We saw the charming Ed Rendell on MSNBC the other day talking up the wonders of Simpson-Bowles.  He's not on our side any more.

Ed Rendell

Ed Rendell is a co-chairman of Fix the Debt.^[13] In media appearances, he is only introduced as the former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania (2003-2011), yet he has extensive corporate and financial ties.UNDISCLOSED CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Rendell lobbied for KCI USA, a wound care technology company, on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements in 2012.^[22] Rendell is special counsel to the law firm Ballard Spahr^[23] -- which has been criticized as a union-busting law firm--^[24] -- where he focuses on privatization and housing, with an emphasis on infrastructure.^[25] Rendell is also a senior adviser at Greenhill & Co., a multinational investment bank. Ninety percent of Greenhill's revenue comes from advisory assignments,^[26] including to public officials. Rendell is a strong proponent of "public private partnerships" (PPPs) in infrastructure, which have been criticized as a dubious form of privatization of public assets.^[27] Rendell is also on the advisory board of Verdeva, a firm developing technology to track motorists at the gas pump so they can be taxed for infrastructure revenue, an industry-favored measure for developing the income streams they need to finance infrastructure deals.^[28] He has also joined the venture capital firm Element Partners as an operating partner.^[29] Element Partners recently invested in oil and gas extraction (fracking) from the Marcellus formation.^[3