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A little corruption with your Tea Party?

 
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mac



Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17735
Location: Berkeley, California

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 3:18 pm    Post subject: A little corruption with your Tea Party? Reply with quote

In a continuing effort to probe for the finer qualities of the Tea Party candidates we turn to the new Governor of Florida, Rick Scott. We find that the Tea Party is not merely nativist and bigoted, but they seem to be ok with corruption too.
From the Tampa Bay Examiner
Florida elects Rick Scott who admitted to 14 counts of Medicare fraud
Florida voters gave gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott the nod of approval in the November 2, 2010 elections. However, Scott who beat Alex Sink in the Florida Governor’s race, admitted to 14 counts of Medicare fraud and paid the federal government more than $600 million dollars in fines for his fraudulent billing practices.
“In settlements reached in 2000 and 2002, Columbia/HCA rose to public attention when it pleaded guilty to 14 felonies and agreed to a $600+ million fine in what the Justice department then called the largest fraud case settled in the history of the Justice department.
A series of New York Times articles, beginning in 1996, began scrutinizing Columbia/HCA's business and Medicare billing practices. These culminated in the company being raided in July 1997 by Federal agents searching for documents. Among the crimes uncovered were doctors being offered financial incentives to bring in patients, falsifying diagnostic codes to increase reimbursements from Medicare and other government programs, and billing the government for unnecessary lab tests.Following the raids, the Columbia/HCA board of directors forced Scott to resign as Chairman and CEO. He was paid $9.88 million in a settlement. He also left owning 10 million shares of stock worth over $350 million, mostly from his initial investment In 1999, Columbia/HCA changed its name back to HCA, Inc.”
State wide, Florida voters gave the victory to Scott with only a 48% to 47% margin. However in Hernando County, the breakdown of voters who approved of the candidate who admited to Medicare fraud was 51%. for Scott and 43% for Sink.

Of course, the Tea Party endorsed Scott:
Leaders of the Florida TEA (“Taxed Enough Already”) Party chose Tallahassee Wednesday to promote their 21 candidates across the state and to endorse Rick Scott, the Republican gubernatorial candidate.

Party Chairman Frederic O’Neal, who tongue-in-cheek referred to his group as the “much-maligned” TEA Party, said that his organization -- which had backed Scott in the Republican primary over Attorney General Bill McCollum -- was re-endorsing him in the general election over state CFO Alex Sink, the Democratic candidate, and the rest of the field.

O'Neal praised Scott’s experience in business and the fact that he is a political outsider who has never sought or held office.

You gotta love their vetting process. So far we've got the lyin' and the witch, can the wardrobe be far behind?
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exhibitpro



Joined: 17 Jun 1998
Posts: 47

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, the Alex Sink (dem) guy must really be terrible if the voters picked corruption over him.
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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Who knows what Florida voters are looking for in their state. Living in California, seemingly we're on different planets, considering the electorate, the candidates, and the money behind the different scenes.

From what I understand though, Florida is flush with seniors, so I doubt that they're looking to kill Social Security or Medicare. Republicans have to tread softly, and away from certain bold goals that some of the new tea partiers and Republicans have been screaming for in their platform. Of course, most of those ranting against Social Security and Medicare haven't paid into the concept for their entire career.

Watch out for the slackers only out for themselves. For some, it's the perfect time to reduce their taxes and any commitment to societal goals, meaningful or not. It's about just me, and me. Perfect isobars' stuff.
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windoggi



Joined: 22 Feb 2002
Posts: 2743

PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pretty good...

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/11/12-4

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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 4:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I definitely like Morford's sense of humor. Also, at least from my perspective, there's an uncanny truth and forthrightness in his opinion.

Needless to say, time will tell all.
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