The great American poet and prose-mangler William Burroughs once offered some words of advice for young people, words that work just as well for inhabitants of Washington D.C.: “An old junk pusher told me,” he wrote, “ ‘Watch whose money you pick up.’ ”

This is especially true in politics. Whatever Howard Dean’s other noble characteristics, for example, only a precious few will ever again see him as an independent voice in the debate over pharmaceuticals since he has taken untold amounts of money, through a law firm, from drug companies. (Dean even dons a hard hat these days, and looks real interested as he tours a biologic manufacturing facilities with BIO’s top lobbyist Jim Greenwood. See the picture here.) He can swear to his grave that his views are not for sale, but it won’t matter. He picked up dirty money, money that was specifically set aside by a multi-billion dollar industry to influence lawmaking. He made himself suspect.

This is the same problem that Barack Obama faces today, after a terrific bit of reporting in the Washington Times by Matthew Mosk. The story examines the many ways in which Obama has rewarded his top fundraisers since arriving at the White House—through ambassadorships, a golf game on Martha’s Vineyard, events at the White House, bowling at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, private briefings with senior officials like Jim Messina and Austan Goolsbee, etc.

Since Obama has taken money from all of these people he is rewarding–often money of the six-figure variety–his motivations are suspect. It looks like payback. It looks bad.