THE governor of Guam, Eddie Calvo, needs to take a step back from making public comments about the issue of how much rebate SelectCare may owe to the government of Guam and its employees.
The reason is obvious. The company’s name is Calvo’s SelectCare, and his name is Calvo. That by itself might not pose such a conflict of interest, but the governor’s direct family is involved in operating the insurance company and the larger Calvo Enterprises. And the company is the sole insurer for thousands of GovGuam workers and retirees.
This is a glaring conflict of interest, in bright flashing lights. He cannot entirely escape it, but he needs to at least make the effort.
Nobody is pretending that Gov. Calvo doesn’t have personal interests in the Calvo companies. After all, he used to run one of those prominent enterprises himself. All of Guam is aware of the important role those firms play in our economy.
But the governor must do a better job of maintaining an arms-length relationship with his family’s businesses now that his job is the business of running Guam for everybody. When the reporters shove the microphones in his face for the on-the-record comment, he needs to pass.
That’s hard for a politician to do. Their natural instinct is to battle back when challenged. But in this case, he should defer to the professionals who run Calvo’s SelectCare to make the public statements. He can simply say: “That’s something I cannot comment on,” and let it go. Or toss the ball to one of his advisors, say Frank Arriola or Arthur Clark.
We all knew about this conflict when Eddie Calvo was running, and thousands voted for him nonetheless. That’s both a tribute to his personal appeal and the importance of the Calvo companies in our lives. We have the greatest respect for Gov. Calvo and the way he has handled many of the difficult issues he’s faced since January of last year.
He got two rounds of bond borrowing to put tax refunds back into the pockets of the people, where they belong. And while we disagree in principle with borrowing money to pay operating expenses, we can admire how the front office handled the political opportunity the refunds presented.
But this health insurance matter is quite different. It affects one of the companies owned by the governor’s family, and the position he holds now absolutely demands that he hold himself above that kind of battle. If he were a judge he would have to recuse himself. As governor, he should do the same.
Governor conflicted
- Monday, 09 Jul 2012 03:30am
- VARIETY NEWS STAFF
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Comments
"John smith said:Holder refuses to uphold the laws of the country etc etc... and is a disgrace etc etc."
So are you
John Smith, you are supporting the dirty politics of the dirty republicans and openly endorsing election fraud, since you are not pushing to finding the truth, and pushing for upholding the laws through our local AG.
You are a disgrace and possibly talking to yourself on these MV blogs, have not seen many responding to you, since you are more or less a propaganda blogger for the GOP
Erik Holder has been impeached by the House of Representatives .
He is directly responsible for the Fast 'n Furious boondoogle that gave more than 2,000 of our finest, hi tech automatic weapons to the Mexican drug cartels..
This illegal action resulted in the death of 1 or more American Border Patrol Agentnand the death of hundreds of Mexican civilians and American citizans.
He refuses to uphold the laws of our country.
He refuses to prosecute cases where the victim is white and the criminal is blask.
He gleefully prosecutes cases where the victim is black and the perpatrator is white.
He is a disgrace to the office he holds.
Hasta
Dear US Attorney General Holder,
We urge you to talk to the Democrats of Guam during your visit to Guam, and find out what happened here during the last 2010 elections.
Your pre-planned tour maybe done by the US Attorneys office Guam representatives , which have not been very much interested to follow the law to get the truth out and prosecute the offenders. That is why Congresswoman Bordallo promised to ask you for your help to look into these criminal activities, and prosecute the parties involved.
We as the people of Guam are hoping that you as the Authority, can shed some light on the 2010 election issue.
We the People have no voice and are being shut out by a press, which supports the offenders.
How can we make our voices heard.
Once in office, there will be opportunities and challenges alike that will confront and beset any administration that are linked to private interests. The first notable one was the TakeCare issue where apparently some folks thought it would be cool to leverage their political power to advance the business interests of other insurance companies here, allegedly, of course. That was an example on offense. Now, on defense is the ACA, long opposed by Frank Campilio of Select Care who repeatedly went to the States during the deliberation period of said act. To lobby for the interests (whose) of those living in the territories?
The Guam model of governance now is similar to the Italian model of governance under former PM Silvio Berlusconi, arguably the wealthiest man in Italy. If you have nothing else to accomplish in life, donate instead.
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