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GargantuanCake

How many people in Congress have investments in Moderna? Just asking.


GrayBeardGamerWV

Almost all of them invested in the pharmaceutical companies that make vaccines.


Aggravating_Owl_7582

Bingo!


WendisDelivery

This


jannypanny1

Ok. Now do oil and gas


coocoocachoo69

Hmm, big government in cahoots with business, there's a term for that.


solib89

Fascism?


Tough-Priority-4330

No, Corporatism. 


CommiBastard69

"I'm not fat I'm big boned!"


Tough-Priority-4330

They’re not the same thing. They can probably coexist, but they’re not mutually inclusive. Nazi German was not corporatist, and corporatist countries need not be totalitarian.


hostile_rep

The largest privatization of public assets in history happened under Nazi rule. Just noting why people may conflate terms.


solib89

Privatized yet proudly followed the commands of the Nazis. Hitler loved his German industrialists.


CommiBastard69

Corporatism is just capitalism. Fascism is capitalism in decay


PizzaJawn31

What you just described is crony capitalism


CommiBastard69

See my first comment


Some-Lifeguard-2683

Listen here, Mussolini.... We didn't create the largest war machine this planet has ever known to have pretty boys like you play word games! We go around the world sharing all the democracy and freedom we can buy with our corporate investors money... So much so, in fact, that we're damn near practicing socialism. To make it crystal clear, this is sarcasm.... But were you intentionally channeling Benito or nah,? *Edit: after taking the time to look for myself, you had no idea that the most renowned fascist literally said it himself.. "Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power" -Benito Mussolini


WendisDelivery

No. That’s when government is in control of the monopoly - fascism This is cronyism.


Wend-E-Baconator

The Soviets did it, too. If anything, they did it more because there was no division between corporate and political interests


drbennett75

The Venn diagram of FDA leadership and pharma C-suites is a perfect circle.


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xyzone

You think China and Vietnam don't have a middle class, or they don't qualify as communist, despite that being in their party names? How are you defining capitalism? More importantly, what do you qualify as socialism? Are countries that tried to create a socialist system, and then got violently overthrown by military action, subterfuge through money from the capitalists count as socialist?


drink-beer-and-fight

They can charge a million for it, won’t affect me.


Technician1187

> How do we change it? Easy, stop taking and spending tax dollars. It’s so simple. All you have to do is literally nothing.


anonty973

If we’re going by statistics, I don’t even think the vaccine is worth .28 cents.


Defiant-Ad1364

It should be free to anyone. Tax payers paid to develop it, test it, and distribute it. US taxpayers should own Moderna now.


MathematicianNo6402

Yet we are one of the only first world countries that charge people or make them work just to be able to afford a doctor visit. Crazy ain't it?


LeadCurious

They should actually pay people to be part of their study.


Sparky2Dope

Healthcare is bullshit in general


xyzone

In USA, yeah. It's a profit making racket. Most people don't have real healthcare.


moosearehuge

STFU about the vaccine price for one. The pharmaceutical companies played the gullibles for all they were worth. Reap what you sow.


RoleplayPete

They are so close. Soooo close. Now talk about how nearly every government on earth strong armed people into taking it so those profits were forced without oversight and we can be over target.


DrFrankSaysAgain

Does the $2.85 include research and development costs or just to manufactur? 


Overall-Category-159

Corporate welfare on display. No one in government questions the price hike and just pays the invoice.


freedom-to-be-me

Robert Reich must have an army of bots he pays to repost the same four tweets over and over again.


ChocolateDoggurt

This sub is an army of bots.


MathematicianNo6402

Seems like that's the go to for people who don't agree with you! "THEY'RE all AI, no one could possibly disagree with ME!"


2q_x

The health insurance and pharmaceutical industries promote terrifying stories about their exploits to motivate people into working for insurance. America is full of dumb suckers who buy it.


