Chapter 614 - 290: The Giants’ Response

Washington D.C., K Street.

In an unmarked conference room, three men sat around a circular table.

Before them were bottles of Evian mineral water and an urgent briefing on Pennsylvania.

These three were representatives from CVS, United Health, and Express Scripts.

These three companies controlled eighty percent of the prescription drug distribution market in all of America, managing the flow of trillions of US Dollars in healthcare funds.

The representative from CVS, a man with salt-and-pepper hair, was flipping through the report in his hands.

"One hundred eighty-five in favor, eighteen against." The man tossed the report onto the table. "Those country bumpkins in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have lost their minds. They passed a bill designed to dismantle our entire business model."

"They voted with a gun to their heads," the Express Scripts representative said coldly. "That Mayor, Wallace, hijacked the legislative process with mob rule. He’s an unruly barbarian."

The United Health representative leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.

"There’s no need to panic. The House of Representatives has always been a product of emotion. It’s filled with short-term politicians on two-year cycles. They’d sell their own mothers for votes. It’s perfectly normal for them to fold under that kind of pressure."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the other two men.

"But the Senate is different."

"The Senate is a gentlemen’s club. The Senators there have longer terms, larger constituencies, and deeper roots. They don’t have to live each day staring at insults on X like the Representatives do."

"They have a better understanding of the rules, and of their own interests."

This was the brilliant design of American politics.

The House of Representatives is the boiling water in the teapot; the Senate is the saucer that cools the tea.

Any radical, populist bill that reaches the Senate will run into a thick wall.

"We have to kill this bill in Harrisburg," the CVS representative said. "We can’t let this virus spread to other states. If Pennsylvania falls, Ohio and Michigan will follow. Then we’ll be in real trouble."

"Then initiate procedural death."

The United Health representative made the decision.

"Notify all our lobbyists in Pennsylvania. Have them set up shop in the Senators’ offices."

"Tell those Senators that if this bill passes, we will be forced to reevaluate our business arrangements in the state. That includes, but is not limited to, pulling our pharmacies and discontinuing insurance coverage."

He took out a pre-drafted media placement plan.

"Also, launch a media blitz."

"Since that Mayor enjoys playing with public opinion, let’s teach him what a real media war looks like. He might have tens of thousands of workers, but we have tens of millions of US Dollars for ad buys."

"I want every old lady in Pennsylvania to see our ads the moment she turns on her TV. Tell them Leo Wallace’s bill will cause their local community pharmacies to shut down, that it will stop them from getting their heart medication."

"Create panic. Create chaos. Give the Senate the popular support they need to kill the bill."

The three representatives reached a consensus.

They didn’t see Leo as an equal.

In their eyes, Leo was just a monkey that had accidentally wandered into a room full of precision instruments.

The monkey had smashed a few components, and now, the engineers were here to clean up the mess.

...

Over the next forty-eight hours, Pennsylvania was hit by an overwhelming media blitz.

Television, radio, newspapers, online pop-up ads.

The pharmaceutical giants’ lobbying machine kicked into high gear.

A television commercial played on a loop during prime time:

The scene opens on a dimly lit pharmacy with empty shelves.

A kindly old pharmacist shakes his head helplessly at an elderly woman.

A narrator says in a worried voice, "Some politicians claim they’re saving you money, but what they’re really doing is destroying your healthcare."

"The so-called ’Medicine Benefits Transparency Bill’ will force pharmacies to reveal trade secrets, leading to a breakdown in the supply chain. If this bill passes, more than five hundred independent pharmacies across the state will be forced to close."

"When you need emergency medicine in the middle of the night, you’ll find your pharmacy is closed."

"This is the ’benefit’ Leo Wallace wants to bring you."

The screen freezes on the words "Say NO to this bill."

This fear-mongering was extremely effective.

For voters with health insurance, they didn’t care if drug prices were ten percent higher; they cared about whether they could get their medicine reliably.

The giants accurately targeted this pain point, reframing "price reduction" as "supply disruption."

Meanwhile, in the Senate building in Harrisburg, lobbyists were carrying out an intense offensive.

They didn’t need to be like they were in the House of Representatives. Here, the conversations were rational, even cold.

"Senator, if this bill passes, our company’s annual charitable donations in your district may not be sustainable."

"Senator, we need to defend the bottom line of the free market. This kind of administrative price intervention is unconstitutional. Once it passes, the State Government will face years of litigation, which will consume a huge portion of the fiscal budget."

"We’ve prepared a report for you on the bill’s negative economic impact. Please take a look."

Checks were tucked inside reports; promises were hidden in handshakes.

The political landscape of the Pennsylvania State Senate was Leo’s greatest weakness.

This was Republican territory.

Of the fifty seats, the Republican Party held twenty-eight, giving them an absolute majority.

And the leader of the Senate, the President Pro Tempore Robert Kaufman, who had just returned to his position, had innumerable ties to business groups and firmly believed the government should not interfere with commerce.

Not to mention, because of their past history, he already hated Leo’s guts.

