Via echidne, Florida the Guinea Pig:

Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed two historic Medicaid bills Thursday, placing the health care of nearly 3 million Florida residents into the hands of for-profit companies and hospital networks. Lawmakers said the program was overwhelming the state budget and needed to be privatized to rein in costs and improve patient care. Critics fear the bills build on a flawed five-county experiment where patients struggled to access specialists and doctors complained the treatments they prescribed were frequently denied.

[. . .] The bills removed a requirement for plans to spend certain percentages on patient care and Federal health officials encouraged state lawmakers to include that provision in the bill. Instead, the bills call for managed care plans to repay profits over 5 percent to the state.

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The Donald comes to the rescue?

So much for dropping out -- Donald Trump tells TPM he believes he can win the White House as an independent candidate, keeping his name in the presidential game despite declaring last month he would not run for the GOP nomination. [. . .] As for whether he'll run, he said it depended on the GOP nominee. "Let's see what happens with the Republicans, who they put up," he said.

I still have the Short Fingered Vulgarian to kick around!! About two weeks ago, Trump said:

After considerable deliberation and reflection, I have decided not to pursue the office of the presidency. Business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector.

I guess the Reality TV and licensing business is not as exciting to Trump as he thought it would be. Of course this can not go on forever - the moment Trump has to reveal that he really is just another Kardashian is when the fun stops.

Speaking for me only

The charges in the John Edwards Indictment are all premised on the assumption that the monies from Fred Baron and Bunny Mellon that ended up financing Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young's excellent adventures were campaign contributions rather than gifts. If they weren't campaign contributions, there's no crime.

There's no case law on point. There are no prior federal prosecutions alleging a candidate mislabeled a campaign contribution as a gift, thereby violating federal election law.

What the Government told Edwards' attorneys and election law experts prior to the Indictment was that there was a FEC civil advisory opinion in 2000 (the Harvey opinion) that supported its position. Team Edwards responded that opinion was distinguishable from his situation, and pointed out another advisory opinion (the Moran opinion) in 2002, closer to his situation which concluded the donated money was not a campaign contribution. The Wall St. Journal has more here, and also check out election law expert Rick Hasen at Slate.

Neither opinion is directly on point in Edwards' case. Both are distinguishable. And newer FEC advisory opinions clearly state the opinions are not only advisory, but that they are not to be relied on in cases with distinguishable facts. [More...]

Update: Here is John Edwards' statement after his court appearance today.

John Edwards has arrived at the federal courthouse in North Carolina with his daughter Cate.

The unnamed staffer in the Indictment who claimed John Edwards knew of Fred Baron's payments to Rielle Hunter during the campaign is reportedly Wendy Button. She didn't include that detail in her article on helping draft the statement admitting paternity (which wasn't used.) [More...]

The John Edwards Indictment has arrived. It contains six counts. You can read it here.

It's all about Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young, Fred Baron and Bunny Mellon. Nothing as I thought here about his PACS and other campaign related companies. The New York Times writes:

At issue are financial contributions that prosecutors say Mr. Edwards received in excess of federal limits, did not report properly and then misused for the political purpose of hiding his extramarital affair to save his candidacy. Mr. Edwards, 57, has maintained that he used the money to hide the affair, but for private purposes — to conceal it from his wife.

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Given the acceptance of Austerity Now! by the Democrats, there is little hope that a rebounding economy and jobs picture will fill President Obama's political sails for 2012.

Two factors play in Obama's favor right now - (1) the GOP penchant for attempted destruction of popular social safety net programs (in 1995 and 1996, President Clinton was buoyed not only by a rising economy but also by GOP overreach in its attacks of the social safety net); and (2) the extremism that GOP primaries demand from their candidates (Obama gets to play the reasonable adult.) Will that be enough? Kevin Drum explores the Dem messaging issue on the economy:

So how do Democrats get back on top in the soundbite wars over the economy? Beats me. But Democracy Corps says they tested a bunch of messages and blaming Republicans for getting us into this mess is a loser. The three big winners are below. Take 'em for what they're worth.1

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Double dip:

U.S. hiring slowed dramatically in May and the unemployment rate kept rising, adding to concerns the jobs market will take years to heal as the economy remains weak. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 54,000 last month as the private sector posted the smallest jobs gain in nearly a year, the Labor Department said Friday in its survey of employers. Payrolls data for the previous two months were revised down by a total 39,000 to show increases of 232,000 jobs in April and 194,000 in March. The jobless rate, which is obtained from a separate household survey, unexpectedly rose to 9.1% in May from 9.0% in April. There are almost 13.9 million Americans who would like to work but can't get a job.

The last line is incorrect. There are 13.9 million Americans who are reported as still looking for jobs who can't get a job. There are many millions more who would like a job but are so discouraged, they have stopped looking. The percentage of the working age American population who is employed is at a record low. The economy is in shambles for Main Street. Wall Street of course is making record profits. Well done Tim Geithner!

Speaking for me only

Vermont Governor Pete Shumlin (D) signed into law yesterday a bill authorizing up to four dispensaries to sell medical marijuana to patients.

While medical marijuana is now legal in 16 states and the District of Columbia, only 8 also authorize dispensaries to provide marijuana to patients. The other 7 states are Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Rhode Island.

Marijuana Policy Project has been instrumental in getting 5 of these state laws passed during the past two years.

MPP is having its major fundraising event of the year July 7. It's the Liberty Belle Ball at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. Ticket prices go up June 16, so get yours now. They aren't cheap, but either is the good work the organization does year after year. If you can't attend in person, I'm sure they'd appreciate donations.

The media is abuzz with news that John Edwards' Washington attorney, Craig, flew to Raleigh last night. No one knows whether an Indictment was returned this week, whether the visit is for a final negotiating session with prosecutors, or whether Edwards has agreed to a plea deal and an Information will be filed tomorrow.

Nor does anyone seem to know what Edwards might be charged with, other than violating federal election laws pertaining to campaign contributions.

It seems to me the media is over-simplifying the case. It began as an investigation into whether John Edwards knew about the money Fred Baron gave Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young. The evidence has always been conflicting as to what John Edwards knew, if anything. Fred Baron, who funded Rielle and Andrew's excellent adventure and is now deceased, insisted John did not know. His widow and law partner, Lisa Blue, told the grand jury the same thing. And it's doubtful the Justice Department would bring such a high-profile federal prosecution based on the words of people with as much baggage as Andrew Young and his wife, or Rielle Hunter. [More..]

Open Thread.

After five days of telling his story on direct examination, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is now undergoing cross-examination by prosecutors.

They began by asking him, "You are a convicted liar." He said "Yes."

More on his testimony here.

The cross-examination didn't begin until late this afternoon. Trial is now recessed until Monday. So Blagojevich gets the weekend to regroup. He better study hard.

Samraz Rana, the wife of Tahawwur Rana, on trial in Chicago for conspiring with David Headley and others in the Mumbai bombings and a planned attack on a Danish news agency, has given an exlcusive interview to Times of India.

In addition to discussing how David Coleman Headley duped her husband, she explains that Rana actually knew Major Iqbal from their early army officer days.

In a stunning revelation, Samraz Rana, speaking in a mix of English and Urdu, explained that Balajee was known to her husband in his early days in uniform as a medical corps doctor as a colleague in the Pakistani army, perhaps even before he became a Lashkar or an ISI operative.

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