C. J. Williams  

    Jason Allen is a forty-seven year old career politician from Michigan's Grand Traverse County who became active in Republican politics while still in high school.  Some speculate he aspires to become governor of the state someday, which might explain his `hands-across-the aisle', bipartisan mentality and willingness to cater to special interest groups and snake oil salesmen with deep pockets.

   Following graduation from Traverse City High he earned a Bachelor's degree in finance with a minor in fashion merchandising at Miami University in Ohio.  Allen returned to Traverse City where he went through the rigors of National Guard training and worked in his family's men's apparel business, the Captain's Quarters. The siren's song, however, soon lured him back into politics.

   He ran a successful campaign to become a Grand Traverse County Commissioner, a position that served as a diving board for his leap into state politics.  In 1999 at age thirty-six he became State Representative Allen and held that title until 2002 when he became State Senator Allen.

   As a state senator, Mr. Allen has been representing the people of the 37th District of Michigan, which consists of Grand Traverse, Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet, Cheboygan, Presque Isle, Chippewa and Mackinac counties.

   Since term limits have now forced him not to run for reelection and since Grand Traverse County isn't in Michigan's 1st District so he can campaign for a job and tidy salary as a U. S. Representative.  Congressional District, he's purportedly thinking about packing up and moving into a nearby country that is in the 1st.

   This maneuver has caused some to label the soon to be ex-senator a "carpet-bagger", a term coined after the Civil War when northern white men headed to the South in search of power and financial gain. As it pertains to politics, however, it denotes one who shamelessly moves their household into any district so as to promote their career.

   Like a cowardly lion, Mr. Allen has waited to announce his candidacy

until after U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak tucked his whipped puppy dog tail between his legs and let it be known he's canning his reelection campaign and retiring at the end of the year.

   If he does decide to run, Allen will join four other Republicans who will face off in the August 3rd primary. Unlike the cowardly carpet-bagger, however, the four have been actively campaigning for weeks. One, Dr. Dan Benishek, publicly threw his hat in the ring before Stupak's traitorous vote in favor of government-controlled healthcare. The others, Linda Goldthorpe, Don Hooper and Tom Stillings, had also been collecting signatures to get their name on the ballot, and formally announced their candidacy soon after Stupak's treachery.

   Throughout Jason Allen's political career he's given every appearance of catering to special interest groups and been richly rewarded financially in return. For instance, last August Sen. Allen sponsored Michigan Senate Bill 731, which, if signed into law, will greatly benefit the SEIU government employee union.

   Formally known as the Service Employees International Union, the SEIU, you may recall, helped spawn ACORN, which now stands accused of creating voter fraud in the last national election. The scuttlebutt is that the SEIU had already gifted Allen with $2,000 on June 22, 2009. In fact, his campaign financial disclosures - those he chooses to share with the public, that is - reflect such contributions before then.

   Jack McHugh of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy perhaps best sums up SB 731. In his December 15, 2009 article, "GOP Senators, SEIU Taxpayer Giveaways, Campaign Cash and More, OH MY!", Jack wrote:

   "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."  (An update on the lawsuit can be read here.)

   Though campaign contributions are usually disclosed, it's been learned that Allen has in the past created several secret funds, including two political action committee funds, his campaign fund, an administrative account and a community fund.  Reporter Brian McGillivary, writing for the Traverse City Record-Eagle, brought this to light in his July 16, 2006 article, "Allen mum on campaign giving".

   McGillivary noted that between 2003 and 2005, Allen had raised more than $600,000 in political contributions in five funds he controls, but was less than candid about where the money had come from.

   He also noted "...Legislation involving some of Allen's secret account contributors has appeared before Allen's legislative committee or before the state Legislature, but Allen said he doesn't pay attention to the timing of contributions and his legislative votes or actions aren't influenced by such money."

   Allen seems to attract snake oil salesmen like honey-wagons draw flies. Take for instance `Sovereign Deed', the mercenary outfit that wanted to set up shop at the tiny Pellston Airport, which Stupak gifted with taxpayer money so it could become a northern Michigan version of the Taj Mahal. On April 17, 2007 Allen jumped in with a gift of his own, SB 400, which specifically offered a special tax break to Sovereign Deed.  It was railroaded out of committee and through the state legislature within one month's time and signed into law by Granholm on May 29th.

   Then there were the developers involved with the `Petoskey Pointe' project.  Though they had an opulent vision of razing an entire city block and building an upscale condominium under which there would be shops and other attractions, the vision turned out to be a nightmarish pipe dream. Petoskey citizens are now wondering what to do about the huge hole that's been left in their downtown area.

   The snake oil salesmen involved with Petoskey Pointe have since moved on, but not before rewarding Jason Allen with donations for his help in promoting their proposed economic development in his district. One of them, James Wilson, contributed more than $10,000 to Allen's campaign, but Allen of course admitted no wrongdoing.  

    Yet another development project that netted Allen lots of campaign cash also fizzled.  That fiasco, TC Towers, involved building a huge parking deck in Traverse City.  Allen was accused of sweetening the deal by chasing off another developer who vowed he could build it cheaper, but the senator of course admitted no wrongdoing with that project either.

   One of the players involved with the TC Towers scheme is Louis P. Ferris. Mr. Ferris, who has given plenty of money to Sen. Allen, is now involved with a proposed commuter rail line in Detroit.  Yes, he invested in a railroad, and Allen is hoping  his benefactor will bring the commuter rail line all the way to Traverse City.  Imagine that!  

   Ferris also bought into a grocery/beer/wine business. He supplied his new enterprise, "Bella Vino", with produce from his nearby 107-acre estate, no doubt gifted with more of Allen's special `tax-break' legislation and/or state and federal grants. Ferris got out of the grocery business early in 2009 after `anchoring' the Plymouth Road Mall for five years, but Bella Vino still had hopes of marketing beer and wine and fresh from its farm foodstuff at other locations.

   Another player in both the TC Towers and Petoskey Pointe projects was Ferris' front man, Michael Uzelac. He's just another of many, including some involved with land conservancies, who have the ability to attract the attention of career politicians like Jason Allen.