Tauzin says No to Hollywood
Entertainment industry favourite Billy Tauzin has been the main runner as the Man Most Likely to take over from Jack Valenti at the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America).
But it seems the drug companies out-bid Hollywood.
Instead, he’s "close to a decision to leave Congress to head the pharmaceutical industry’s trade association after turning down an offer from Hollywood to succeed Jack Valenti as the movie industry’s top lobbyist, sources in Washington and California said yesterday," says a Washington Post story here.
"Tauzin telephoned Valenti with his decision late Thursday night after intense salary negotiations over recent days," says the report. "The 12-term lawmaker is now considering an offer from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the trade group that represents drug giants such as Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co.
"Tauzin chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the telecommunications, media and entertainment industries. Most recently, however, he was one of the principal authors of the Medicare prescription drug bill that included several provisions expected to vastly expand the market for prescription drugs among the elderly. In addition to adding hundreds of billions of dollars for drug benefits, the law bars the federal government from directly bargaining down the price of drugs, a provision PhRMA pressed for."
PhRMA offered a compensation package that, if Tauzin accepts it, "would be the biggest deal given to anyone at a trade association," the Post quotes a "source" as saying, adding:
"The Motion Picture Association of America made ‘a very flattering offer and it was a difficult decision to say no,’ said Tauzin’s spokesman, Ken Johnson. ‘Billy has a great reverence for Jack and they are great friends, as well. But at this point in his life, Billy did not believe this was the best fit for him and his family’."
And, "Billy is a longtime dear friend and one of the most able members of Congress that I’ve ever known," said Valenti, wiping a tear from his eye.
