The brawl that could sink health-care reform

What we see on the surface of policy debates--Congressional Budget Office scores, impassioned appeals to principle, and the like--often has little bearing on the eventual fate of legislation. The behind the scenes lobbying is often more important.

My K Street column today peers behind the curtain in health-care debate and exposes a hidden rift:

President Barack Obama's ambitious health care reform could be derailed by an abstruse lobbying battle between two key White House allies: the pharmaceutical industry and the senior citizens lobby. AARP has sided with generic drug makers against the name-brand giants on the backstage issue of biologic drugs.

Read the whole thing here.