Jason Allen and the Detroit International Bridge

On August 15, 2008 ‘Detroit International Bridge’ contributed $5,000 to Sen. Jason Allen’s Administrative Fund. “Hmmm, interesting,” thought I. “It might be enlightening to dig into this and see what Allen could possibly be doing to earn the gift.”

To paraphrase the late Paul Harvey, what follows is part of the rest of the story.

Reclusive billionaire and trucking industrialist Manuel ‘Matty’ Moroun owns the Detroit International Bridge Company.

Matty Moroun wants to build a second International Bridge, which he claims he’ll do at no cost to Michigan taxpayers. It seems the old bridge became a matter of national security after the events in NYC on 9-11 and ensuing government inspection bottlenecks at America’s border crossings. His efforts to start on another bridge, however, have been stymied by bureaucratic red tape. Though he could have sold bridge #1 to Canada, the belligerent curmudgeon believed it was worth more than that country was willing to pay considering the steady decline in vehicles that use it.

The broke and badly bent State of Michigan is facing a budget deficit of about $1.7 billion and rising, which doesn’t even include the amount soon owed on interest for billions of dollars borrowed to meet its unemployment insurance obligation. Nevertheless, Gov. Granholm and several of her cronies, including Sen. Jason Allen, want to form a public/private partnership and build a second bridge, the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC).

The total cost for the bridge is estimated to be approximately $5.3 billion, but it’s anticipated the U.S. government will kick in around 80 percent of the State of Michigan’s ‘partnership’ share with money extorted from taxpayers.

Never forget what Jason Allen did and I hope others will take a long hard look at their state legislatures.

GOP Senators, SEIU Taxpayer Giveaways, Campaign Cash and More, OH MY!

On Aug. 5, 2009, Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City, introduced Senate Bill 731, which would give statutory cover to a scheme transferring approximately $6.6 million in taxpayer money annually to the SEIU government employee union, one of the parents of ACORN. This is accomplished by creating a shell government "employer" for some 42,000 individuals who are actually hired by elderly or disabled Medicaid recipients to provide personal care services in their homes. A Mackinac Center lawsuit is pending regarding a similar arrangement imposed on home day care providers.

Snip

passing the bill was part of a quid-pro-quo between Senate Republicans and the SEIU for union support of former state representative Mike Nofs in a November 2009 special election, which state Republican Party Chair Ron Weiser had characterized as among the party's top priorities. Day observes that the SEIU endorsed Nofs on August 22nd, two weeks after SB 731 was introduced, and sent four full-time workers to help on his campaign.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.