CDC Calls Out - In Vain? - For John Galt....

"Calling John Galt...Calling John Galt...Are you listening, John Galt? We wish to negotiate.  We wish to negotiate with you.  We wish to confer with you. Give us word on where you can be reached...Do you hear us, John Galt?"

That's Ayn Rand's fictional American government in Atlas Shrugged, desperately reaching out for the one man they know can save them - and the nation -  from ruin.  Alas for them, he has no desire to.  Nor can he be motivated by the moral threat of the harm he may cause others by inaction.

Although Glenn Reynolds has oft said that for Obama and the Democrats, Atlas Shrugged isn't a cautionary tale, it's a how-to manual, it appears no one at the CDC has ever read the book.  Or why else would they put out a cry for help like this, as they find themselves helpless to fight against a new drug-resistant strain of gonorrhea? (Vial Legal Insurrection):

The CDC is urging the private sector to prioritize the discovery of new treatments, as there is only one new drug treatment currently in the pharmaceutical pipeline and only one clinical trial under way to test existing drugs against the infection.

Nice to see the government admit, albeit subtly and in desperation, that they cannot create, only redistribute.  Which begs the questions: Why in the world would any pharmaceutical company invest the money in time and research, when it knows that the final product will - in the event this sexual epidemic comes to pass - likely be confiscated by the government at a less-than-market value?

This has happened before - remember the flu vaccine shortages of the early 2000's?

Then-First Lady Hillary Clinton Managed A Take-Over Of The Pediatric Vaccine Industry:

- “Before her big health-care reform crashed and burned in 1994, Hillary Rodham Clinton managed to get Congress to pass a government vaccine-buying program for children; her sales pitch was free vaccines for all kids and higher immunization rates.” (Editorial, “Infectious Politics,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/14/04)
- “Thus the government now purchases about 60% of all pediatric vaccines, forcing huge discounts and imposing price caps.” (Editorial, “Infectious Politics,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/14/04)

The Pharmaceutical Industry Portrayed As Greedy To Justify Big Government Power Grab  - “President Clinton persuaded Congress to establish the program in 1993 by arguing that vaccine manufacturers were pursuing ‘profits at the expense of our children.


Time for Big Pharma to "go Galt", big-time.  If the government is going to push policies that promote the transmission of rabid, rancid STDs, why should the private sector bail them out with a product that will almost certainly be seized and redistributed (in party affiliation and gender order, no doubt), while the minds and companies behind the breakthrough are paid pennies on the dollar?  All while they are being demonized by politicians and the media for their "selfishness", of course...

May be appearing incognito at the Democratic Convention next week...

John Galt heard a similar call from a corrupt government and ignored it. Will America's pharmaceutical companies - or at least the top minds in their R&D departments - have his courage and moral strength?