The person with the most to lose in the mess that the Bermuda Government's finances have become is Paula Cox.
I said previously, and I don't think many would dispute it, that Paula Cox was one of those rare politicians who few people spoke poorly of, and most had very high expectations of. She is seen as the heir apparent, but her credibility is taking a huge hit due to her performance as Finance Minister.
The overspending, the massive increases in debt, the poor budgeting, the systemic lack of financial discipline throughout Government, all flows through her.
I'm a little surprised that she's allowed herself to become the owner of the Premier's lavish, wasteful and uncontrolled spending, as highlighted by two successive qualified audits.
Her response on Friday was characteristically verbose and full of platitudes but can't be seen as particularly inspiring based on her lack of action since the last qualified audit, not to mention the years and years of warnings from the previous Auditor General.
The Finance Minister proclaimed on Friday that:
"It has to be said, quite simply, that when the an Auditor General speaks, Government listen and take heed.
But she did not listen not listen and take heed of the previous Auditor General. If she had we wouldn't have a second successive qualified audit. Instead the Finance Minister sat by while her colleagues savagely attacked Larry Dennis' credibility and continued with business as usual.
This didn't have to be her problem. She was perhaps the one individual who could have stepped up in the past couple of years, but particularly after the Uighur controversy, and said "Enough, I resign from Cabinet".
It's hard to see how Dr. Brown could have survived that. She had such popularity and cross-over appeal but that seems to be coupled with little backbone to stand up for what is right and has propped up the Premier.
I'm not sure if it's party loyalty, or an overly cautious approach, or just a lack of initiative, but the Finance Minister and Deputy Premier has never exerted herself or her authority in the party or the Government. She's preferred to coast along in anticipation of a coronation it seems if, and that's a big if, the Premier leaves in October as he promised in order to buy himself some time so that 'this too shall pass'.
That's not to say Ms. Cox won't become the next Premier, but her silence in the face of obvious problems with Government financial controls means that she owns this mess as much as her Premier.
It didn't have to be that way.
