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Midwest Unions’ Desperate Last Stand
June 18, 2012 | 23 comments
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Compulsory ‘Free’ Speech
April 19, 2012 | 26 comments
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Keystone and the Unions
February 7, 2012 | 34 comments
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The Non-Union for Restaurant Workers
January 11, 2012 | 10 comments
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Behind the UAW’s Aw Shucks Smile
December 21, 2011 | 21 comments
The Public Policy
A Tale of Two Bridges
Why build a new bridge when there’s already a perfectly fine one? Because the new one would be paid for by taxpayers.
What do you do if you lose 25 percent of your population in a decade, bringing your city to a 100-year low, and you have a perfectly good private bridge? Well, why not have the taxpayers build a new $5.3 billion bridge using public money! It may sound strange but that is exactly what a combination of unions, government officials, and businesses are trying to do in Michigan. The project is called the Detroit River Intentional Crossing (DRIC), currently being promoted as the New International Trade Crossing, and would connect Southeast Michigan to Canada. The problem is there is already a privately owned bridge — therefore no cost to taxpayers — two miles away called the Ambassador Bridge.
Michigan does not have the funds to pay for their portion of the bridge and would need to take out a $550 million dollar loan from Canada. The loan could then qualify for 80 percent to 20 percent federal transportation matching funds, putting Uncle Sam on the hook for $2.2 billion. While capacity enhancements are needed to alleviate Detroit-Windsor border congestion in the long-run, the government has no positive role to play.
The owners of the Ambassador Bridge have already spent $500 million to prepare a new crossing and have pledged another $500 million (of private funds) to create another span. If the DRIC project is to proceed, it will almost certainly crowd out the private expansion project led by the Ambassador’s owners, meaning that taxpayers will be paying for something previously provided by a private company.
Furthermore, twinning the Ambassador Bridge is by far the most economical method to increase bridge capacity over the Detroit River. The section of the river that the Ambassador crosses is narrower than the section proposed for the DRIC crossing, which lowers costs. There are also existing and nearly complete high-capacity connections to U.S. Interstates, another cost savings.
Proponents of the government bridge claim the Ambassador Bridge does cost the taxpayers something. They argue that one cannot call the bridge free because it is a toll bridge. Forget for a minute the assumption that all taxpayers must subsidize services only some use. The cost of construction for the DRIC is $194 for your typical Michigan family, which will be paid for in taxes as well as tolls. The Ambassador Bridge toll is currently four dollars, so if the government really wanted to subsidize travel between the U.S. and Canada, it could give vouchers for 48 crossings to every family in Michigan. Of course, the DRIC would also be tolled — likely by a private firm — which is why this supposed defense of “free” bridges from nefarious private bridge companies is completely nonsensical.
With reality against them, DRIC supporters are claiming the bridge needs to be built because it will create jobs. This is a typical rationale used to support pork barrel projects that cost taxpayers billions but add little to no long-term benefits. Michigan does need jobs. The state’s unemployment rate has been among the worst in the nation for years. But what Michigan needs is real jobs, not make-work.
Jobs and lives will actually be destroyed by construction of the new bridge. DRIC would clear around 300 acres of residential neighborhoods, forcing families, business, and churches to relocate. Lawmakers are grasping at anything that will provide employment, but in their zeal to “do something,” they will do more harm than good. Jobs created by the private sector that do not force people out of their homes, such as the ones created by the twinning of the Ambassador Bridge, are the answer to Michigan’s employment problem.
With all the arguments, there are still many unanswered questions. Jake Davison from Americans For Prosperity–Michigan, one of the groups leading the effort against the DRIC, asks, “Who will set and collect the tolls, Canada or the U.S.? Does Canada have the first claim to the toll revenue or the private investor — and where does that leave Michigan? What percent of jobs on the DRIC will go to Michigan workers and companies?”
