Three Good Reads

Jason Linkins on Rick Scott:

For future reference, here are some ways that you can tell if your state's governor is some sort of appalling grifter...

• He does vaguely scammy things to the people who worked on his own campaign.


• He spends an inordinate amount of money on self-celebration.


• He's got something of an itching palm.


• He seems to want to make it easier for other serial fraudsters to commit serial fraud.


• He avoids scrutiny like a vampire avoids sunlight.


• Oh! And he basically crafts policy for the sole purpose of personal enrichment.

Those are just the summary headlines. Do yourself a favor and read the whole rundown.

h/t to Chez who's also got a story about Rick Scott:

My point is this: When you've lost a bunch of pick-up-driving South Florida cops who hold their annual gala at a place normally reserved for rodeos, you've lost everyone.

And then there's Ari Berman on Jim Messina - former White House deputy chief of staff and now manager of Obama’s re-election campaign:

During the healthcare fight, Messina used his influence to try to stifle any criticism of Baucus or lobbying by progressive groups that was out of sync with the administration’s agenda, according to Common Purpose participants. “Messina wouldn’t tolerate us trying to lobby to improve the bill,” says Richard Kirsch, former national campaign manager for Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the major coalition of progressive groups backing reform. Kirsch recalled being told by a White House insider that when asked what the administration’s “inside/outside strategy” was for passing healthcare reform, Messina replied, “There is no outside strategy.”

The inside strategy pursued by Messina, relying on industry lobbyists and senior legislators to advance the bill, was directly counter to the promise of the 2008 Obama campaign, which talked endlessly about mobilizing grassroots support to bring fundamental change to Washington. But that wasn’t Messina’s style—instead, he spearheaded the administration’s deals with doctors, hospitals and drug companies, particularly the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), one of the most egregious aspects of the bill. “They cared more about their relationship with the healthcare industry than anyone else,” says one former HCAN staffer. “It was shocking to see. To me, that was the scariest part of it, because this White House had ridden in on a white horse and said, ‘We’re not going to do this anymore.’” When they were negotiating special deals with industry, Messina and Baucus chief of staff Jon Selib were also pushing major healthcare companies and trade associations to pour millions of dollars into TV ads defending the bill.

I encourage you to read this one in its entirety too.