During that interview, Ms. Davis was asked if she knew how much money would be spent by supporters of Proposition 78 to pass it and how much they'd be spending to simultaneously defeat Proposition 79. Her answer was:
"No, no I don't".
According to the latest information on file on the Cal-Access ("California Automated Lobbying and Campaign Contribution & Expenditure Search System") database of campaign finance activity, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (
PhRMA) California Initiative Fund – Yes on Proposition 78 and No on Proposition 79 campaign for which Ms. Davis is the designated spokesperson, received $37,078,201.00 in contributions between January 1, 2005 and June 30, 2005.
These contributions were made by these prescription drug manufacturers:
ABBOTT LABORATORIES, AMGEN INC., ASTRAZENECA LP, AVENTIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., BAYER CORPORATION, BERLEX LABORATORIES, INC., BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM PHARMACEUTICALS, BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB COMPANY, DAIICHI PHARMACEUTICAL CORPORATION, ELI LILLY AND COMPANY, GE HEALTHCARE, GLAXOSMITHKLINE, HOFFMAN-LA ROCHE INC., JOHNSON & JOHNSON, MERCK & CO., INC., MILLENIUM PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., NOVARTIS PHARMACEUTICALS CORPORATION. ORGANON USA INC., PFIZER, INC., SCHERING CORPORATION, SCHWARZ PHARMA, SEPRACOR, SERONO, INC., SOLVAY PHARMACEUTICALS, VALEANT PHARMACEUTICAL, INC., WYETH
To see how much each contributed, visit the Cal-Access web site for Campaign Finance Activity data for the
PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURERS OF AMERICA CALIFORNIA INITIATIVE FUND - YES ON PROPOSITION 78 AND NO ON PROPOSITION 79 or click here.
Another organization funding the Proposition 78 campaign, called "Californians for Affordable Prescriptions –Yes on Proposition 78 Sponsored by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America," received and spent $4,662,320.46 between January 1, 2005, and June 30, 2005. All of that money came from "non-monetary" contributions by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America California Initiative Fund. For details, go to the Cal-Access file for
Californians for Affordable Prescriptions or click
here.
Individual drug companies and the drug industry trade association therefore contributed $41,740,521.46 in support of Proposition 78 and in opposition to Proposition 79 between January 1, 2005 and June 30, 2005, rendering not unreasonable the estimate made by
Anthony Wright, spokesperson for Proposition 79, in a
California Politics Today interview on August 16, 2005, that the drug industry would be spending as much as $72 million to defeat that initiative.
Contributions during this same January 1, 2005-through-June 30, 2005, period made to the campaign to pass Proposition 79, as reported on Cal-Access, amounted to $10,202,809.36.
To see who made these contributions, go to the Campaign Finance Activity site of the
ALLIANCE FOR A BETTER CALIFORNIA, EDUCATORS, FIREFIGHTERS, SCHOOL EMPLOYEES, HEALTH CARE GIVERS AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS or click
here.
Freudian slips, in which people say what they really mean instead of what they intend to say, aren't as prominent in amateur psychologizing as they once were, but what else can we call this remark from Ms. Davis in the course of the interview linked to above and posted in its entirety as part of yesterday's
California Politics Today article entitled
"Denise Davis, spokesperson for Yes on 78/No on 79, calls for passage of Proposition 78 and the defeat of Proposition 79"?
Listen to what she has to say, first in a larger context, by clicking
here.
Then listen to a short excerpt from that statement, by clicking
here.
And listen to her obviously-unintended statement, by itself, by clicking
here
Sometimes not even $41,740,521.46 is enough to cover up the truth.
