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Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum told the mother of a child with a rare genetic disorder on Tuesday that she shouldn't have a problem paying $1 million a year for drugs because Apple's iPad can cost around $900.

Speaking to more than 400 people at Woodland Park, Colorado, the former Pennsylvania senator said that demand should set prices for drugs.

"People have no problem paying $900 for an iPad," the candidate explained. "But paying $900 for a drug they have a problem with — it keeps you alive. Why? Because you’ve been conditioned to think health care is something you can get without having to pay for it."

The mother replied that she could not afford her son's medication, Abilify, which can cost as much as $1 million a year without health insurance.

"Look, I want your son and everybody to have the opportunity to stay alive on much-needed drugs," Santorum insisted. "But the bottom line is, we have to give companies the incentive to make those drugs. And if they don't have the incentive to make those drugs, your son won't be alive and lots of other people in this country won't be alive."

"He’s alive today because drug companies provide care," the candidate continued. "And if they didn’t think they could make money providing that drug, that drug wouldn’t be here. I sympathize with these compassionate cases. … I want your son to stay alive on much-needed drugs. Fact is, we need companies to have incentives to make drugs. If they don’t have incentives, they won’t make those drugs. We either believe in markets or we don’t."

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Sherrod Brown took the Senate Republicans to task for their hypocrisy and double speak with pretending like they're standing up for the working class while actually representing the interests of big business. Brown hit them for their opposition to Medicare when they were slamming Medicare as being "socialism", defending the oil industry on energy legislation, defending the drug companies, defending companies that send jobs overseas and defending the insurance industry and the banks.

Brown took a last shot at them for quoting the Lewin Group.

Brown: I hear my colleagues just so liberally if I might use that word to define them, quote Lewin and Associates. Every time Lewin and associates puts out a new study they come to the floor and they ponderously seriously say "Lewin and Associates says that this bill does this". Well Lewin and Associates is owned by... United Health Care which is one of the biggest insurance companies in the country.

So quoting Lewin and Associates on health care is like quoting the oil companies on energy legislation or climate change or quoting the drug companies on the Medicare giveaway to the drug companies bill. I mean, Mr. President, just, you know forget about Lewin and Associates, if they want to comment on something that's got nothing to do with insurance, maybe they're reputable, they used to be reputable, then United Health Care got them and sorry, you know, it's just the way it is.

We could use a few more Sherrod Brown's in the Senate.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders is back on the set of the Ed Schultz Show to talk about the influence of corporate lobbyists on health care reform. Is this man the only person in the United States Senate that's not bought and sold by the health care industry? I'm beginning to think so.