Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina (photo) likes biotech. “One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that it is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country.”

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri likes it, too. I needn’t bore you with her quote, because it matches Wilson’s word for word.

According to Robert Pear of The New York Times, they were both using “language suggested by the lobbyists.” In a front-page story in Sunday’s Times, Pear reports that 42 members of the House–22 Republicans and 20 Democrats–repeated talking points suggested by Genentech.

It’s a remarkable political achievement: Genentech found the bipartisan consensus on health care that has so far eluded President Obama.

I guess we all knew this sort of thing goes on, but it’s still striking to see it spelled out, as Pear does in this excellent piece of reporting.

In our business, the sanctions for using somebody else’s language can be severe. Not so in politics, apparently. Pear doesn’t address the question of what the gentlemen and gentle ladies in Congress might have received in return for parroting Genentech.

Polly want a cracker?

- Paul Raeburn

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