Don't Let the Revolving Door Hit You

Representative Billy Tauzin, "a principal author of the new Medicare drug law, will become president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the chief lobby for brand-name drug companies." The Medicare law is generous to industry, forbidding price controls, regulations, or even negotiations with drug manufacturers "to secure lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries." Tauzin isn't alone; Thomas A. Scully, "the administration's main negotiator with Congress on the drug bill," is now a registered lobbyist for Abbott and Aventis. Powell Moore, "the Pentagon's chief lobbyist," is joining the law and lobbying firm McKenna Long & Aldridge, which has an "extensive national security practice." Senator Zell Miller is also joining the firm, reports The Hill.