So far, these questions have not been answered and the DRIC is still in the planning stages. Government should not compete with private industry and lawmakers should not make taxpayers pay for duplicative services. Michigan does not have the money to build the bridge and the federal government is running massive debts. Either way, it is quite clear that neither the state nor the country can afford the DRIC and both should avoid amassing more foreign-held debt. If you don’t believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
(Marc Scribner contributed to this article.)
Letter to the Editor View all comments (26) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 4.11.11 @ 6:40AM
The name should be changed to DRIP (Detroit River Intentional Plunder.)
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 4.11.11 @ 6:40AM
The name should be changed to DRIP (Detroit River Intentional Plunder.)
JoeBlog| 4.11.11 @ 6:50AM
It is actually worse that you state.
There is no legal obligation in Canada's $550M offer letter for Canada to pay one single penny.
Moreover, Michigan must pass a P3/DRIC bill first that gives Canada special rights before Canada even has to think about paying out any money.
Border traffic is down by about 40% since 2000 and no one has yet proven that the DRIC bridge is financially viable. The vast majority of P3 operators, most of whom were foreign based, who answered an RFPOI on the project, demanded government guaranteed "availability payments" because they believed toll revenues were insufficient.
Tired Taxpayer PRM| 4.11.11 @ 9:17AM
No thank you!
Tired Taxpayer, People's republic of Michigan
Cabermon| 4.11.11 @ 10:35AM
We are living "Atlas Shrugged."
canuckistani| 4.11.11 @ 10:50AM
This article is misleading in that it fails to consider any of the context leading up to the decision to build the bridge in the first place.
Matty Moroun, the bridge owner, is a pain in the neck. He has doubled bridge tolls, has defied state and federal rulings on security and border patrol requirements and refuses to divulge data showing that the bridge is safe. He even refuses to allow state troopers to arrest criminals on the property, thus leading to international issues and more cost.
$100B of goods go through that crossing each year, and in light of 9/11 and the new normal we live everyday, the businesses and individuals using the bridge are horribly delayed and overcharged thus leading to waste at the benefit of one Matty Moroun. At over 80 years old, the bridge is a dinosaur that must go.
Trade and security are the purviews of the people, not just a single intransigent opportunist.
The Canadian government has ponied up the guarantees and modernizing this critical trade route is in Michigan's, the US and Canada's interest - just not poor Matty's.
Newly minted Gov. Snyder wants it, so let's get on with it.
Rowdy Boots| 4.11.11 @ 11:22AM
Stand up for private enterprise and against Publicly funded "free" bridges!
PRIVATIZE ALL TOLL ROADS.
ROWDY BOOTS
Albert| 4.11.11 @ 11:32AM
Bridges, tunnels, and highway interchanges are favorite monuments to government. Not to construction. Not to economic prosperity. But to government. They are obvious. They are seen each day by millions, even if many do not use them. Like itinerate mediaeval royalty, who toured strings of royal palaces but never stayed in any one continuously for more than a few months, and whose architectural edifices remained to be seen in the royals' absence throughout the year, bridges and such are there to remind all of us taxpayers who really is in charge, who gives you your construction job, and who you should vote for in the next election. The SF Bay Area is experiencing two such projects currently. One is the SF Bay Bridge replacement, ostensibly for earthquake purposes. The other is a fourth bore of the Caldicott Tunnel. Right now, there are three bores of this tunnel, and traffic direction is reversed in the middle bore for am and pm commutes. This means that for commute hours, there are two bores open in the commute direction. As I understand it, after the $420M project, there will still be two bores open in the commute direction during commute hours, same as before. The only gain will be one additional bore open in the ANTI-commute direction. This will not alleviate any commute traffic, only minor delays in the anti-commute direction. Is this really worth $420M? Senator Barbara "The Idiot" Boxer last year touted the project as proof of the "success" President Bozo's "stimulus package," which is funding almost 1/2 of the project. This is the real reason many such projects exist. Not to improve traffic flow, not to "stimulate" economic prosperity. Indeed, the Michigan DRIC projects seems to be intended to harm the economy. But rather they exist to promote the careers of politicians through vote-buying with other people's money.
cicero| 4.11.11 @ 11:42AM
Not only is there another international bridge about 50 miles to the north (Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron), there is also a tunnell under the Detroit River about 4 miles north of the Ambassador Bridge. The rant about Maroun not letting the law be enforced on the bridge property is rediculous. Since when has the Federal Government ever deferred to private property rights when they want to do anything?
