(from Fact Check)
Summary
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has launched an ad claiming Florida Republican Clay Shaw took part in a “drug deal” when he voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, more commonly referred to as Medicare Part D. We find the DCCC’s evidence of this flimsy at best.
The ad claims that Shaw bought drug company stock before the legislation passed, sold it after, and put “profits in his own pocket.” That’s true, but the shares the ad refers to were in a company that could not have profited from the legislation. Its anti-cancer drugs were covered by Medicare even before the legislation was passed, and the company even told shareholders there was a risk that the legislation might hurt sales.
The DCCC might have had a better case if it had referred to the one other drug-company stock that Shaw owned, and which the ad doesn’t mention. That company’s sales may indeed have been helped by the legislation. Shaw’s paper profit on that stock, however, is no more than $4,268.15 and perhaps considerably less. Furthermore, Shaw’s Florida land holdings already make him one of the wealthiest members of the House.
We leave it to readers to examine the facts and judge for themselves whether Shaw’s vote to expand Medicare was part of a “drug deal” motivated by personal profit, as the DCCC ad implies.