I Hate It When I'm Right

On October 10, I wrote about how Grosse Point billionaire and Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun, who has a lock on U.S/Canadian bridge traffic, was spending $5 million on misleading, dishonest television ads to trick the public into opposing the construction of a second bridge. I predicted that in today’s political climate, in which money speaks louder than the voice of the people, Moroun would probably get his way.

I was right.

New International Trade Crossing (NITC) legislation was voted down in the Senate Economic Development Committee yesterday. And the legislation’s sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe), is throwing in the towel. “I’m done with it at this point. It’s unfortunate. An opportunity was missed” to create 20,000 to 40,000 jobs,” Richardville told the Detroit Free Press. “But there are other things we should be talking about.”

Like making abortion super-duper illegal, Senator? Or prohibiting medical marijuana even though 63 percent of state voters approved it a few years ago? Or how about considering that pressing teacher/student sex issue that’s on everyone’s minds?

Matty Moroun

Even though the Ambassador Bridge – completed when Herbert Hoover was in the White House – is North America’s busiest border crossing, a new bridge is supported by Republican Governor Rick Snyder and all major business and labor groups, and Canada’s offered to front $550 million to pay Michigan's share of the project costs, state senators sided with the man who rakes in $60 million each year in toll revenues and doesn’t mind spending some of that cash on campaign donations.

Color me surprised.

A coalition of more than 100 business, labor, and civic organizations that support a second bridge issued the following statement yesterday:

“We are deeply disappointed in the Senate committee’s failure to move the New International Trade Crossing legislation to the full Senate for a vote. A majority of senators on the committee support the building of the NITC, they just have to craft a piece of legislation that everyone can agree to. We urge the governor and the legislature to continue to work to find a compromise that a majority of senators can support. We encourage the legislature to put partisan politics aside and put the economic interest of our state and our workers first.”

Put partisan politics aside? Yeah, that’ll happen.

As a friend who works for a state senator says, “He who has the most cash wins.”