Pawlenty and the Taxpayers League

The Taxpayers League is truly one of those far-out groups. Generally, the governor and the Taxpayers League get along, which is not surprising. However, on the issue of prescription drugs, they don't.

For a group that styles itself as looking out for the taxpayer, opposing the reimportation of drugs doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If the same drugs are cheaper a few hundred miles away, then by all means we should be buying them. The government purchases more health care in this country than any private insurer, so a reduction in prescription drug costs would benefit the taxpayer very much. Of course, this might also hurt the profits of drug companies (and also the profits of major media outlets, which receive billions from those companies for unnecessary drug advertising). When it comes to who gets the most protection, it is obvious which side the "Taxpayers" League is on. And don't get them started on using the government's purchasing power to negotiate lower drug costs. Sure, it may be okay for Wal-Mart to user their purchasing power to get lower prices from suppliers, but when the government attempts to behave like a business, it's bad. At least in this case. Right?

I'm sure the governor isn't losing too much sleep over this. This fight allows him to look like the sensible moderate when compared to loonies like David Strom. Re-election isn't that far away, after all.