@SenSchumer Voter ID is a practical step to restore confidence in election integrity. The goal should be: make registration easier, help citizens obtain ID, and ensure every eligible voter can participate.
Please act in support of stability, fairness, and accountability.
@BarackObama As a brainwashed college graduate, I voted for you.
HUGE mistake!
Under the ACA, my premium and deductible skyrocketed. At the time, I would’ve been better off leaving the workforce and relying on the system. Fortunately, I didn’t, and I’ve built a great career
@PrezLives2022 I think I finally understand why people feel so strongly about Trump.
The thing is, most of the reasons seem to be based on partial truths. I was confused at first about their frustration, but now I see it comes from not having the full picture.
@tresrottn@SenSchumer I think you misunderstood me. Pfizer earned big profits from research funded by taxpayers through the NIH. I believe Big Pharma shouldn’t profit off public funding, so I’d like to see the NIH revamped to protect us from being exploited.
Republicans have reasonable justification for sharply reducing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget—or, better yet, dismantling it entirely and reconstructing it—to prevent our hard-earned tax dollars from being wasted on poor choices. Consider this example:
The NIH, supported entirely by taxpayer money, invested decades of research and billions of dollars—specifically $17.2 billion between 2000 and 2019—into vaccine technology. This funding laid the critical mRNA foundation that enabled Pfizer to develop Comirnaty, its COVID-19 vaccine. Operation Warp Speed (OWS) further contributed $1.95 billion in direct public funds, plus up to $10.6 billion in purchase commitments, to secure vaccine doses. Pfizer, in turn, transformed this public investment into an estimated $14.3 to $15.8 billion in profit by 2025, while taxpayers received no direct financial return. The OWS funding was structured as a purchase, not a loan, and the NIH’s foundational research came with no provisions for profit-sharing. Meanwhile, Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, personally earned $126.8 million.
In essence, taxpayers financed the scientific breakthroughs, yet pharmaceutical companies reaped enormous rewards. Pfizer’s $52.33 billion in revenue far overshadows any benefit returned to the NIH or the public. It’s a bitter pill to swallow: public investment constructs the ladder, but private companies climb it alone. This dynamic fuels skepticism about the NIH’s $47 billion annual budget, which increasingly looks like a conduit for pharmaceutical profits rather than a benefit for the public. Your fight appears to be less about protecting taxpayers and more about deciding which millionaires will increase their wealth. It doesn’t seem as though you’re truly advocating for us—the people who are actually paying the price.
@GovKathyHochul Is this real life? Who are these people cheering to continue handing over their hard-earned money to the New York government? This is insane!
-Total Known Federal Funding for the WTC Health program since its inception in 2011 is $3.276 billion.
-There are 125,633 living members enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program.
-In 2024 there were efforts to pass the "9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act of 2024" to ensure permanent and mandatory funding, but this was not included in the final budget to avoid a government shutdown.
-Trump was not in office yet
@NewYorkStateAG We see through your facade, AG. You're not concerned about what he's uncovering—you're only worried about protecting your own ego and ensuring your survival. You have no regard for us. Your priority is to keep this country divided for your own benefit.