What unregulated capitalism looks like
At the Mylan pricing protest last week, the Observer-Reporter reported “speakers took turns castigating the company for Epipen prices, for incorporating in the Netherlands 18 months ago for tax purposes and for CEO (Heather) Bresch’s $18 million salary.”
Most are justifiably outraged at Mylan’s blatant display of corporate greed, but those who shouldn’t be are those who regurgitate the rants of people like Sean Hannity and George Will about the “heavy hand of government regulation.” This is what unregulated capitalism looks like. Are Mylan executives the kind of people that working-class Americans want making economic policy?
Problems like this won’t be solved by eliminating the watchdog, whether it be the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or the Glass-Steagall Act, but strengthening these watchdogs.
It’s long overdue to keep predators like Mylan (or Exxon or Goldman Sachs) from getting legislative leverage through campaign contributions and lobbying by publicly funding all elections and putting an end to legal bribery. To think that ending the regulation of corporate predators will end occurrences like Mylan’s price-gouging is beyond short-sighted and naive.
Class warfare exists, and it’s obvious which class always wins.
Don DeAngelis
Canonsburg