By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
The full depravity of Mike Hubbard’s soul was revealed on Wednesday, when he gave the order to pass a State General Fund Budget (SGF) that cut Medicaid by almost 25 percent.
This cut would result in the closing of hospitals, nursing homes, and doctor offices throughout the State; but the human cost to the children, the women, and elderly, for whom Medicaid is a lifeline, is incalculable.
While Rep. Steve Clouse has been the public face of this diabolical plot, Hubbard was its master. Clouse would not dare act with such craven indifference without a direct order from Hubbard.
Simply because Democrats would not follow his orders and fall in line behind his tax increases, Hubbard unleashed his wrath on the women, children, and elderly of our State.
While Hubbard’s plan for Medicaid will never pass the Senate, anyone who would even suggest sacrificing the health of our most helpless citizens for such temporary political gain is neither fit to lead, nor worthy to serve the citizens of Alabama.
Hubbard’s indictment on 23 felony counts of public corruption actually pales in the light of his latest scheme.
Hubbard’s very soul has been laid bare, and therein lies an infection so vile, it has stripped him of any sense of human kindness. It would seem that not a thimble of compassion could be wrung from his twisted being.
What kind of man is he?
Real men do not place their personal pettiness above women, children, and the elderly.
What kind of man is he?
Real men protect the weak, they do not threaten their safety.
Can we even consider him a man, at all?
But, Hubbard did not act alone. What does that say about the character of the 46 Republicans who voted to cut funding to unborn babies, aging seniors, and the poor women of our State?
Hubbard is an excellent example of those whose conscience has been seared with a hot iron.
When an animal is branded, that area of the skin becomes numb. So, it is, with those who live their lives using lies and hypocrisy, their thinking becomes numb to the feelings of others. They only think in terms of their own self interests, indifferent to how it might affect others. Hubbard, for now, is without redemption, and those who continue to support him as Speaker of the House, deserve condemnation.
This is not a game. But, Hubbard thinks it is.
Alabama’s children are not “political footballs,” grandmothers, whose only source of support is provided by a nursing home, are not chips on a poker table. And those dying in need of hospice should never be used as pawns in political gamesmanship.
Does Medicaid need a fix? Yes.
Is it unsustainable in its current form? Yes.
But, for now, it is our State that’s in danger because Hubbard sits in the Speaker’s chair.
Because of Hubbard’s instability, no one is safe as long as he is in charge.
Under his leadership nothing is sacred. Not the unborn, not the sick, not the dying. None of us are safe because Hubbard will sacrifice all of us to have his way.
The decision to jeopardize all areas of health care in our State was not some carefully conceived, Machiavellian political calculation. It was simply the desperate action a small, and demented soul, whose political power is slowly disappearing right before his eyes.
Where is the leader who will stand in the well of the House Chamber and say with boldness,
“Mr. Speaker, it is time for you to go.”
