Dan Stamper, president of Moroun’s Detroit International Bridge Co., which owns the Ambassador Bridge, said that the focus on Moroun’s spending is a red herring.
“I wish people were as worried about spending taxpayer money as they are about (Moroun) spending his private money,” Stamper said. “The problem is the project, not Manny’s money. It’s been a fatally flawed project from the beginning.”
Supporters of the NITC say taxpayers will never be on the hook for the bridge, since Canada is basically lending the money for the project.
In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Moroun’s wife said: “They want to destroy our family business and [have] government take it over. My husband is battling two countries and two governments. Is this the end of the American dream?”
It’s unclear whether Proposal 6 will pass or whether, if it does, it will succeed in blocking the new bridge. And Moroun can’t be faulted for fighting off competition. That’s what businesses do.
But his lobbying effort (which sets a new spending record in Michigan) is a stark example of how today’s wealthy can use their fortunes to shape public policy — for better or worse.
Article Appeared @ http://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-spends-30-million-stop-165621433.html