(08-21-2019, 02:02 PM)mikesez Wrote:

(08-21-2019, 11:39 AM)jagibelieve Wrote: That wasn't my point at all.

The government should not have any excess cash that they confiscate from us.

The government isn't in the business of "giving out prizes".  The government should not be picking winners and losers no matter the industry.

The government needs to let the free market innovate and set prices.

How is awarding a cash prize to a company that develops a new drug different from awarding a contract to a company that's doing any other kind of work for the government? Like building new barracks or new post offices or new roads or new airplanes?
Here is the work the government wants to see done.
Do the work.
Collect the money.
Where is the difference?

A company developing a new product != government contract.

First of all that's not the way government contracts work.  In a nutshell the government creates a Statement Of Work (SOW) and opens it up for bidding.  Companies decide whether or not they want to bid on the contract based on the SOW.  Once bids are submitted they are reviewed and the contract is awarded to a company based on best technical plan/lowest cost.

Drug companies doing research and development of new drugs do so in the free market.  Government should get out of the way of that process.  The free market would be the ultimate decider of what the "cash prize" is should a drug company develop a new drug as it should be.

It's called Capitalism.

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