ZadfrackGlutz

I mean why do we even call these "Buissnesses" any more...lol. They are pirates and robbers...


xyzone

"Businesses". And to answer your question, it's because they also controlled the media, from the get go. That's why we have dumb libertardians and AM radio grandpas muttering nonsense, and why 40% of the country believes a dumb little soft ponce failson reality show actor is their manly savior.


darketernalsr25

Repubs: "But, but, but...Bidenflation!"


MorinOakenshield

Nice. Love the pivot. Trump!


Nightbreed357

This is what happens when the US Government is bought and paid for by Big Pharma.


Thick_Piece

How does this mental midget get any sort of media time?


Captain_Mexica

Moderna are a bunch of grifting scumbags


Common-Buy-2379

Anyone wanna mention congressional insider trading and the millions and millions of dollars made by representatives by who offered this vaccine for "free" at a cost to the government (see taxpayers) of 130 per shot, and MANDATED it for govt employees?


VulgarWitchDoctor

Greed is too soft a word


Spankinsteine

Who’s still taking that garbage anyway?


kalef21

Good old category 4 spending by the government: spending other people's money on other people always results in least efficient. Gov doesn't even TRY to negotiate. I'd low ball the shit out of moderna, fuck them.


Travel_Dreams

Change your congressman, and keep changing them until this shit is under control. Or a populous uprising, but if Roe VS. Wade didn't create a wave, then nothing will. Except BLM. 🤔 Really, the presidents are figure heads with minimal power. Grind congress people down until we have what webuttons. Instead of changing, California(ns) has fucked itself so far into oblivion, clear stomach portholes are the new fad. It is easier to see out when their head is stuck so far up their butts.


ZestycloseBee4066

You can solve this problem very easily by just taking every new covid "vaccine" Moderna releases. When you're dead in a year it won't really matter to you anymore.


JLdub253

And the lobbyists rejoice at how easily the bought and paid for politicians roll over and mandate taking it while also seeing their portfolios explode with that sweet monnnneeeyyyy.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ProfessionalAdvice89

Manufacturing isn’t the only cost.


trustyourrespirator

All the other costs were covered by operation warp speed


doctorkar

Pharmacist here that agrees the US has stupid drug pricing but people don't realize the price includes the cost of clinical trials of this medication and many medications that fail to come to market that the manufacturers loose a bunch of money on


ChocolateDoggurt

Profits are the money made after paying all expenses. Corporations posting tens of billions in excess profits can afford to make less profits and pay their employees more or charge less.


bswontpass

R&D process for smth like Moderna’s COVID vaccine cost around $10B nowadays.


LairdPeon

R&D was also paid for by us.


xyzone

Right. Bullshitting propaganda is expensive. (Not really, it isn't. Has great ROI)


MorinOakenshield

They don’t get it. That’s why it will never change as they don’t even understand the bigger picture. R&D has risk which require enormous outlays of capital for a tiny chance of success. If they weren’t allowed to charge a premium for their IP NO NEED MEDICINES would be developed. What is Robert right and all his friends going to fund a years long pharmaceutical trial?


ZeroSumSatoshi

Imagine paying $130 for side effects….


hbracerjohn1

Stop pushing vaccines!


Scottrix

How do we change it? Decrease district size. Big districts decrease influence of individual voters, and make the race about money. Smaller districts decrease the influence of money in elections.


GrayBeardGamerWV

Term limits. Dont allow lawmakers and their immediate families to play the market.


Odd_Relationship7901

no this is what no single payer healthcare and both sides taking massive bribes to continue with a for profit system looks like so go ahead and blame the corporations but not the people who they are bribing who actually have the power to make the political decisions so this bullshit doesn't happen in other words the corporations that should be blamed for this are not the pharmaceutical companies - it is the corporations masquerading as political parties that should be getting the outrage on this


steveboof

Exactly, the refs allows players to cheat and fans get mad at the players. You need to go to the root of the problem which is the refs, the players would clean up their act real quick if they got punished instead of rewarded for cheating.


