Metro Times cover package on Moroun

[Reality_Check]

The Detroit media outlet that consistently focuses most substantively on border crossing issues in general and MM in particular [[yes, earlier and more frequently than Crain's) continues its coverage with two reports this week . . . and a clever cover illustration.

For your reading and discussion enjoyment:

Taking a toll: Matty Moroun and the bridge brawl in Southwest Detroit
By Curt Guyette [ quotes Rashida Tlaib, Joel Thurtell, others ]

Spreading his wealth
By Sandra Svoboda [ strategically aimed campaign donations ]

[oldredfordette]

Isn't LeDuff going to be pissed, his little friend Matty getting slammed like this? Oooh weee.

[Vic_doucette]

Good, thorough work. Nice job by both reporters, as usual.

[Lorax]

It's stories like these that reaffirm our need as a city, a society, and as a nation, to stop the abuses of private sector corporations.

Running roughshod over individuals, seizing public lands for private use, and an ineffective, corrupt local government allowing this to happen is anthethetical to what a democracy is all about.

This and thousands of reasons like it, is why we elected Barack Obama by a landslide.

And this is another reason as well, to discourage legacy wealth.

There should be no billionaires.

A fair tax rate, as it was in the 1950's under republican rule, taxed personal income over 2 million per annum at 90%.

This discouraged the children of millionaires from sitting on their backsides, living off inherited wealth, and made them contribute something to society.

Matted Moron, and his disaffected children are charged with enormous wealth, and as is inevitable in all of these situations, they end up using their immense wealth as a weapon against anyone- any city, any government, who questions their actions or motives.

Their massive wealth separates them from society, and when combined with avaricious personal leanings, makes for the situation we now have with regard to this bridge deal.

What is the difference between living in a fascist state, and being beholden, or subjected to the whims of an organization like DIBC?

Nothing.

I feel for the families, individuals, and businesses that have suffered at the hands of this behemoth of an organization.

Privately held companies that have benefitted from unregulated markets set up by republicans over the years, feel they have no obligation to play by the rules of society, since their rise to prominence came from a lack of following rules and regulations, with the tacit approval of republican regimes both federal and stateside over the years.

There needs to be intervention into this screwed up bridge and "gateway" project on a federal level to oversee the public's business in all of this.

This is also a moment for the new mayor, Dave Bing, to step in and insist on a full renovation of the MCD, at Moron's expense, to the standards of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and ready it for receiving bullet trains.

Then perhaps a deal could be struck for granting easement to the park on the river to complete this project.

[scuola]

Wow. It sounds like some would be ecstatic if the almighty government took the bridge from the Morouns as eminent domain--and simply because they're just too damn good at running it! Their crimes? Expecting that their government would "allow" them to build a bridge right next their existing one--GASP! What horror. And they used a street to virtually nowhere to build a state of the art plaza facilitating billions of dollars of trade between two nations. GASP! Oh no, we can't have that.

"Legacy wealth" and evil Republicans aside, lol, what we have here are successful people who have supposedly taken advantage of you by charging you money for their service. But does anyone think the government's planned bridge to Canada is free? Of course not--so we're either making well connected bureaucrats in the capitol rich or we're paying the Morouns a toll so they can construct one of the best international crossings in the nation both efficiently and productively with the Michigan Department of Transportation as a partner. I'll choose the latter. They've already proved they can do it--and that's why they have the money that some people despise so much.

[RickBeall]

The problem with redistributing wealth is that with each re-distribution there is less and less to distribute. The end result is that everyone is poor. You can shake down the people who make more than 2 million dollars only so many times before they become poor also.

A more creative solution would be to figure out how to make everyone rich. This is going to require allowing people who make money to keep that money. Why bust your butt if after a certain level the government is going to take away 90% of it?

Oh were we supposed to be talking about the bridge? Socialism is the bridge to nowhere.

[Detroitnerd]

Since wealth is relative, it's impossible for everybody to be "rich."

[Hypestyles]

I hope something progressive is done within the year.. or else it will probably "never" get done.. the mayor will claim there are other more pressing issues, so will Mr. Moroun's organization..

[winstin_o_boogie_iii]

Lorax? No Billionaires? C'mon. If you are going to redistribute wealth, do it globally. That means bring up the standard of living for the poorest of the poor in every nook and cranny everywhere on the planet. That would mean everyone on this board will be looking at lowering their own standard of living immensely.

Otherwise, you are not really serious...

[detroitcorky]

Wow Lorax what an eloquent indictment of the current system. I could not say if you are wrong or right about all that. I can say that the DIBC has abused the current system in ways that are damaging to the public good and corrupting of our democracy.

[Lorax]

For those right wing laissez faire lovers out there who apparently are on the Matted Moron payroll, and seemingly welcome the Bridge to Fascism, what you don't understand, is that if you or I were to decide to seize public land or a street's access to someone's property, we'd have to defend our taking of public space with firearms, and would be hauled off to jail.

The Matted Morons of the world simple hire guards and lawyers to game the system against the people. And are able through their immense wealth to intimidate local governments into doing their bidding.

Whether or not the street looks like Rodeo Drive, or whether the parkland in question does or doesn't look like Central Park isn't finally the question.

What is, is that the Matted Moron and his disaffected kids have no right to assert their wealth and position to take anything they please.

Suppose they decided they wanted to take your property and under law only had to give you 1,000.00 bucks for it, I guess that would be OK, since you worship the ground the billionaires walk on.

Just don't bitch about it when it happens.

This is what you are apparently for, so now you get lumped in with the billionaires who routinely disregard the public good for their own personal gain.

