BoatBanter.com - Crist for Governor

On 12/10/12 8:51 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:17:00 -0500, ESAD wrote:

On 12/10/12 1:08 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:38:06 -0500, ESAD wrote:

Now that he has switched parties, former Florida governor Charlie Crist
may well seek and obtain the Democratic nomination for that job. If he
does, does he stand as good a chance as might be indicated by the
current governor Rick Scott's really low approval ratings and long list
of non-accomplishments?

I suppose it all depends on which Charlie Crist shows up.

Will he be for or against off shore drilling? He has had both
positions. (most recently for)

Will he be the anti-gay guy he was in the 90s? (opposing gay marriage
and adoption) Then there is the persistent Tallahassee rumor that
Crist is gay himself. That might be a plus in California but not in
Florida.

The biggest issue for me is he is pimping for a big ambulance chasing
lawyer (Morgan and Morgan) right now. Once a whore, always a whore.
That alone will attract a **** load of PAC money from business against
him.

I suppose it just depends on who the GOP ran against him. Marco Rubio
handed his ass to him a couple years ago. Scott may be spending more
time with his family next cycle anyway.

I don't know much about Crist, but compared to Scott, he has to be a
paragon of virtue.

Crist is far from pure.

Are you waiting for a "pure" politician? Really? Wouldn't that be like
"Waiting for Godot"?

Scott's employer while he ran the shop engaged in major league criminal
activities and got off the hook after he left by paying a $600 million
fine. Scott was forced out of that job.

From wiki:

In settlements reached in 2000 and 2002, Columbia/HCA pled guilty to 14
felonies and agreed to a $600+ million fine in the largest fraud
settlement in US history. Columbia/HCA admitted systematically
overcharging the government by claiming marketing costs as reimbursable,
by striking illegal deals with home care agencies, and by filing false
data about use of hospital space. They also admitted fraudulently
billing Medicare and other health programs by inflating the seriousness
of diagnoses and to giving doctors partnerships in company hospitals as
a kickback for the doctors referring patients to HCA. They filed false
cost reports, fraudulently billing Medicare for home health care
workers, and paid kickbacks in the sale of home health agencies and to
doctors to refer patients. In addition, they gave doctors "loans" never
intending to be repaid, free rent, free office furniture, and free drugs
from hospital pharmacies.

In late 2002, HCA agreed to pay the U.S. government $631 million, plus
interest, and pay $17.5 million to state Medicaid agencies, in addition
to $250 million paid up to that point to resolve outstanding Medicare
expense claims. In all, civil law suits cost HCA more than $2 billion to
settle, by far the largest fraud settlement in US history.

These activities took place while Scott was CEO of Columbia/HCA.

What's Crist done that compares?