American Drug company giant Pfizer wants to merge with much smaller Irish-based drug company Allergan. Well, goodness, what could go wrong with that?

The answer is just about everything. The merger proposal is what tax experts call an inversion. That’s when an American company merges with company based on another country and shifts its “headquarters” overseas in order to lower the taxes it pays in the United States.

So, if Pfizer gets this, then the company will pay less taxes here and use the resulting profits to lower its drug prices for american consumers. NOT.

No, if Pfizer gets this, the company’s stockholders will get more money and American consumers will pay more, likely much more, for drugs from both companies. Count on it. Pfizer is at least upfront about why it wants this merger — to lower its tax burden. The combination of putting fewer dollars into the U.S. treasury and hiking prices for its drugs amounts to a two-headed hammer for U.S. taxpayers. Our drugs will cost more and the U.S. debt will go up. Thanks, Pfizer.

This is a shabby deal and one I seriously hope U.S. regulators will reject. Pfizer inevitable claim that being unable to lower its taxes means the company will have to cut back on its drug research is so much baloney; Pfizer, like other U.S. drug companies, gets most of its research money from the U.S. government. Nothing like biting the hand that feeds you.

If you think this merger is a good deal, then you are either a Republican (or sadly), a Democrat who are unconcerned over health care issues for all but the extremely rich. That, and the fact that that you probably receive a good chunk of your campaign funding from drug companies like Pfizer. When this issue comes to debate, pay close attention to which legislators support it and you’ll quickly discover who is getting the biggest payoffs from Pfizer.

This is a shabby deal. It must be rejected.