Norquist Upset By H&R Block Hire of Democrat
War Liberal > WaPo: GOP Activists Chafe at H&R Block Hire
Republican activists were chattering and e-mailing one another yesterday about H&R Block -- and it wasn't about getting their taxes done.Why the hell is this any of Grover Norquist's business?
They were angry that the tax and financial services preparation company had recently hired Nicholas J. Spaeth, a Democrat, as the company's senior vice president and chief legal officer. Spaeth, based at the company's headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., is responsible for overseeing "the functions of the company's business units" as well as its government relations activities.
..."They run a Democratic shop. They're insulting to Republicans. They don't understand Republicans," said Grover Norquist, one of the forces behind the K Street Project.
Linda McDougall, vice president for corporate communications at H&R Block, said Spaeth's politics, whatever they might be, had nothing to do with his appointment or with his work.
"We looked at skills in doing the job, not in the points of view," she said.
The K Street Project reports on the "political affiliation, employment background and political donations of members of Washington's premier lobbying firms, trade associations and high-tech companies." It would be a worthwhile project if the information wasn't released in such a partisan fashion. Here's the latest K Street .pdf: Generics Contribute to Democrats, "Innovators" Donate to Republicans.
This information indicates an ideological preference on the part of Republicans for free market pharmaceutical reforms that encourage access to prescription drugs while preserving the advantages of competition.Wouldn't generic drugs allow greater access to prescription drugs by increasing competition which would lower prices?
And check the table Grover uses to prove his point:
| Generics | D | R |
| AGVAR | $587,375 | 0 |
| TEVA | $297,650 | 0 |
| Innovators | D | R |
| Eli Lilly & CO | $328,862.52 | $1,237,149.48 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | $226,534.88 | $1,189,308.12 |
| Pfizer Inc | $313,090.03 | $1,048,170.97 |
| Pharmacia Corp | $364,772.80 | $775,142.20 |
| Wyeth Co | $155,104.80 | $814,300.20 |
| Schering-Plough Corp | $200,361.84 | $753,742.16 |
| PhRMA | $75,378.96 | $866,858.04 |
| GlaxoSmithKline | $150,824.17 | $736,376.83 |
| Aventis | $175,116.96 | $554,537.04 |
| Amgen Inc | $96,218.47 | $410,194.53 |
| Novartis Corp | $128,227.96 | $329,729.04 |
| Merk & Co | $96,830.46 | $324,171.54 |
| Abbot Laboratories | $28,211.19 | $370,775.64 |
Did you catch that? Two CEOs of generic drugs contributed $885,025 to Democrats and nothing to Republicans. In the same period pharmacuetical giants contribute two and a half times more to Democrats ($2.3 million), while giving Republican $9.4 million.
And Grover's problem is that the generics aren't giving any money to the Republicans! Don't they have enough already?
To paraphrase Mark Twain, there are liars, damn liars, and then there's Grover Norquist.
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