Conspiring With My Peeps
I attended a series of interesting meetings today with some of my co-conspirators in the state think tank movement. After a reception last night at the home of Grover Norquist (sometimes called "the executive director of the conservative movement"), this morning we attended Grover's famed Wednesday meeting, a weekly coalition meeting of leaders of center-right organizations. In my brief remarks I discussed Oklahoma's proposed transparency website and urged other states to consider the idea as well.
Billy Tauzin, a former congressman and a cancer survivor who now heads up the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), was our luncheon speaker, and a very compelling one. He pointed out that the United States is the last place on earth where free-market principles guide research and development, and that further government involvement in health care would not bode well for patients (a theme echoed by health care analysts later in the afternoon).
Tomorrow promises to be interesting as well, with meetings at the NFIB, the White House, the NRA, and the Heritage Foundation, as well as a visit with Newt Gingrich.
I always enjoy these state think tank trips because it's refreshing to be reminded that there are some folks in the world who outflank me on the right.
Billy Tauzin, a former congressman and a cancer survivor who now heads up the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), was our luncheon speaker, and a very compelling one. He pointed out that the United States is the last place on earth where free-market principles guide research and development, and that further government involvement in health care would not bode well for patients (a theme echoed by health care analysts later in the afternoon).
Tomorrow promises to be interesting as well, with meetings at the NFIB, the White House, the NRA, and the Heritage Foundation, as well as a visit with Newt Gingrich.
I always enjoy these state think tank trips because it's refreshing to be reminded that there are some folks in the world who outflank me on the right.