Unless you are super wealthy yourself, you aren't benefitting directly from any of this [[unless you are on their payroll) so you don't have a dog in this fight.

The people being effected by it do.

What I find amazing are the rafts of middle/lower classes who support the will of the powerful, probably projecting in some weird way that they too will one day be able to tramp on the little people who pay taxes, a la Leona Helmsley.

They simply have too much money and too much control over their environment, and that is not democracy, it's authoritarianism.

Your beloved republican president Eisenhower presided over the most robust economy in American history, and we had a 90% personal tax rate on income over 2 million per annum.

Legcy wealth needs to be addressed, it's poison for our democratic system, and if not regulated, will one day result in anarchy.

This was reduced to 75% by Nixon's first term, then was done away with entirely under Reagan who allowed off-shore tax evasion havens, deregulated markets, and open season on earning potential, which, as we now reap the bitter harvest of those decisions, has left us with the greatest deficits in history, a broken manufacturing base, and staggering unemployment, with more to come.

Congratulations, right wingers, you did it, and hopefully your bankrupted ideas are consigned to the ash can of history.

[hubbardfarmer]

Does anyone else get an error message when they try to go to the MT site? I get this message:

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80004005'

[DBNETLIB][ConnectionOpen [[SECDoClientHandshake[[)).]SSL Security error.

/includes/inc_dbconnect.asp, line 19

[MrNittany]

Does anyone else get an error message when they try to go to the MT site? I get this message:

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80004005'

[DBNETLIB][ConnectionOpen [[SECDoClientHandshake[[)).]SSL Security error.

/includes/inc_dbconnect.asp, line 19

Yep. God bless them, but the MT site tends to have problems an awful LOT.

[Reality_Check]

Hey, sounds as though MT needs Crumbled_pavement and MDoyle to consult about their RAID drives and mysql support.

[ghettopalmetto]

The problem with redistributing wealth is that with each re-distribution there is less and less to distribute. The end result is that everyone is poor. You can shake down the people who make more than 2 million dollars only so many times before they become poor also.

A more creative solution would be to figure out how to make everyone rich. This is going to require allowing people who make money to keep that money. Why bust your butt if after a certain level the government is going to take away 90% of it?

Oh were we supposed to be talking about the bridge? Socialism is the bridge to nowhere.

Lorax wrote NOTHING about "redistributing wealth". His post touched upon the need to create wealth through productivity.

Wealth redistribution is what happens when you hand millions of dollars to your lazy-ass idiot kids who have never worked a damned day in their life.

[barnesfoto]

One would think from those bootlicking posts defending MM that MM was some sort of bold visionary who invented cross border travel.
He didn't.
His father was a bit more of a visionary. His father came to the US with very little, started selling gasoline, and ended up owning a trucking company when said trucking company could not pay for their gas.

Ask Mr Maroun's sisters about "wealth redistribution". They sued him after Maroun the vampire got his dying old man to change the will at the last minute. Nobody has heard from them in decades.

And how dare any "socialists" [[I guess that's anybody who has lived within ten miles of the bridge or subscribes to the notion that taxes/ building codes and anti-trust laws are part of a civilized society) demand that Mr. Maroun pay a penny more in taxes or fix any of his many broken windows!

Somebody's gotta look out for the only man in the world who strongarmed/bullied/bribed/cajoled/cheated his way to sole ownership of an international border crossing.

[hubbardfarmer]

Well said, barnes.

[Lorax]

Lorax wrote NOTHING about "redistributing wealth". His post touched upon the need to create wealth through productivity.

Wealth redistribution is what happens when you hand millions of dollars to your lazy-ass idiot kids who have never worked a damned day in their life.

What do you think the part of "legacy wealth" refers to? The entire post was about what you call "redistribution" of wealth, which in fact would imply spreading it out to others not in your own family. Legacy wealth is the proper term to describe the Moron Family's situation.

[MIRepublic]

You realize that ghettopalm was defending your POV, don't you?

[Lorax]

You realize that ghettopalm was defending your POV, don't you?

It doesn't read that way, but I'll accept that if you say so.

[BShea]

Wealth redistribution is what happens when you hand millions of dollars to your lazy-ass idiot kids who have never worked a damned day in their life.

So it's somehow less moral for me to make a lot of money and give it to my children after I die than for me to make a lot of money, and have the government take it when I die and give it to other people that didn't earn it?

The perverse thinking of the humorless Left.

[Detroitnerd]

What was that noise I just heard come out of Matty's ass?

[BShea]

The Detroit media outlet that consistently focuses most substantively on border crossing issues in general and MM in particular [[yes, earlier and more frequently than Crain's) continues its coverage with two reports this week . . . and a clever cover illustration.

LOL ...

[Detroitnerd]

There it goes again ...

[Lorax]

Wealth redistribution is what happens when you hand millions of dollars to your lazy-ass idiot kids who have never worked a damned day in their life.

So it's somehow less moral for me to make a lot of money and give it to my children after I die than for me to make a lot of money, and have the government take it when I die and give it to other people that didn't earn it?

The perverse thinking of the humorless Left.

What does morality have to do with it?

I'll tell you.

I'm a leftie and have plenty of humor- as an example, how about asking Tush/Cheney to return the billions looted from the national treasure for the Iraq oil war of choice, the 20 billion sent to Iraq in shrinkwrapped bundles on pallets then handed out to warlords to stop shooting at us so Tush's "surge" had the appearance of actually working, then ask for the billions looted last winter by Henry Paulson and handed out to the fascist run banks.

W'ell take a check, as long as it's good.

What do all these fascist freaks have in common?

They are all silver-spoon legacy wealth dumbasses who never provided one job, balanced one checkbook, or earned a minimum wage in their lives.