It’s a simple fact of life that most rich people do not like being told no and certainly are not accustomed to hearing that word. Grosse Pointe billionaire, Ambassador Bridge owner and Republican benefactor Matty Moroun is a perfect example of that.
One person who has stood up to Moroun for her Southwest Detroit District is State Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and she has become a target.
Moroun has been trying to build a second span right next to the current Ambassador Bridge - only one of two international border crossings in the country in private hands - but the Canadian and U.S. government wants to a new public-private bridge at a site located downriver from the current Ambassador Bridge at the site of the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) Study.
But that hasn’t stopped Moroun. He has already began building his bridge to keep his monopoly even though he does not have one single permit; not from the City of Detroit, the state of Michigan, the federal government or the Canadian government. The company is taking Riverside Park and 23rd street because it claims an old act of Congress designated it an instrument of the federal government because it controlled traffic on an international crossing.
His money has lined the pockets of Senate Republicans who are fighting the DRIC study and refuse to fund it, and Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, appears to be ready to go so far as to declare war on Canada because they are not willing to give Moroun a permit to land a second Ambassador Bridge on Canadian soil.
The Ambassador Bridge Company has even been dragging its feet on the $170 million Gateway Project; hoping to endanger the project to kill the DRIC bridge, and it could cost the state millions of dollars. The Gateway Project will address long term congestion mitigation issues and provide direct access improvements between the Ambassador Bridge, I-75 and I-96. The project will also reconstruct I-96 and I-75, accommodate traffic for a potential future second span of the Ambassador Bridge, and access to the Mexicantown International Welcome Center.
Subscription only Gongwer is reporting that the bridge company has hired connected Detroit political consultant Adolph Mongo to run a recall campaign against Tlaib, although no petitions have been filed with the Wayne County clerk.
The bridge company has been running a high-priced PR campaign against MDOT and any other person standing in their way. Apparently, the bridge company hired Mongo a few months ago to publicly rebut Tlaib’s comments on the bridge, including organizing a group of counter protestors during a recent U.S. Coast Guard hearing. The U.S. Coast Guard has asked the company to show why constructing the ramp before receiving the government's permission isn't a violation of the law.
Mongo has been invoked with many successful political campaigns, but he gained some notoriety in 2006 when he took out an ad in the Detroit-based Michigan Chronicle newspaper that featured photographs of Hitler and Gov. Jennifer Granholm and accused Democrats of taking African-American voters for granted.
Just say no to the recall, Moroun and the bridge company, but be careful if you do.
14 comments:
It's a simple fact of life that rich people don't like being told no...
Really? How do you support that argument? Do middle-class people like being told no? How about poor people? What proof do you have for such as asinine statement.
Is Obama a rish person? How about Dingerll? Is that why they don't like hearing "no" to higher taxes vor health care reform? Is John Edwards rich? Is that why he said "no" to the truth about his affair and the baby he fathered? Is John Kerry rich? Did that make him not listen to people who said he shouldn't have made up a story about being in Cambodia on Christmas Eve when Nixon was prsident?
Or is it only rich Republicans you despise? Democrats can be rich and that's okay.
In your opinion, what makes a person rich? How much money must they earn or what is their net worth in order to be rich?
Your envy of those who have been more successful than you is painfully obvious. It also means you must envy a whole lot of people.
People are successful and you can't stand them. But you want to take their money. Pathetic.
If you’re going to quote me, brett, get it right. How can you screw up a quote when it’s right in front of you? That is correct, brett, “It’s a simple fact of life that most rich people do not like being told no ..”
No, President Obama is not a rish person. He may be rich, but he certainly came from humble beginnings. Do you mean Dingell? I don’t believe he is rich, but the fact is both have been used to hearing no. I’m sure the President Obama has not had every bill introduced become law, and Dingell has been unsuccessful on his universal health care bill even though it has been badly needed.
Thanks again for the compliment, brett. Coming from a person like you, it means a lot. I don’t want to take anyone’s money. I pay as much, probably more, in taxes.
As usual, you ignore the facts and personally attack me. Thank you, again. It’s inconceivable to me that despite being told no and not being issued a single permit, he would begin building anyway, and then he just takes a piece of public property for his own use simply because he wants to that will increase his profits. If a regular person built a structure without a permit, the building inspector would have it torn down with no hesitation.
