Chronic illness is better for business

I had reported that the nasty guy and the GOP were working out ways to undo the Democratic gains in the last federal spending bill. One route is to ask Congress to vote on a list of freezes. Even though only a simple majority is needed, two senators, Collins of Maine and Murkowski of Alaska, said no. They and the rest of the GOP struggled to get a deal and don’t want to go back on votes that benefit their constituents. They also know if they blow up Dem projects they’ll get no help on the budget deal due in October. And for that one they can’t squeeze by on a simple majority. Or want a shutdown fight just before the election.

Even so, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney is proceeding with creating a list of budget items to be rolled back. He’ll have it ready for Congress by the end of the month.

Perhaps he’s preparing for the alternate option – just don’t spend the money.



The people working in gene therapy are looking for “one shot cures” that will get patients back to health. But Salveen Richter of Goldman Sachs wrote to gene therapy companies:

The potential to deliver ‘one shot cures’ is one of the most attractive aspects of gene therapy, genetically-engineered cell therapy and gene editing. However, such treatments offer a very different outlook with regard to recurring revenue versus chronic therapies. While this proposition carries tremendous value for patients and society, it could represent a challenge for genome medicine developers looking for sustained cash flow.

Translation: Controlling a chronic illness is better for business than a cure.

An example of that is HIV. It can now be controlled with medication, but can’t be cured. Will a cure be suppressed because it kills off a long-term revenue stream?



Melissa McEwan of Shakesville took a look at the nasty guy’s bragging tweets in the leadup to bombings in Syria. He had said:

Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!”

Some will see this as standing up to Putin. Finally! McEwan and others see it differently, as in: here’s a “friendly” warning so that you have time to get your assets out of the way. Always looking out for the interests of Russia.



Then McEwan looks at that pardon of Scooter Libby. He’s the only guy in the Bush II administration that was actually held accountable. A nice gift from one prez with contempt for the law to another. It is also a signal to those under investigation by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller. Fall on your swords to protect me and I’ll pardon you. Yeah, that’s obstruction of justice, but done in a way hard to prove.