Blinky makes HOW MUCH?

You can’t get away from it.  He’s on WRAL TV and radio bashing “the rich.”  Talking about how selfish “they” are and how MORE of “their” money needs to be confiscated from them.

He’s on Tom Campbell’s piddly TV show each week (aired typically at 4 am on Sundays on regional basic cable channels).  He allegedly oversees a web site that reads like the web archives of the defunct Soviet propaganda rag Pravda.

But Chris Fitzsimon, according to tax records, IS exactly what he loves to bash most: RICH. 

In 2015, Fitzsimon got paid $104,754.  That’s right. 

That year, the state’s median income was $45,906.  “Middle Class” was officially classified as people making between $30,604 and $91,812 annually.   So, Blinkin’ Chris makes MORE THAN TWICE the median income, and makes more than the generally-accepted income category that defines Middle Class. So, he’s rich. 

I don’t mind people cashing in.  I DO mind people bashing capitalism while raking in exorbitant salaries from non-profits.  Blinky’s parent organization, The NC Justice Center, reported losing more than $1.2 million in 2015.  Yet, the boss — Chris — got PAID BIG.

Chris’s group gets funded generously by sources tied to the Goodmon family — the owners of WRAL.  Fitzsimon gets all kinds of air time to spout his nonsense on WRAL TV and radio.  The station even hosts tapings of NC SPIN.

So, Fitzsimon — who appears to do little more than (1) appear once a week on NCSPIN, (2) rant uncontested once or twice a week on WRAL, and (3) occasionally post something on his group’s blog —  is making six figures.

But let’s look at the salaries at WRAL — the Goodmons’ “mainstream” news front.  You’ve got people there who put in long hours every day on and off the air.

According to this site, the average salary at WRAL is $64,000.  (A LOT LESS than what Chris is pulling in.)  A news reporter makes $56,000.  An anchor makes $63,000 to $74,000.   So, Chris makes a lot more than the whole WRAL news team — for doing a lot less work.

As a good liberal, Chris should give at least SOME of his bloated salary to his less fortunate colleagues at WRAL. (It’s only fair.)

It would be interesting to know how much protection his bloated salary gets from the tax man as a result of his “work” for a non-profit (vs working for a “for-profit” business).

(* Uh-oh.  I hope THIS doesn’t qualify as anti-Semitic.*