Looks as though Guru is lying again. The stories just don't match up with his words. But that doesn't surprise me.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS227509+25-Jun-2009+PRN20090625
You’re joking, right? You’re seriously offering me a press release from the Bridge Company to say I’m lying? Unbelievable. I wonder if Adolph Mongo wrote that press release? What I wrote is 100 percent correct, and I challenge you to prove otherwise.
By the way, your governor does take African-Americans for granted. She pretty much ignores the woeful life facing Detroit's mostly minority population. Since she could afford to live in the lily-white suburbs, she really hasn't spent much effort on the crime, lousy schools, corruption and general incompetence that dooms each general of Detroit residents to a generally hopeless life.
My Governor? Don’t you live in Michigan? I don’t know about your governor, but the Governor of Michigan does not take African-Americans for granted.
I love how guru contradicts himself within a few words and apparently doesn't even realize what he's doing.
Example (direct quote): No, President Obama is not a rich person. He may be rich, but....
Unbelievable. What a moron.
By the way, what is the benchmark for being rich? Is it a certain annual income? If so, how much? Or is it net worth? If so, how much?
Since you know how "most" rich people think, feel and act, then you must know the definition for "rich." Care to share?
And what does your negative attitude toward the rich say about the Kennedys, Kerry, Edwards, Obama, Dasche, Pelosi, etc.?
You've been a bit quiet about that cheating, lying and Democratic favorite John Edwards. Let's see, a woman shows him a little leg and he jumps in the sack with her. He pays her illegally with campaign funds. He screws her with more energy than he would have screwed the country. Then, when caught, he lies and lies and lies about it. Then he's caught hiding in a hotel basement bathroom because the tabloid press catches him visting his illicit lover.
Then he gets one of his aides to take the rap for him. Another lie.
Then he finally has to admit to the affair only after it is clear to everyone...even you perhaps...that the story was true.
But, he said, it's not true that he fathered a baby with her. Nope. Not true. Never happened. Maybe his aide was the father. Yeah, that's it. But not me. Not John Edwards. Who you going to believe? A possible Democratic nominee for president, who was a few votes shy of being the nation's vice president. Or some lying whore who has no better judgement than to sleep with, well, John Edwards.
Turns out, he was the dad. What a surprise!
Is this what you mean when you say "most" rich people don't like to hear the word "no?"
Thanks for the compliment, brett. It means a lot coming from somebody like you. I didn’t contradict myself; I contradicted you. You again misquoted me. How do you do that when it’s right there in black and white? All you have to do is cut and paste to get it right, and you still screw it up.
You asked is Obama a rish (sic) person, and I said No, President Obama is not a rish (sic) person. He may be rich, but he certainly came from humble beginnings.
I’ve been quit about John Edwards? How long ago did that happen, and the press covered it. Like I told you many times, brett, you can highlight Democratic screw ups on your blog, I’ll handle the Republicans. But, I sure have a lot more to write about. The fact that your adding facts to the story that are not true is irrelevant.
Lies...lies and more lies...
1. My blog? I don't have a blog. Don't even know how to make one. You are a liar.
2. What "untrue" facts did I add to the Edwards story? I took my statements from his wife's book and TV interviews; the rest from legitimate news outlets (never Fox, by the way). Reile waited for him outside a door and flashed him a smile and a cheap come-on line. He jumped into the sack with her. To keep getting easy sex with a young babe who didn't have cancer, he then got her a high-paid (over $100,000 for less than a year's work -- does that make her rich?) job as a camera person, paid by his campaign. Yeah, it was her skill with a camera that got her that cushy job. Then his aide, who unless he gets paid off by Edwards will be writing a tell-all book, was convinced (paid?) to say that he had an affair with her and fathered the child. Can it get sleazier? Why, yes it can. Edwards was visiting Reile at an LA hotel and got cornered by the very tabloid that broke the stories that Edwards lied about when he said they were false. He tried to get past them by taking an elevator to the basement but he was found out...so he hid in a bathroom helped by hotel security until police came and helped him leave. It was about then that he finally admitted that, yes, he had the affair. He continually denied fathering a child but unless you are blind you can find countless stories about how, yes, indeed, he is the father. Are you suggesting he wasn't close to being the vice president...a few more votes in Floria, and he's the VP for the last 8 years and perhaps president today. What a role model. He cheats on his cancer-stricken wife and then lies to his campaign staff that worked like crazy even though he knew that the tabloid stoires were true and would blow -- pardon the expression -- the lid off his campaign once revealed. How selfish.
