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Raise the curtain.

An example of good leadership

By JGillman, Section News
Posted on Mon Nov 08, 2010 at 11:19:59 AM EST
Tags: DRIC, Mike Bishop, Michigan Detroit International Bridge Co., Lame Duck, Granholm, Labor (all tags)

Stopping an extreme labor payback agenda with an abuse of our transportation department? Well played leader Bishop.

Mike Bishop's office on Thursday said it will not come up for a vote. What is it?

A $5.5 Billion dollar expense to taxpayers that has big labor and government special interest finger marks all over it. Its the approval of legislation that would ultimately approve the building of a new bridge between Detroit and Windsor. Its the approval of a process which again pits government against business. Business which has already been serving the needs of travelers quite adequately.

Its the DRIC Boondoggle.

The Detroit news reports Bishop's denial to Granholm's last series of payback legislation during the lame duck session has her office (and maybe others) a little miffed:

Liz Boyd, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said Thursday the move to delay a decision was disappointing.
"Mike Bishop has cemented his reputation as an obstructionist on behalf of special interests by turning his back on the one proposal before the Legislature that could put thousands of Michigan citizens to work, help boost economic development, and provide a critical infrastructure improvement that Michigan job providers want and need," she said.
The move also leaves Canadian officials in limbo.

Oh yeah.. they wanted to loan Michigan $550 Million for the project out of the goodness of their little Canadian hearts.

But it was still a loan.

Never mind the fact that $60 million dollars a year from revenues already collected by the Detroit International Bridge Co. is a good place to look for an indicator of payback ability.

Traffic is actually down. From 2007 to 2008 it dropped 19%.

But for the sake of argument, lets assume the revenues DOUBLE with a new span that is publicly owned. We still have the following problems

It would STILL take 46 years to pay it off if ALL revenues went to serve debt at 0% interest
It would put a private (employing)entity OUT of business
It would put the state of Michigan taxpayers on the hook for liabilities not currently assumed.
Public pension negotiations seem to always avoid 'the ability to pay' argument when concluded. Michigan will be stuck with even MORE public employees and find itself even further under the thumb of labor that holds so many puppet strings.

The Detroit International Bridge Co. has already pledged to improve the existing lane structure by building a second span at a fraction of the cost, and at NO cost to taxpayers.

So if being a good leader means having to be an "obstructionist" ..so be it.

I for one, will hate to see this type of leadership go.

< Rick Snyder will lose primary in '14 | It isn't that LIBERALS ARE IGNORANT. >

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An example of good leadership | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 hidden)

Good Leadership (none / 0) (#1)
by MichWolverine on Mon Nov 08, 2010 at 03:00:15 PM EST

Was anyone else sick and tired of our tax dollars constantly being sent to Detroit? Perhaps our new state reps and senators will do a better job representing ALL of the taxpayers.

How many decades will it take for these so-called intellectuals to realize that shoving our hard-earned money at Detroit has not and will not solve their problems?

A better solution (faster and cheaper) might be to reroute the river and give Detroit to Canada. Detroiters are already a bunch of Socialists, waiting to be taken care of, so they would fit right in.