Schweitzer Talks Trump and Prescription Drugs

"One of my greatest priorities is to reduce the price of prescription drugs...and prices will come down substantially- watch."  Those were the words of President Trump at his first State of the Union Address last week.

I am still surprised that no one in the Montana media did a follow up story with former Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) following President Trump's mention of the high cost of prescription drugs during his first State of the Union address.

The high cost of prescription drugs, after all, was the issue that fueled Brian Schweitzer's rise to power in Montana politics when he narrowly lost a Senate race to former Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) in 2000.  Shortly thereafter, Schweitzer was elected governor of Montana. He then found himself on the short list of potential Democratic presidential candidates in the run-up to 2016.  Come July 2016 it was Schweitzer himself who predicted a Donald Trump victory, as Ed Kemmick reported for "Last Best News."

So, what was Schweitzer's reaction as President Trump cited the high cost of prescription drugs during his first State of the Union Address as president?

"I jumped out of my chair and yelled dang tootin," Schweitzer told me as he joined me on our new radio show "Montana Talks."

Schweitzer says President Trump can unilaterally allow Montanans to re-import prescription drugs from Canada under a law going back to the George W. Bush administration in 2003.

He added, "President Trump, literally, today can pick up the phone, make one phone call and we could re-import prescription drugs. Doesn't need Congress. Doesn't need anybody else. So when he said that was something he's going to do, then do it."

Schweitzer also faulted the Obama Administration for failing to address the high cost of prescription drugs after "spending 8 years passing Obamacare."

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