By Linda Stamato | NJ Voices
on July 19, 2015 at 5:54 PM, updated July 29, 2015 at 9:57 AM
The slogan reads “Your Interests, not Special Interests.”It’s available on a bumper sticker courtesy of theDemocratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Seriously. I’d like to believe it. But I’d like to believe in tooth fairies too.
Here in New Jersey, as elsewhere, the slogan is more wishful thinking than reality. It’s not just the Democrats or even mostly them, but Republicans too. And when both political parties want to do favors for a special interest and join sides to do it, watch out! It’s then that even the “good guys” look the other way and others hold their noses and go along.
This is not what we mean by bipartisanship.
Case in point: George E. Norcross III, citizen of South Jersey, or as Tom Moran dubbed him, the Dark Lord, the second most powerful political force in New Jersey. What Mr. Norcross wants, evidently, Mr. Norcross gets. Both parties go along, and, at a fast clip. Recently, Norcross decided he wanted–for Cooper University Hospital–the paramedic service that Virtua Health has been providing in the city of Camden since 1977, even though Virtua has provided advanced life support and paramedic services, by all accounts, exceptionally well. So, why take it away? Because, we learn, Norcross said so. (And, he has “a history” with Virtua.)
A bill, S2980 /A-4526) was rushed through both houses to accomplish this act, pausing by a few committees that passed on it in less than a week, and it wound up on Christie’s desk where it was promptly signed. Ordinarily, for such a change to take place, a certification of need would be required. Not for Cooper. Not for Norcross. Why? Think about it. The certification process is transparent. It takes time. And, Cooper might not have prevailed. So, what to do? Bypass the process. That way the outcome is assured. And, by the way, not only did the governor not hesitate to sign off, he put $2.5 million into the budget to help buy the ambulances and the equipment Cooper “needs” to carry out its new responsibilities. What are friends for?