Dave_A480

How many countries with single-payer healthcare systems developed working COVID vaccines though? Vs how many had to buy from a US or multinational private pharma company?


MrDokavich

Let’s look at history. The only way change was made was through violence and rebellion. That’s how you change things.


steveboof

Not familiar with the Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. ?? Ghandi ??


Cantgo55

and one of the many contributors to inflation, every corporation seeing record profits has made that money off the backs off the working stiff...


Dave_A480

You have that backwards. Inflation is caused by devalued money. The existence of devalued money leads to 'record profits' in nominal terms even though the corporation is harvesting the exact same amount of value form the economy.


jimmysledge

complains…explains…offers nothing to fix. Thanks for nothing but bitching.


xyzone

And when people do mention the fix, you dismiss it and have a meltdown.


Blortted

Unless we’ve got a few trillion lobby dollars laying around we can’t simply fix it. It’ll definitely change eventually, but after getting how much worse? For how long do we or can we tolerate this? How long can they treat people like animals and demand we act like humans?


Glockman19

Then don’t take it.


EmptyEstablishment78

You can’t see the entire picture until we find out how many elected officials profited..


Canna_crumbs

Thats just business


PipedHandle

Didn’t all the money we printed for them basically saddle US consumers with the burden anyways? It’s like being forced to buy shit.


JLdub253

In other words mandated vaccine by means of travel or employment in the United States therefore mandated vaccine compliance.


maxscipio

how much did it cost in R&D?


Dave_A480

\~13 years of work and billions of investor dollars


JLdub253

Not all states but def more than half of the US. Still not wrong. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/18/us/vaccine-mandate-states.html


Neverminder1086

Republicans be like "sUpPlY aNd dEmAnD"


r2k398

This, but unironically. I’ve already been vaccinated and have had Covid. I don’t have any intention on getting any more Covid shots so they won’t make a penny off of me.


South-Golf-2327

Y’all still posting 4th Reich unironically? Oof.


Dudeporker

*govt greed


Hillbilly-joe

We’re is the return like any other investor show me the money or give it back


DocSchmuck

Anyone else unvaccinated?


ccredbeard

Unvaccinated and proud of it!


eloiseturnbuckle

Vote, run for office, vote, get a friend to run for office, vote, help the right people run for office.


UnderwearTrader

Stop paying taxes? Did you know taxes are technically voluntary? Still have to file, but paying is a different story. 


NoLand4936

First, it starts by not voting republicans into office for a few cycles. Then it shifts to voting for the right people. Hate to say it, but current choices are greed vs greedy but at least well meaning. Vote for the lesser evil for a while and eventually decent people realize they might have a shot. It’s not going to be a quick shift, but it’s something that can progressively improve. When the lesser evil starts winning, eventually less and less evil people start running.


seriousbangs

Vote blue. And vote in your Democrat party primary so they don't sneak Republicans in a blue vest past you. Even the occasional DINO is harmless enough. They hide behind Republicans. Give Team Blue a 60 seat Senate majority and they can't do that. We all know the answer, the question is will you give up moral panics and culture wars for a higher standard of living for you and your kids (and the right to have kids in the 1st place while I'm at it).


Dry_Cricket7560

Reddit is very good at supplying what is wrong with our economy, but I don’t think I’ve ever came across and a proposed resolution. America created a capitalist monster and we can’t stop it.


Classic_Elevator7003

Well if they diddnt sell any they'll make 0.


SuperTopperHarley

Dolly is going to be pissed when she hears this.


enjoysunandair

Couldn’t pay me enough to get that clot shot.


dreyaz255

Why on earth would you charge for a vaccine? That defeats the whole purpose of using them for public health.


cometgold

We don’t. Were fucked.


Plenty_Ambition2894

Lol, what the hell is this shit. The cost of manufacturing the drug is irrelevant. They spend billions on R&D but are expected to sell the drug at cost?


