Follow the Money

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune publishes an Associated Press report that political allies of President Obama are raking in cash from the ObamaCare Offensive.

Coalitions of interest groups running at least $24 million in pro-overhaul ads hired GMMB, which worked for Obama's 2008 campaign and whose partners include a top Obama campaign strategist. They also hired AKPD Message and Media, which was founded by David Axelrod, a top adviser to Obama's campaign and now to the White House. AKPD did work for Obama's campaign, and Axelrod's son Michael and Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe work there.

The firms were hired by Americans for Stable Quality Care and its predecessor, Healthy Economy Now. Each was formed by a coalition of interests with big stakes in health care policy, including the drug maker lobby PhRMA, the American Medical Association, the Service Employees International Union and Families USA, which calls itself "The Voice for Health Care Consumers."

The Obama Administration has scratched the back of Pharma, the SEIU, and the AMA. Now, they are returning the favor, with Obama's political allies taking a healthy cut off the top.

It's the Chicago way.