The man behind the curtain.

Rick Scott is the man behind much of the public-option health care opposition we hear today. By now, most have seen the advertisements for his blitzkrieg: a public option “could put a bureaucrat in charge of your medical decisions, not you.” From there, a “government health care” bulldozer flattens your existing health care “choices.” It’s all very Göbbels.

Never fear. The man behind the curtain was also behind the biggest case of health care fraud in United States history, so I’m pretty sure he shouldn’t be talking.

The giant hospital company Scott led in the 1980s and 1990s, Columbia/HCA, was the subject of a seven-year federal investigation. The probe concluded with the company pleading guilty to 14 felony counts of criminal misconduct and paying $1.7 billion to settle civil charges relating to overbilling of state and federal governments—the largest settlement of its kind in American history. Scott, claiming ignorance of what was going on, was booted by his own board in 1997 and received a $10 million golden parachute with $300 million in stock options for his troubles.

Tsk tsk.

It’s no wonder the Right is trying to continue with the status quo of overpriced, unaffordable health care which leads to monstrous profits and wasteful administrative spending. Big Health has been in the pockets of the Republican party for a long time, after all. What is a bit shocking, however, is that they’ve allowed the poster boy for fraudulence to be the poster boy against reform. It’s not hard to write this guy off at all.

The link between Scott and the campaign against the health of the citizenry must not be underestimated. So long as people remember where the ad dollars are coming from, we who support broad reform of the health care system will have no trouble quashing the misinformation campaign led by this criminal, Rick Scott.

According to an estimate reported by the Associated Press, around $15 million has already been spent on ads favoring the Democrats’ plan, and $4 million has been spent to oppose it. Much of that $4 million has come from Scott and CPR, and he’s claimed his group will spend as much as $20 million.

Spend as much as you want, Ricky. We all know where the money came from.