Which of those are not true facts?
You are a liar.
3. I'm not into comparing the number of scalawags from each party. There are plenty to go around on both sides. Matching all the guilty and immoral culprits is a fool's game, which is why you play it. I'd be satisfied if you would tell me what it takes to be "rich" in your definition and if rich Democrats are any different from "rich" Republicans? Is it one thing to be rich after humble beginnings? Was Maroun always rich or did he start from humble beginning? Do you like being told "no?" How do you justify your claim that "rich people certainly are not accustomed to hearing that word?" That's an asinine statement.
I'll make it easy. Are you rich if you make over $100,000 a year? $150,000? $200,000? Or some other number. You choose. John McCain was asked this question and he screwed it up. See if you can do any better.
There are “Lies...lies and more lies…,” but not from me.
1. Sure, brett.
2. Like I said before, if you want to make up stuff about Edwards, do it on your blog. If you want to debunk what I wrote about the bridge company, give it a shot.
You know, you make a fair point. I get all wound up about the lying scumbag Edwards and ramble on. What I say is true....and you acknowledge it because you can't refute it...but it isn't germane to the post.
But you are a liar. I'm not brett. I don't know who he is. And I don't have a blog. You quit lying about me and I will quit insulting you.
The bridge company is a quite a story. You may be right about Maroun's tactics...I just don't know. I don't like the idea of government competing against a private entity. He has a right to make money by providing a service, even if he is a Republican. If he's breaking the law or getting around gov't regulations, then that should be stopped.
I don't what you are talking about when you say Cropsey all but declared war against Canada. What's he going to do? Gather up all the deer hunters and invade Ontario? You might want to check out your Constitution, but states can't declare wars on other countries.
Still waiting for your definition of "rich."
I admit you ramble on, brett, but not on the “lying scumbag” part of your rant. I don’t see you calling Gov. Mark Sanford and Sen. John Ensign the same names. I will never vote for John Edwards, and he should resign. He had the affair; that’s the only fact.
Like I said time after time, brett, I have never lied.
I am right about Maroun's tactics, and his actions certainly demonstrate that he thinks the rules do not apply to him. Some functions are best left to the government, like the Armed Forces and border crossings.
You’ll have to ask Cropsey about declaring war on Canada, and then you should look up the meaning of the word sarcasm. I do know that insulting government officials and railing against Canada will not win friends and change their mind about a decision that’s based on what’s best for Windsor and not what’s’ best for a contributor.
Keep waiting, brett.
All right. Sanford and Ensign are sorry excuses for men as well. But why is your reaction always...but, but, a Republican did something bad too? Okay, they did.
No, you won't vote for him. Big deal. He'll never run for anything else. He had an affair and he lied about it. He tried to get an aide to take the fall, and lied about that. He said it was only a brief affair, and he lied about that. He said there was no way the baby was his, and he lied about that as well. He allowed his wife's brave fight against cancer to be exploited for the good of his campagin, even while he was cheating on her. Edwards was a lot closer to being president than either Sanford or Ensign. And Edwards is scum...unless you believe that Hunter was the first and only time that boy stuck his pecker in the wrong place. You've never seen me defending the scum of the Republicans, but you really need those guys because somehow to you it makes the Democratic scum okay.
So which is it: Did you think Cropsey was declaring war, or was it sarcasm? Because if was sarcasm, why would I want to ask Cropsey about something that isn't true.
I've caught you in a number of lies, some of which you admitted before changing your mind.
Plus, you run away and hide when caught in your lies and screwy statements. You claim to know a lot about the rich, but you won't tell me how much money makes a person rich. Does that mean you are using words you don't understand?
I'll make it easy for you.
Is John Kerry rich?
Is John Edwards rich?
Is Ted Kennedy rich?
Is Barack Obama rich?
Is Tom Daschle rich?
For everyone you answer "yes," to, which ones don't like to be told "no."
That’s simple: because you excuse the same behavior in a Republican. Again, he had an affair just like Sanford and Ensign.
Of course it’s sarcasm. Sorry, brett, you have never caught me in a lie, and you never will.
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