Furthermore, with William taking office as Governor, the newly appointed Vice Governor was also a staunch Republican.

The difficult situation in the Senate was, to a large extent, thanks to Leo’s own previous maneuvers.

In his bid to take down Campbell, he had manufactured infighting within the Democratic Party, tacitly allowing, and even encouraging, the Republican Party’s expansion at the State Assembly level. He had personally weakened the Democratic Party’s control over the Senate.

Now, the boomerang had come back.

...

「Harrisburg, State Senate Chamber.」

The atmosphere here was far more solemn and detached than in the House of Representatives.

Everyone here appeared impeccably polite.

They lacked the Representatives’ fear of public opinion. Their eyes held only an arrogant confidence.

They knew their positions were secure, and that the voters’ memory lasted only seven seconds.

More importantly, they knew that as long as they served their patrons well, losing a few votes was of no consequence.

On Wednesday morning, Bill HB-709 from the House of Representatives, the "Medicine Benefits Transparency and Fairness Bill," was placed by a clerk on the President’s desk.

According to procedure, the President had to read the bill’s title and then assign it to the relevant committee for review.

It was a required step in the legislative process.

Kaufman picked up the document and glanced nonchalantly at the cover.

"Regarding bill HB-709, transferred from the House of Representatives."

"This bill involves significant adjustments to the existing health insurance system, containing complex clauses on data localization, special audits, and price intervention."

"Given its potentially profound and unpredictable economic impact on this state’s pharmaceutical industry structure, job market, and fiscal budget..."

Kaufman put the document down, picked up his gavel, and tapped it lightly.

TAP.

"This chair has decided to refer this bill to the Public Health and Welfare Committee for in-depth research and evaluation."

"Next item on the agenda."

The chamber fell silent.

The few Democratic Senators exchanged glances, but no one raised an objection.

Leo received the news in his office.

He understood everything in an instant.

The Public Health and Welfare Committee. The chairman of that committee was a Republican Party stalwart and the pharmaceutical companies’ most loyal ally.

In-depth research and evaluation.

In the political dictionary, those words meant one thing: shelved indefinitely.

No timetable, no hearing schedule, no deadline.

The committee could study it for a month, or it could study it for a year.

They could request supplementary materials, demand expert testimony, or call for interstate coordination.

As long as they wanted, the bill would lie in the committee’s filing cabinet until it was covered in three inches of dust.

And according to Pennsylvania’s legislative rules, if a bill does not pass a Senate vote before the end of the current legislative session, it is automatically voided.

In other words, as long as the committee chairman did nothing—just sat on the bill until the end of the year... the blitzkrieg Leo had launched in the House of Representatives, the millions he had mobilized in public support, the foundation of the Mutual Aid Alliance he had built—it would all come to nothing.

Next year, he would have to start all over again.

And by next year, the pharmaceutical giants would be prepared. Leo would never get the chance for a surprise attack again.

"This is the Senate."

Ethan stood by Leo’s side, his voice laced with helplessness.

"It’s a fortress for the elite, capital’s last line of defense."

"We won in the House of Representatives because that’s the commoner’s battlefield. But here, a numerical advantage is useless. A loud voice is useless."

"They didn’t veto the bill; they just said it needs more study. And who can argue against more study? Who can argue against prudence?"

Leo watched the rebroadcast of the Senate session on TV.

The Senators inside were chatting and laughing, completely indifferent to whether people outside could afford their medicine.

From their perspective, it was a perfectly executed defense.

They had protected their patrons’ interests and upheld the dignity of the Senate.

As for that young Mayor?

Let him cause a scene.

Let him shout.

His voice could not penetrate this fortress of marble.

"Leo, I don’t think there’s anything we can do."

Ethan’s tone was incredibly weak.

Leo pulled his gaze away from the window.

He looked at the despair on Ethan’s face and found the expression on the Harvard prodigy’s face almost comical.

"You’re right, Ethan. This batch of Senators is indeed a tough nut to crack."

"They’ve been here too long. The chairs they sit on have grown into their flesh. They’ve even developed the delusion that they *are* the rules."

"Then what do we do?" Ethan threw his hands up, his voice starting to spiral. "Do we just give up on the plan?"

"If this batch of Senators won’t listen," Leo said, "then we’ll just get a new batch."

"Huh?"

Ethan froze.

He was so shocked that he just stood there, his head tilted, his face a mask of confusion.

"A new batch? Leo, what nonsense are you talking about? This isn’t like returning expired milk to the supermarket. You can’t just swap them out. They were elected by the voters!"

"That’s the heart of the problem," Leo replied.

"They’re arrogant because they think our only option is to beg them in Harrisburg. They think as long as they hold on to these few offices, they can hold back the tide of the times."

Leo looked at Ethan. "We’re going to use our own power to support new faces who are willing to listen."

"Since the old machine is broken, we’ll just buy a new one."

Ethan didn’t seem to understand, and Leo had no intention of explaining further.

He just left Ethan standing there, head tilted, a look of utter confusion on his face.