Yesterday we had the boss of the AFL-CIO threatening to pull endorsements from anyone who gave business to the leading lefty political consultant after he claimed blue collar folks were "stupid."  Today we've got the Detroit City Council, not exactly pillars of the Republican community, going after the Democrat mayor of the City by going through his friend, henchman and enforcer Bobby Ferguson.  

The text message scandal that's generated so much interest in Hizzoner's lies on the witness stand also revealed some potentially shady dealings with Ferguson, a Detroit area businessman and attempted murderer.  Allegedly.  

Now the Detroit News reports the Council is ready to ask some tough questions:

Those seeking a probe want to know, among other things, if Ferguson was shown favoritism because of his friendship with Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. "There are questions that haven't been answered. We've tried to find answers but now more is surfacing that makes one question if all the contracting rules have been followed," said Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel...

Some of Ferguson's strongest criticism, from council members and other businesses, questions why his company, or another with which he partners, won city contracts without being the low-bidder.

Example: In 2005, the city awarded a $21.3 million security upgrade contract to DFT Security Team, in which Ferguson joined two other companies, for work at several Detroit Water and Sewerage Department facilities.

The lowest bidder was Motor City Electric, but DFT got the project because it promised an earlier completion deadline.

But in the end, DFT needed an extra six months to complete the job.

The company has also been cited by the State dozens of times for failing, sometimes "willfully," to live up to the most basic safety standards.  In other words, we're not talking about an outfit that wows the pants off folks with a stirring track record.  

No word, though, on whether or not they even bothered to put in a bid with Chrysler.  Since Kwame has a pretty drastically diminished pull these days they probably didn't bother.  Too bad, though, because a little graft and corruption might have kept a few hundred jobs in Michigan.  Instead another Detroit company is sending a few more jobs out of the State.

The Ivory Tower reports:

The automaker has about 2,100 people handling the IT work presently -- of those, about 1,000 are full-time Chrysler employees and the rest are supplemental workers on contract.

About 20% of the 1,000 full-time employees -- about 200 -- will lose their jobs because of the change, Bertsch said.

The company is not saying how many of the supplemental contract workers will lose their jobs in the switch-over other than to indicate it will be several hundred. "It won't be the entire group but it will be more substantial than the salaried," she said.

IT jobs.  No blaming this one on the "decline of manufacturing."  Ah, who am I kidding.  The left can blame anything on the decline of manufacturing and most of their voters will take it hook, line and sinker.  

Which makes sense.  Because the Democrat track record of success here in Michigan is absolutely staggering.  I mean, just read the news.