Mike Bishop: the male version of Terri Lynn what’s-her-name
Mike Bishop, the man endorsed by outgoing MI-08 Congressman Mike Rogers because he’s someone who “won’t embarrass the district”, has had a truly bad couple of weeks, lately. First, commentator Jack Lessenberry took Bishop to task for being the bought-and-paid-for stooge of millionaire Matty Moroun in a piece titled “Mike Bishop about to become Matty Moroun’s man in Congress”:
According to the Federal Election Commission, the Moroun family and that of his top aide, Dan Stamper, have personally given at least $18,000 to Bishop’s congressional race.In return, Bishop is repeating the canard that Moroun should be allowed to build a second bridge next to his own instead.
That’s something that sounds good only to the ignorant. Twinning the second bridge would be an environmental, logistical and traffic-snarling nightmare. Canada would never allow it.
Nor should they. Voters in the 8th Congressional District seem to be about to elect a congressman who is in the pocket of a family bent on killing a project needed for Michigan’s economic future.
Then, the typically conservative Livingston County Press & Argus endorsed Bishop’s Democratic opponent Eric Schertzing:
It is a disappointment that Mike Bishop named as his top priority, should he win election to the 8th U.S. House seat, the repeal of Obamacare.Republicans in the House have already attempted that multiple times (perhaps not the 50 times some Democrats like to claim, but yes, actually, about a half-dozen times.) To make the repeal of the Affordable Care Act the top priority would be to continue the political gridlock that has paralyzed Washington for another two years. It’s time to move on.
Instead, we believe voters should turn to Eric Schertzing for the seat.
Then, appearing on WKAR radio for an interview, Bishop was asked about his opposition to a new bridge to Canada that would cut into the profits of his benefactor Matty Maroun. Bishop mysteriously dropped off the call at that very moment (around the 11-minute mark of the audio if you listen to it.) When they finally got him back on the line, he defended his position as not wanting to support something that isn’t paid for. Just for the sake of accuracy, funding for the bridge is not an issue. Canada is taking care of that.
Finally, in an interview with MIRS news service, Bishop stated that he wouldn’t have supported loans to the domestic auto makers that kept GM and Chrysler afloat during the Great Recession:
I wasn’t there for that vote. I didn’t hear what the issues were,” Bishop said. “I don’t think, if I had been here, that I would have supported it. There were plenty of other options out there.
First of all: SERIOUSLY???! You were in Michigan in 2009 and you didn’t know “what the issues were” surrounding the federal loans to GM and Chrysler? Hell, there are school children who could talk about those issues. They were the main topic of discussion in our state for months.
The truth, of course, is that there were NOT any other options. No banks were lending, much less to the vehicle manufacturers. It was something that only the federal government was in a position to do.
Mike Bishop has gotten so desperate that he now has an ad out that fearmongers about “aliens” and compares Schertzing to President Obama. It even has, as the final line, “In Congress, Eric Schertzing would look a lot more like Barack Obama than Michigan”, a veiled racist statement clearly designed to appeal to “those people” (racists) in the 8th district which includes Howell and other rural, nearly all-white cities and villages.
Mike Bishop is beginning to look a whole lot like the male version of Terri Lynn what’s-her-name. Both would have let the auto companies fail rather than be there to help them. Both run away when asked tough questions. Both are beholden to wealthy corporatists who fund their campaigns.
Oh, and there’s one other similarity with what’s her name: the Livingston County Press & Argus didn’t endorse her, either.
Learn more about Democrat Eric Schertzing at his website and in my interview with him HERE.
