More lies from the Bridge Company

There is yet another deceitful ad on the Detroit and Windsor airwaves from Matty Moroun's company railing against the "government bridge." Supposedly, the Michigan Legislature voted no, but Gov. Snyder is going to build the government bridge anyway and stick taxpayers with the bill, because tolls are not going to be enough to pay for it. What are they gonna say next? That Snyder is going to get in a time machine and kill George Washington and Jesus Christ?

Here is the truth about the Legislature vote: they didn't even get a chance to vote on it. The state senators that Moroun has bought and paid for stopped the issue from being voted on by the the full Legislature. There are just so many lies coming out of the Moroun camp that the 3-part series from the Detroit Free Press, "Detroit-Windsor bridge battle: Separating out the truth," doesn't debunk all of them! It would be a book longer than War and Peace if it did.

Let me close with a truth that many people aren't even aware of: The Ambassador Bridge is owned by Matty Moroun, a billionaire who refuses to fix up or tear down the infamous train station where white suburban thrill-seekers injure themselves trespassing (yeah, it's their fault for trespassing, but Moroun bears a lot of responsibility in that matter, too). One more truth not many people are aware of (because most tourists take the tunnel rather than the bridge to go to Windsor from Detroit): the Ambassador Bridge, one of the most traveled international crossings, is in serious need of repairs, and not just the bandages Scrooge Moroun allows every now and then.

Cry me a Detroit River, Scrooge Moroun

The DRIC people want to build an expensive, unnecessary new bridge between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, a bridge the tolls for which won't justify the expense of building it, and they want to stick you, the taxpayer, with the bill. You should call your legislator right now and let them know you don't want that bridge.

That is, if you believe the load of crap that is the new commercial the Detroit International Bridge Company is running in the Detroit market. This goes way beyond nitpicking, this is shooting fish in a barrel.

Let me tell you what is really going on: billionaire Matty Moroun is worried that competition from another bridge could make a dent in his Ambassador Bridge profits. Never mind that competition is supposed to be one of the cornerstones that makes the whole free market concept such a great system that we need to invade other countries in order to impose it on them—quick poll: how good was the service the last time you went on the Ambassador Bridge? Nor should you worry about terrorists taking out two Moroun-owned bridges with one plane (because at one point he actually wanted to build another bridge right next to the Ambassador). Perhaps more realistically, the Ambassador could crumble apart because it's no spring chicken; I seriously doubt any significant portion of the revenue from that bridge is going to its upkeep.

Now, I'm a billionaire, too, so I worry about those damn high taxes, and I certainly don't want to pay for another bridge, especially one that is unnecessary. But... didn't Canada offer to pay Michigan's share of the cost for the new bridge? Just Google "canada offers to pay for bridge," it'll come up. Also, why would they even make such an offer if a new bridge was so unnecessary? When was the last time you drove on Fort Street from Rosa Parks to Springwells? It's wall-to-wall trucks! Isn't there enough profit here for two strategically placed bridges?

There's a smart way to be greedy and there's a dumb way to be greedy. A dumb greedhead like Matty Moroun will put short-term profits ahead of not just common decency and our national security interests, but also ahead of commonsense and long-term profits. So call your legislator and let him/her know that you support the DRIC bridge. And maybe also suggest Matty Moroun ought to be hauled into a special congressional hearing.