Obama Was Pushed by Drug Industry, E-Mails Suggest (New York Times)

Dealings between the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby underlying the health care overhaul have been known since 2009, but House Republicans recently released an e-mail exchange that reveals the details of the comprises. The pharmaceutical industry agreed to provide $80 billion—down from $100 billion—to expand coverage in exchange for protection from policies that would cost the industry more. Dan Pfeiffer, White House Communications director said Obama “understood correctly that the unwillingness to work with people on both sides of the issue was one of the reasons why it took a century to pass health reform.” Conservatives called Obama a hypocrite for conducting a closed-door deal that gave the lobbyists an opportunity to draft bills.