The Washington Post reports that the pharmaceutical industry is making a major lobbying push to derail a proposal that would allow the United States to import U.S.-approved medications from Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, where drug prices are much cheaper because of price controls.

Speaking about the Fair Elections Now Act at a forum at the Center for American Progress, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) commented that President Lyndon Johnson wouldn't have been able to pass Medicare today with the influence of campaign cash.

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Public Campaign Action Fund issued a press release today showing that over the summer as health care reform legislation was being debated in Congress Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) raised huge sums from the health care and insurance industries.

The National Journal has a story today showing the top 25 spenders in the health care debate, based on total lobbying expenses for the first half of 2009.

Public Campaign Action Fund issued part two of its report on efforts by the insurance industry to kill health care reform with huge amounts of campaign giving and lobbying expenditures.

Public Campaign Action Fund issued a press release today exposing the conflict of interest for Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), who has been tabbed to deliver the response to Pres. Obama's speech tonight on health care reform. Rep. Boustany has been a major recipient of health care and insurance industry campaign contributions.