And what should greet me at the Raleigh N&O? Why "Mista Speaka" Harold Brubaker smiling back at me - in a mug shot that he's obviously been practicing for a long time - his hand curled just under his chin in a come-hither pose worthy of Dr. Evil.
(I'm thinking that Harold's oblivous to the analogy and the photographers at the Dem-loving N&O suckered him into the pose.)
Brubaker is one of the new "power-brokers" in Raleigh, you see.
I waxed poetic on Harold - and his counterpart, Howard Coble, in the U.S. House of Representatives last week - when it was announced that Harold would probably serve as "Chief Co-Chair" of North Carolina's House Appropriations Committee.
It makes me sick to see Brubaker snuggle up to Tea Party types (amongst whom I could myself - at least in spirit) these days - and style himself/his others as the embodiment of hope and change in Raleigh.
It's not just a lie, it's a damned lie.
Because when I needed Harold . . . to stand up and be a man . . . to actually BE (rather than seen to be) my representative in Raleigh . . . to question how and why a local "non-profit" hospital completely disregarded the mission and intent of state and Federal programs and used/abused/illegally-manhandled a home-grown Pediatrician-in-public-service, Harold Brubaker was NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.
Harold, you see, had to live in this town.
Brubaker was also featured last week in the Courier Tribune. A friend called me up after reading the fawning-drool-poorly-disguised-as-news . . . incensed that our dear Harold and his budget-conscious friends were pontificating that "nothing is sacred" (like I didn't already know that) . . . and that the new Sheriffs in Raleigh were even going to hold the feet of "non-profits" to the fire.
(I dare not quote the Courier - despite the Fair Use Doctrine - lest I be sued by their "parent company" for "copyright infringement". Oh, and hey, did you hear that the new publisher will be Dancing with the Randolph County Stars? So much for journalistic integrity in Asheboro, eh?.)
In various public appearances, Harold has been bashing the pay of ordinary public servants like teachers for months now . . . all the while winking and nodding at Robert Morrison's $700,000/year haul from Randolph Hospital.
But Bob's a "moderate businessman", you see. So it's okay if he's the non-profit sector's version of Mike Miller. We mere plebes are supposed to suck-it-up-and-deal-with-it.
I laughed. And I told my friend that until some of our new "Sheriffs" in Raleigh (so concerned with ethics and the rule of law and responsibility/accountability) directed the Attorney General of North Carolina to explain the concept and consequences of PERJURY to Randolph Hospital executives . . . or themselves drafted amendments to the North Carolina Medical Practice Act that really protected medical whistle-blowers from the kind of CRAP I've endured for doing my duty as defined by the NC Medical Board (courtesy of "moderate businessmen" - aka "corporate kleptocrats" - monopolizing public resources in their never-ending search for a fast buck), I wasn't going to hold my breath on the miracles to be wrought by
Our Harold, like politicians who have come and gone before him, does not seem to realize that you can only snow the public for so long. In order to keep your power, you have to BE what you say you are.
In my case, that means Harold Brubaker grows a set, and asks the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute what Randolph Hospital did to Dr. Mary Johnson, state & Federal public servant - while the other much-more progressive, ethical, accountable, moral political party was in power.
Barring that miracle, I said it in the N&O comments, and I'll say it here at Housecalls.
Harold Brubaker is NOT an improvement over what we had in Raleigh. He's what we had.
2 comments:
This comes from US News, not me...
Phil Oliff, a policy analyst at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, says that states will have to undertake a number of measures to bring their budgets out of the red. "States are facing a very significant fiscal problem," he says. "The problem states are facing is really too big for any single solution." Those solutions include tactics like raising taxes, cutting spending, and drawing on reserves—all of which are potentially risky and could further threaten recovery.
Below are the 10 states that are projecting the largest shortfalls for FY 2012.
State Projected FY 2012 shortfall
(in millions of dollars)
California $21,300
Illinois 17,000
New Jersey 10,500
Texas 10,000
New York 8,200
Connecticut 3,800
Minnesota 3,800
North Carolina 3,000
Ohio 3,000
Florida (tie) 2,500
Oregon (tie) 2
Thanks to folks such as ol' Harold here, we made the Top Ten...Before this is over, I predict that we'll have Citizens Brigades out shoveling the snow from the roads by hand since diesel is edging closer to $4 per gallon. And, what about just home schooling all the children? We could save a bundle laying off all the teachers instead of just a few.
Better yet, wanna see the future? Check out England, Russia, France, and all the other has-been powers. That should give you an inkling of the future to come.
In terms of "options", you left out the states declaring "bankruptcy" - thus alieviating them of all those pesky responsibilities like pensions.
And more from a post at Kevin MD:
"Lawmakers in over a dozen states are considering getting out of Medicaid altogether as a way of dealing with the impact of the new healthcare law on already-bad state budget deficits."
Now THAT will be "fun".
It's only begun to hit the fan.
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