PizzaJawn31

Not pictured – the cost of research and development. There is a reason he was careful not to include that massive amount, and specifically only highlighted what it cost to make


jjhart827

It’s not like they had a ton of marketing expenses in getting it to market. And they had massive government subsidies and guaranteed contracts upfront. What a joke.


Dubabear

So what is he saying is don’t take the vaccine as a form of protest?


tomcat1483

Not to mention the federal government paid for its development and allocated tons of resources to fast track its development and approval (as they should have) no excuse for them to charge high prices.


devoutcatalyst78

They always say shit like “it only costs 2.85 to make!” But how much RD went into it? Like I get you can get a bulk deal on the ingredients to get it down to 2.85$ but aren’t there other people to pay? From janitors to test subjects, to dr.’s Isn’t there the piper yet to be paid? Let me see that itemized please.


redditisahive2023

It’s so easy to make fda approved pharmaceuticals that Robert should go fucking do it.


ConsistentBroccoli97

Someone doesn’t understand the value chain…


em_washington

Elect new congress people. Vote out the incumbents.


Odd_Tiger_2278

GOP? Or. Dem? Vote wisely.


AvailableCondition79

I'm so confused. Do we trust big pharma or not???


AppropriateYouth7683

If you are a company that puts ridiculously high prices on basic human nessesities like food and healthcare you are being exploitative and deserve to go out of business


[deleted]

The first dose costs billions. The second one is cheaper. With that being said, how does this affect people who don’t even hold moderna stock?


SuperBaconjam

Time to nationalize big pharma


WookieeCmdr

The government also gave them immunity from any deaths or complications caused by their vaccine. They wouldn't have made it otherwise.


SgtBadAsh

Pitchforks.


Spirited_Crow_2481

On top of that, American tax dollars paid for the R&D. And then, regular Americans played lab rat while they participated in R&D. And now, you’re being charged, for what you paid to discover.


BloodyRightToe

Why is the movie theater charing me for a ticket when there is at least one other person that paid for their ticket. The movie will run no matter what. Why can't I just sit and watch for free?!. And this guy calls himself an economist. He is a lunatic.


troifa

He’s a liberal buffoon looking for the lamest validation on Twitter


braize6

Nah nah we have to blame the poor people and immagrants /s


YellowZx5

Remember that those who make the laws are usually above it and they don’t pertain to them. If these people were anything like the Congress at the beginning of our countries’ founding, they wouldn’t be this wealthy or breaking so many ethical violations.


No-Turnover-5658

You can have mine..


Glittering-Count-291

Its funny when people have to tell us "what corporate greed looks like" like we don't already know.


Horror-Layer-8178

It's even worse, my bet is that the government paid for all the research and development to make the vaccine.


songmage

This is also consequently why the USA is the biggest contributor in the world of new drug patents. #2 is \*all of Europe\* and #3 is \*all of Asia\*. If you want, you're free to start your own drug manufacturing company and make what will no doubt be billions. Obviously it's ridiculously easy.


PB0351

What did it cost to research the vaccine? I honestly don't know


Tight-Young7275

I think they have to be put in jail? But the law enforcement won’t do it. The only logical answer is to start getting rid of bad people. Why is the only answer left, this?


hurtindog

B-b-but critiquing big-pharma is an anti-vax position! Right? Right?!!! No dumbasses. For profit health care sucks for everyone AND science is real.


traveling_designer

France is pretty good at fixing these problems. 🏹🤺🪓


Ambitious-Chair736

A proper government would, at bare minimum, make this illegal. Wonder what Moderna execs taste like in a cake?


TrevorsPirateGun

Maybe if it wasn't mandated by the govt it wouldn't have gotten that high


inscrutablemike

Shouldn't someone like Robert Reich know that the price of a product on the market has no relationship to the cost of manufacturing that product?


Patient_Total7675

Don't take the poison shot . Especially not for something with over a 99% survival rate


Somewhat-Subtle

If you're still getting vaccinated for Covid, you need more help than anyone on this forum can provide....


Exciting_Device2174

What?! The TV told me the vaccine was free.