The fact the Snyder (whom I voted for), had bought into the bridge deal says nothing. I have yet to hear a coherent argument for the need for another bridge. If the Ambassador Bridge is defective, the State and Federal governments have the power to enforce repairs.
JFGalt| 4.11.11 @ 12:41PM
Follow the money! If look at the governor's campaign contributors I'm sure you will find some certain people that expect to make out just fine from this boondoggle. The history of supposed stupidity by govt is usually underlaid with corruption. What else is new.
Pat| 4.11.11 @ 1:35PM
A rather silly article, filled with deliberate misdirection - or it’s possible this author is naive enough to actually believe what he’s writing. First, will new bridge construction “destroy jobs and lives” as this author contends? Nonsense. Detroit’s riverfront area, and most particularly around the existing Ambassador Bridge, is a depressing dump, an area any third world country would have scheduled for immediate demolition by now. Detroit is also 40% deserted, street after street of abandoned homes, wild deer grazing in backyards formerly hosting swing sets and BBQ’s. So, who cares if families in the way of the new bridge are uprooted – they have thousands of alternative dwellings to squat within.
And who are the usual suspects in this latest swindle? Naturally, the politicians head the list – multi-billion dollar projects generate tempting opportunities for graft, bribes, personal favors – all those self-serving financial rewards which draws so many Americans to a high paying career within politics. Commercial interests are also lurking somewhere back among the shadows. The Canada – USA commercial truck traffic will be indirectly subsidized, the construction unions will shake down the taxpayers along the way and many other faceless bit players will get their chance to lick the spoon.
Does it matter if Detroit’s families can go – cheaply - to Windsor Canada for a night of frivolity and fried smelt? Hardly, there is also a tunnel connecting Detroit to Canada in addition to the existing bridge – plus gambling casinos now exist on both sides of the river. This has nothing to do with cheap, easy access to Canada – and most Canadians, like most Americans, have no desire whatsoever to be a tourist in Detroit – so ordinary Canadians aren’t clamoring to drive over a new bridge to the Motor City.
Detroit and Michigan are desperate – they’ve become used to a high standard of living supported by the auto companies – but no longer. The veiled threat, the crowbar upside the head are tactics which have lost their ability to bring in unearned revenue. So, all that’s left are complex swindles like this one which seek to take money from Americans in other states in order to line the pockets of Michigan’s elected thieves – remember, any time the Feds are mentioned in conjunction with Detroit or Michigan, it’s a sure and certain tipoff some overworked plumber in San Antonio or dog tired waitress in Atlanta will be unknowingly donating their tax dollars to a smiling thug in Detroit’s City-County building.
Nunya| 4.12.11 @ 5:04PM
Sounds kind of like the reasoning behind Kelo v. New London--the houses were slums, and the developer was going to increase the tax revenue to the city. In hindsight, the people got swindled, lost their homes, and the developer cancelled the program. Lib-think at its best.
thedude| 4.11.11 @ 1:51PM
Yeah.. well, if building this new bridge is such a great idea, why does Michigan have to "borrow" 550 Million to build it? By the way, I thought we were borrowing from the Chinese. ( Must have reached our credit line there, ya think??)
ENOUGH ROPE| 4.11.11 @ 4:34PM
If DRIC could have the letter O added to it, then it would be immediately recognizable as the Democratic Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations bridge.
When will Michigan's unreflective Democratic voters discover that the Democrats' policies for Big Government and the creation and exploitation of rival dependent constituencies do not work? How many vacant factories and homes do Democratic voters need to see until they understand that Democratic politicians played them for fools?
