Bad Deeds for 4-16-2008

Merck Drugs Used Ghostwriting to Make it Appear That Research Done by its Employees or Contractors was the Work of Scientists – Merck was using what the JAMA authors call “guest authorship and ghostwriting” to make it appear that research done by its employees or contractors was the work of scientists at medical schools and universities. That presumably gave the findings more credibility when they were published, in medical journals, boosting Vioxx’s profile in the crowded painkiller market.

The Foreclosure Prevention Act Provides Big Tax Breaks for Businesses – The Senate proclaimed a fierce bipartisan resolve two weeks ago to help American homeowners in danger of foreclosure. But while a bill that senators approved last week would take modest steps toward that goal, it would also provide billions of dollars in tax breaks — for automakers, airlines, alternative energy producers and other struggling industries, as well as home builders. The tax provisions of the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which consumer groups and labor leaders say amount to government handouts to big business, show how the credit crisis, while rattling the housing and financial markets, has created beneficiaries in the power corridors of Washington.

No Straight-Talk on Recipes From Cindy McCain – Recipes posted on the John McCain Web site — listed as “McCain Family Recipes” — are actually taken almost verbatim from the Food Networks’ site. McCain’s tuna recipe was actually developed and submitted to the Food Network by cookbook author and former “Cooking Thin” host Kathleen Daelemans. The recipe for farfalle pasta with turkey sausage, peas and mushrooms was a “quick pasta classic” from the TV show “Everyday Italian.” That old McCain standby — rosemary chicken — was a creation of TV chef Rachael Ray and was lifted, with a few changes, from the same Food Network site. All three were listed on a McCain Web page titled “Cindy’s Recipes.” Even if the recipes had been Cindy McCain’s own, it’s hard to see how the campaign thought it could win over Middle American voters with dishes such as crab scampi served over whole-wheat spaghetti.

Student Asks Whether Hillary Clinton Had Resorted to “Hitting the Sauce” – During the Hardball College Tour on Tuesday night, a Villanova student asked John McCain whether he thought Hillary Clinton “finally resorted to hitting the sauce because of unfavorable polling.” What kind of kid would ask such a question? The student is Peter Doocy, the son of Fox News anchor Steve Doocy. Like father, like son. Peter also works as an intern with the “FOX & Friends” staff. Fast learner there.

McCain Reveals Confusion Over Who Makes Global Military Decisions – Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona may not have been paying the closest of attention last week during hearings on the Bush administration’s Iraq policy. Speaking Monday at the annual meeting of the Associated Press, McCain was asked whether he, if elected, would shift combat troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to intensify the search for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

“I would not do that unless Gen. [David] Petraeus said that he felt that the situation called for that,” McCain said, referring to the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Petraeus, however, made clear last week that he has nothing to do with the decision. Testifying last week before four congressional committees, including the Senate Armed Services Committee on which McCain is the ranking Republican, Petraeus said the decision about whether troops could be shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan was not his responsibility because his portfolio is limited to the multi-national force in Iraq. Decisions about Afghanistan would be made by others, he said. (Notice that this article is from The Army Times, not hardly the liberal media. – JLV)

McCain Might be Coming Under Increased Influence From the Neoconservatives – John McCain might be coming under increased influence from the neoconservatives, whose thinking dominated President Bush’s first term and played a pivotal role in building the case for war. The concerns have emerged in the weeks since Mr. McCain became his party’s presumptive nominee and began more formally assembling a list of foreign policy advisers. Among those on the list are several prominent neoconservatives, including Robert Kagan, an author who helped write much of the foreign policy speech that Mr. McCain delivered in Los Angeles on March 26, in which he described himself as “a realistic idealist.” Others include the security analyst Max Boot and a former United Nations ambassador, John R. Bolton. One of the chief concerns of the pragmatists is that Mr. McCain is susceptible to influence from the neoconservatives because he is not as fully formed on foreign policy as his campaign advisers say he is, and that while he speaks authoritatively, he operates too much off the cuff and has not done the deeper homework required of a presidential candidate.

Regards,

Jim