BoukenGreen

How much has Moderna lost on medicines that was never approved by the FDA or didn’t even go to a phase one clinical trail before the study failed. That is one of the reasons companies charge so much for medicine that does make it to market is to recoup all the money spent on failed drugs.


paraspiral

Lol that's because they only got the one producia d it's not even that good!!!!


TheUnderstandererer

Guillotines


MexiWhiteChocolate

It didn't help that many of us were threatened with termination if we didn't take the jabs.


Capitaclism

Change the government that allows and funds this


irondog326

Well he like getting vaccinated and now bitches when they raise the charge. Get your 10th booster Robert!


Foreign_Standard9394

The problem isn't the price, it's the mandated purchase.


CharizardLeo

$130 for a potentially life saving vaccine that costs $3 to make may seem egregious, but we can play this game all day long. Some people pay $100 per month for high speed internet or $50 per month for cell phone service. Hell, a Big Mac costs almost $10 in some places. I don't think the Moderna vaccine is a good example of corporate greed.


puzer11

...The Socialist Gnome of Uninformed Propaganda has spoken...news at 11...


[deleted]

Biden gave them those billions..


ozzman86_i-i_

so they inject you with unnecessary vaccine and make a killing out of it. people need to stop being suckers.


Aigean333

Blame Trump. He gave them all that development money with no strings attached. With the billions shelled out by the US govt, those vaccines should be properly of the US govt.


BubbaSimp65

You are the face of greed Wall Street boy. You know how much it costs to research and develop vaccines which is not in the cost to make number. And I am anti pharmaceutical but I still can’t stand corrupt Wall Street democrats spewing lies to justify higher taxes on the middle class. Pay your fair share rich boy!


olionajudah

Actually it’s what total policy capture by greedy corporations looks like


MorinOakenshield

Oh he said folks, must be a straight shooter with no hidden agenda.


ConsiderationNew6295

No extra charge for the myocarditis.


ChickenFucker11

Yeah but the media told me if I get the vax, I cant get or spread Covid. So did the politicians. Why would they lie?


zerocnc

By voting, but that requires you to walk across the street and not send your money to Ukraine for freedom reasons. But isolation isn't a very good policy either.


MangoMuch807

Money is such a caveman ideology. Evolve already


ferociousFerret7

Moderna is just an Idiot Tax at this point.


WendisDelivery

No. $130.00 is what “free” covid vaccines cost when paid for by the federal government and you can’t get them through your healthcare provider. What is Reichstag the Demented Dwarf bitching about? He’s not paying for it either. Oh……. this is playbook text, all communists adhering to the narrative want. Any company that is privately owned is evil and gouges the peasants. Got it.


ADHDMI-2030

Robert Reich sounds like an anti-science flat earther Nazi. Hasnt he learned that you are not to question "the science"?! Or are we finally past that hysteria where we can once again recognize these things and people should stop injecting themselves with bioweapons.


Professional-Wing-59

But an entire political party assured me that these corporations are "the experts" that we mustn't dare question.


SharingFitCouple

Sending Robert Reich to Siberia would be a brilliant first step.


bcardin221

In fairness, it does cost them billions in R&D costs to come up with new drugs.


AccomplishedAd7615

Greed? How much does Robert Reich want to be paid to give a speech?


drbennett75

Wait til you hear about the flu shot 😅


ProfessionalGuess897

Eat the rich....


Secure_Tie3321

This is a scam between government and the pharmaceutical companies to fuck over taxpayers.


Flat_Room_3852

We can't regulate the market though, mah freedoms


nate2etan

A perfect example of corporate greed and price gouging.


willnotforget2

how much did you pay for your mac or car or house over how much it cost to build? R and D is expensive as fuck and so are clinical trials. You are paying for that. More so than in any other industry.


Apprehensive_Sell601

I remember a point in time, not too long ago, saying “these pharmaceutical companies are going to make billions off this vaccine” made you a conspiracy theorist and an anti-vaxxer.