Michigan's Republicans, Conservatives, and Tea Party members should deluge Governor Snyder and the legislators to stop DRICO.
Negro X| 4.11.11 @ 7:07PM
Let's do the green right thing, put the truck traffic on the railroads.
Nunya| 4.12.11 @ 5:06PM
Do what??? How do you expect to deliver all of those trailer loads of freight? With the railroad?? No, you still need trucks to deliver point-to-point.
You need to stop listening to the propaganda being broadcast by CSX on their advertisements.
Occam's Tool| 4.12.11 @ 1:20AM
Say something nice about Detroit or I shoot this dog!
Career Soldier| 4.12.11 @ 8:01AM
The dogs already been shot. Can't ya smell him?
nicholas| 4.13.11 @ 6:41PM
I agree with canucksani.
The people who own the ambassador bridge are responsible for many jobs leaving michigan. Fhs was a supply to general motors that they out sourced. His greed is just getting dangerous. State and federal bridge inspectors have to get permission to do what they need. Not to mention unsearched trucks wait in line under the bridge.
Its old and getting dangerous as minnesota about old bridges.
thedude| 4.14.11 @ 7:39PM
Perhaps Canada should man all their customs booths instead of half of them. That might help with the "unsearched trucks" That's a typical tactic of bureaucrats. First, create a crisis. ( underman the customs booths) then scream that there's a severe traffic problem and guess what? The fix is a new bridge!!!!! A recent study indicated that the bottleneck of truck traffic was due to only having half the booths manned. (There's your crisis)
Ambassador Bridge people are responsible for many of jobs leaving MI??? Well, haven't heard THAT one before. Perhaps Michigan should treat one of its employers (that are still here) with respect for creating 2000 jobs here in MI instead of trying to drive him out of business. Outsourced jobs are due to the greed of some big businesses. Lot of money to be made at 1.57 per hour....... for those who outsource.
thedude| 4.14.11 @ 7:57PM
BTW, Blaming DRIC on the Dems is unfair. The Governor and LT Governor are R's aren't they? Dems, generally speaking, are after the construction jobs. That is certainly commendable and the main reason some support DRIC.. but a sizeable number of Dems DO NOT support the DRIC and they realize that the Ambassador Twin Span will create tons of jobs also..and the Marouns are paying the bill. Not the taxpayers of MI. Meanwhile, DRIC, NITC, BTNC(Bridge to Nowhere Crossing)..whatever you choose to call it, is DEAD anyway. One of the P's in P3 will soon be missing.
Truckingal| 4.18.11 @ 4:55PM
This article is full of misinformation. First traffic has NOT dwindled 40%-and in 2004, 3.5+MILLION trucks crossed that bridge-at $26 a piece! Further, it is the largest (by volume) international crossing in North America-and a security nightmare. I shudder to think that so many conservatives are so caught up in the private business dogma that they think we should outsource our international borders to a private company, just because it's a private company! And the Ambassador and it's owner are a never-ending problem: the bridge is in the wrong place and needs to be somewhere security and customs facilities can be expanded. The bridge is near the end of it's useful life, very likely-but the owner wont even let the State see what his 'private' bridge inspections say . .and he wont allow State bridge inspections. He also refuses to follow federal transportation rules and wont cooperate with Homeland Security. The Detroit Riverfront slum skyline belongs to this guy-he's just trying to tie up the waterfront to prevent competition. And, since he owns 4500 + trucks, his ownership of the crossing creates a conflict of interest. Another span would certainly pay for itself-estimates say he collects at least $60 million off bridge tolls each year. And a better-placed crossing would allow for warehousing and distribution facilities to be built, thus creating jobs and revitalizing Detroit thru private industry. The crossing carries a full quarter of all truck traffic into Canada-and those trucks come from everywhere . . a great many from the Mexican border. It's an ideal terrorist target-and there is no redundancy . .if that bridge has to close for some reason, trucks must divert 60 miles up to Port Huron and back about a hundred miles to get to the auto suppliers and lines in Windsor-Essex. This is a threat to business in both Michigan and Ontario and ultimately to both countries. If that bridge is built and publicly owned, the only people who will lose their jobs are the army of lawyers he keeps busy trying to sue the city, state, feds, private landowners and anything else that moves.
