Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire. Tomorrow, we get the first of two hearings as Trump tries to get his Health and Human Services Secretary confirmed. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will appear before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. If he survives, on Thursday he will sit in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Since RFK, Jr. will have levers of power in both pharmaceuticals and food, expect Democrats to be fiery. Nothing burns them up like getting their money cut off.

Yesterday morning, NBC News reported that the latest submissions show that lobbying efforts brought $4.2 billion to Federal lawmakers:

Interest groups spent a record $4.2 billion lobbying federal lawmakers in 2023, led by the pharmaceutical and health products industries, according to a new report by OpenSecrets.

According to the D.C.-based nonprofit, which tracks money in politics, “health companies spent more than any other sector in 2023 with federal lobbying spending topping $739 million for the year.”

That’s a lot of influence. Not going to make Senators happy. Also, last April, then former President Trump was reaming Kennedy out, according to the New York Post:

It was less than a year ago, in April of 2024, that then-candidate Donald Trump went on a late-night tear against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“I lived with RFK Jr. in New York and watched him convince Governor Cuomo to make Environmental moves that were outright NASTY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Upstate New York was not allowed to drill or frack as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and others ripped off New York Energy. Because of this, prices have skyrocketed all over that part of the Country.”

“I’d even take Biden over Junior’, because our Country would last a year or two longer prior to collapse.”

Referring to him as a Democratic plant, Trump added that RFK is “an Extreme Environmentalist who makes the Green New Scammers look Conservative, a Big Time Taxer and Open Border Advocate, and Anti-Military/Vet . . .”

RFK Jr. called himself an independent, “but he’s not,” Trump wrote. “He’s a Radical Left Lunatic.”

“No Republican can vote for this guy.”

Mr. President, you were right.

On Thursday, Senate hearings begin on RFK Jr.’s nomination as secretary for Health and Human Services.

But nothing has changed about Kennedy from last spring. He’s still a radical left lunatic who is anti-energy, a “big time” taxer and completely incoherent about our nation’s health.

No Republican can vote for this guy. No senator should.

Yow-freaking-za. Neither Trump nor the New York Post is wrong about Kennedy when it coming to the Green New Scam/Extreme Environmentalism or Open Borders. But when it comes to the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration or the National Institutes of Health, Trump has good reasons to trust Kennedy. As a lawyer for children’s health, RFK, Jr., knows where the money is and who bought whom.

From the Finance Committee, IL Senator Dick Durbin issued this statement: “Durbin: RFK Jr. Is Dangerously Unqualified To Serve As HHS Secretary”:

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke out against the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), citing the nominee’s false and irresponsible views on vaccines. In his remarks, Durbin pointed to specific examples of Kennedy spreading lies about vaccines, fluoride, and other measures with proven scientific history of safety and improving health.

“Every day HHS makes life or death decisions. That [department] oversees the Food and Drug Administration to make sure that what we eat is safe, to make sure the drugs that are sold to us are effective and safe as well. The National Institutes of Health, the premier medical research agency in the world, with $48 billion spent each year to find cures, to find new drugs, to move us toward a better America. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to make sure that whatever is going around, as they say, doesn’t hit our families. We count on them every single day. It’s a big job, it requires responsible leadership and honesty,” Durbin began.

Durbin acknowledged that he has some common ground with Kennedy, specifically related to curbing pharmaceutical advertisements, which mirrors a policy laid out in Durbin’s DTC Act.

“There may be some certain areas where we agree, such as curbing drug ads or improving the quality of food supply… I can work with him on those issues,” Durbin said.

“But on the fundamentals… his leadership is troublesome. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is dangerously, dangerously unqualified and entirely irresponsible in his judgement. He embraces quack science and cherry-picks information to fulfill his numerous conspiracy theories,” Durbin said.

Durbin spoke to Kennedy’s record of spreading lies about the efficacy and safety of vaccines. Durbin quoted Kennedy directly during his remarks, reiterating that Kennedy has said as recently as July 2023 that, “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.”…”

The statement goes on. Boring. In this video, at 4:40 Durbin begins reading this statement:

Keep that cash flowing from Big Pharma. When will these people learn that none of us trust them after Covid? Durbin spreads fear everywhere he goes.

Durbin: I am fearful that if we put Robert F Kennedy junior in charge of our nation's health, innocent children will die.

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 27, 2025

Massachusetts Senator Pocahontas (Lies for Cash) Warren has a strategy for going after Kennedy, according to Boston.com:

One high-profile progressive, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, has already given a detailed preview of what to expect later this week. In a lengthy letter sent to Kennedy earlier this month, Warren laid out 175 questions for Kennedy and voiced her extreme skepticism of his ability to lead HHS.

“Given your dangerous views on vaccine safety and public health, including your baseless opposition to vaccines, and your inconsistent statements in important policy areas like reproductive rights access, I have serious concerns regarding your ability to oversee the Department,” Warren wrote to Kennedy.

That’s not a loaded statement, is it?

Vaccines are miracles and they have saved millions and millions of lives. We should be and are grateful, but we can still ask questions about efficacy, ingredients and timing, can’t we. Are we all considered apostates for asking these questions?

Featured Image: Grok/X/cropped/Public Domain

Dick Durbin Elizabeth Warren Finance Committee Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr Robert Kennedy Vaccines