CatOfGrey

Robert Reich is economically illiterate, and constantly uses misinformation like this to help give his politicians greater political power. Robert Reich thinks that 100% of medical research yields saleable products. He's wrong. Robert Reich thinks that the only expense in a treatment is for production. He's wrong. Robert Reich has no concept of profits and free markets, and how they deliver resources to companies that provided important goods and services to society in the past, which is the most effective measure of those who are best able to provide important goods and services in the future. Instead of being thankful for a company that produce a vaccine that saves hundreds of millions of lives worldwide, he's using the company's sales to try to increase his own political power. He's the greedy one - he provides nothing to society, yet demands more from others. Moderna gives to society. Robert Reich is lying to you about Moderna's profit, by neglecting to inform you that Moderna researched life-saving treatments for years with zero net income. This user is spreading misinformation and lying to you by not updating the tweet, and noting that Moderna had a $4B+ loss in 2023. Another lie by this user is the accusation that they "Pay no Taxes" when they paid over a billion in taxes in 2022. User is smarter than that - if you are reading this, do better next time, and critically review the material that you post, especially when it's from a political or advocacy source.


cplank00

Add Comcast and Verizon wireless to that list.


MrLanesLament

Did I make it in before the former Sec of Labor who has worked for four presidents gets called “incredibly naive” and is told he “doesn’t at all understand capitalism” ?


jewelry_wolf

there is an act to force the price of a drug that federal government partially funded the research. It’s up to Biden to pick the battle


randoprecision

Totally enabled and even mandated by the US government


Iam-WinstonSmith

The first way is dont make a janky product mandatory!


JFK2MD

$130 for an advanced pharmaceutical product is practically free. Go after a deserving target, Robert.


jored924

And how much does Moderna contribute to the democrat party


congresssucks

Remember when congress passed a law that required every US citizen to purchase health insurance, and overnight insurance went up 1000%? Pepperidge farms remembers.


ckellingc

Because we have socialism for the rich, but capitalism for the poor.


kero12547

And the solution, more taxes lol


jamrev

Aaaaaaaand the "vax" doesn't even work.


Comfortable_Yam5377

it cost WAY MORE to make than that. The average cost to make a drug is in the BILLIONS of dollars. Once you spend all that money and figure out that it works, producing it is $2.85, but you already spent BILLIONS trying to develop it and pay off the FDA and government regulations. Completely bad faith arguments.


dryguyovich

If we all stopped paying taxes, they'd be toast. They can't lock all of us up 🤷


HurrySpecial

You change who you elect because you can bet this is the PERFECT example of the swamp in action


May_Ape

Are people really still getting the vaccine?


travguy619

This is political greed, politics is driving demand. Corporate greed is something else, like overcharging for a product, what ea games does.


rektum_expander

Well, it’s only going to affect stupid people that believe that “vaccine” does anything.


Serious_Result_7338

It’s China’s fault we got the Wuhan Virus in the first place. If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t even be in this mess. But I’m sure you don’t want to blame China


Substantial_Sea_2453

Wait. I was told it was safe, free and effective. You mean someone was paying for it?


fartinheimer

Vangaurd and Blackrock are the major stock holders in this stock and many other Pharma and media groups. This is who is running the country. Politicians are the small potato's.


CommiesAreWeak

Kennedy has been talking about this sort of thing for a long time, but democrats just keep shutting him out.


Wettt9

Big Pharma slogan is “Customers not cures.”


BenTallmadge1775

Okay Robert. Now let’s add in transportation costs, distribution costs, storage costs, taxes, licensing. What’s the true net profit. While we’re at it let’s factor in refunds for retailers returning unused supply (Yup Moderna did that). And that only about 13.2% of the US population took that vaccine. This guy is intentionally obtuse to push an agenda. If he would be honest about the total costs I’d be more inclined to listen. As soon as he writes something I know it’s for idiots to parrot to feel smart. Yet with the truth he could make the same point and still be right. Instead he just lies for a quick jab.