Now, speechifying in law making is not a field where you write your own material. Typically the writers are actual employees or peers. But when a biotech company lobbyist is ghostwriting your speeches, that’s a bit different.
The New York Times reports that Blaine Luetkemeyer is one of a bipartisan group of around 42 unoriginal, uninspired, and impressionable House members to use the lobbyist-provided material in their house speeches in the Health Care Debate.
In separate statements using language suggested by the lobbyists, Representatives Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri and Joe Wilson of South Carolina, both Republicans, said: “One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that it is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country. Unfortunately, many of the largest companies that would seek to enter the biosimilar market have made their money by outsourcing their research to foreign countries like India.”
They’re not kidding, Luetkemeyer and Wilson used bio-similar language. Wilson made his speech first, and presumably Blaine had no other option. With America sprinting towards socialism, Blaine can’t disregard a paragraph. The major conclusion one can reach from this? Blaine Luetkemeyer and Ron Burgundy might have more in common than we ever suspected.
Unfortunately for voters wanting as much information on the originality of and influences on their Representative, the 42 members haven’t been revealed. Because investigative journalism and newspapers don’t dine together often enough.