This guy hired Dick Morris to run publicity interference-and somehow, people thing this becomes a conservative point of honor? Nothing could be further from the truth-this misconception is perpetuating one grubby tycoon holding all of southeast Michigan hostage to his money-making empire. That's money for HIM, not the rest of the state.!
J Losie| 4.20.11 @ 3:43PM
The biggest, yet most subtle aspect of the DRIC saga is missing from this story. Supporters of the DRIC and the Ambassador Bridge owner are gaming public sentiment to cash in on countless taxpayer dollars.
‘Matty’ Maron owns 2 significant architectural icons in the city of Detroit: the Ambassador Bridge and the infamous Michigan Central Station, perhaps THE icon of Detroit’s decay and ruin. For the latter, he has either directly or tacitly allowed the architectural gem (designed by the same firm that built New York’s Grand Central Terminal) to be gutted, damaged, and vandalized to a point where perhaps not even a 9-figure sum can restore it (Maron has sought more than $1 billion in rehab funds). Since the station has such an architectural and iconic significance to Detroit, not even the grubby insects that get elected or appointed to the Detroit government have the political will (never mind the funds) to demolish it. As a result, numerous meetings of city, county, and state officials have discussed giving Maroun the money he wants. These officials don’t want to play this game a second time when it comes to the twinning of the Ambassador Bridge.
Don’t be fooled: Maroun DEFINITELY wants public funds to build the twin. It will cost less than the DRIC, but it will still be billions of dollars. Maroun also proposed possibly the ugliest twin imaginable (picture either a shrunken Golden Gate Bridge adjacent to, and dwarfed by, the Charles River Bridge from the Big Dig in Boston or a stucco, square-window addition slapped on the back of the White House). The only people who could love such a monstrosity have to be government bureaucrats. Bureaucrats rely on the idea that “well, it’s not nearly as endearing as the original structure, but the project maximized efficiency out of the available funds for the taxpayers”.
The public officials, and especially their backers, want the down river crossing to get their hands on the money that Maroun has sought. Sure the new bridge will have better logistics (with freeway connections in both the US and Canada, unlike the Ambassador, which has no such link in Windsor) and will use an area of the city that is home to one of the world’s largest sewage treatment plants. It will only dislodge a few hundred residents in Detroit at most (and fewer in Canada). It will preserve the aesthetic of the Ambassador Bridge. And the taxpayers get all this for no less than TWICE the price!
In both cases, either twinning the Ambassador or the DRIC, are complete taxpayer screw jobs. If Michigan REALLY wanted to get the most bang for the taxpayer’s buck, it only needs to improve the I-94/I-75 interchange in Detroit. If improved, most “through” trucking will use the larger Port Huron-Sarnia crossing since it’s a more direct route to big Canadian cities, and the traffic on the Ambassador will drop to more local shippers between Windsor and the Detroit Metro area.
Creative Recreation | 8.10.11 @ 10:31PM
is good
Norm | 9.8.11 @ 8:27PM
The proposed legislation for DRIC requires prevailing wage contracts, eliminating about 83% of potential laborers who will be paying to bills. There is also a tunnel between Detroit and Windsor, and twin bridges at Port Huron, a few miles away. I understand legislators who oppose it are receiving threats from the proponents. Ugly!
Shirley| 10.17.11 @ 11:23AM
how abut fixing our infrastrucure first..roads, bridges ,under passe's are crumbling all over the state and for his fyi.. the state is broke..Snyder has already chopped money from NECESSARY things..like school, teachers, police, fireman...this would also put many to work..tsxpayers do not need to pay for his contractors friends! another halliburton?????