Much more run of the mill corruption, though:
"We are talking about the family of Manuel J. "Matty" Moroun, the
84-year-old billionaire who owns the aging Ambassador Bridge.
Gov. Rick Snyder has made it a top priority to build a second bridge a
couple of miles south, known as the New International Trade Crossing.
Every other living former governor supports a new bridge.
So do most other politicians, the CEOs of Ford, Chrysler and General
Motors, and virtually every chamber of commerce in the state.
Republicans in the Ohio state Senate voted unanimously on support of a
new bridge. The government of Canada wants this bridge so much it has
agreed to pick up Michigan's share of the costs, which the state could
repay years from now out of its share of the tolls. Washington clearly
favors the new bridge.
Astonishingly, the Obama administration has said that Michigan could
count the $550 million Canada is willing to pay for Michigan's share as
matching federal highway funds. That would mean $2.2 billion to fix
Michigan roads, no strings attached.
But the governor hasn't even been able to get a vote on his bridge in
the Legislature, and here's why. The Moroun family has contributed
hundreds of thousands of dollars, possibly millions, to state
legislators who have done his bidding and blocked the bill.
This became apparent last week, thanks to incomplete, but just-released
campaign finance records. They show, for example, that Matty Moroun, his
wife Nora, and his son and daughter-in-law gave at least $242,000 to
various state-related political funds.
Not all of this was direct contributions to legislators. State Sen. Mike
Kowall, R-White Lake, was instrumental in preventing a bill backing the
bridge from reaching the Senate floor. The Morouns indeed gave to his
campaign fund. But they also channeled money to Kowall in other ways,
according to Rich Robinson, who runs the nonpartisan, nonprofit Michigan
Campaign Finance Network.
"The North Oakland PAC was being used as a vehicle to get goods and
services to the Kowalls," said Robinson, who spends a lot of time
analyzing campaign finance reports. Kowall's wife Eileen is a state
representative who also opposes the bridge.
You might think the Michigan Republican Party would have joined its
governor and the state's business interests in backing the bridge. But
it hasn't. Now, we may have learned why. The Morouns gave $100,000 to
the Michigan GOP last year."
http://record-eagle.com/columns/x991868857/Jack-Lessenberry-Overcoming-the-Morouns