it's not your thing and just speak from the heart, keep it short, let them know you're paying attention. The Calls to Action usually suggest 3-4 things to say, it's enough to say
just the bill # and why your life will be better if it does not pass (or passes, whatever) -- and it should be about what is GOOD about what you want as much or more than what is BAD about what they want.

 

[rothenbj]

OK ...
Everyone write your Congressmen/women ...
Insisting on a Congressional Investigation into Big Pharma
and its relationship with the FDA.

Looking forward to the list of elected representatives
willing to take on that task.

Even something other than a form letter returned would be nice. I know that's all I've ever received.