| I expected this sort of thing from an MLive or a Gannett property, not Michigan Radio. Progress Michigan released documents alleging Bolger’s company, Summit Credit Service, failed to pay more than $100,000 in taxes and fees between 1997 and 2000. The papers include liens from the Michigan Treasury Department, the state Unemployment Agency, and the IRS. Bolger’s spokesperson, Ari Adler, said all taxes and fees have been paid in full.
Pathetic. There is absolutely nothing of substance to this reporting, right down to the Adler's comments. The allegations are all more than a decade old ... of course it's all paid in full. Michigan Radio managed to take a series of very serious allegations aimed at a sitting House Speaker, who has premised his effectiveness as a lawmaker on his experience in the same private sector where his conduct is now being called into question, into a he-said, she-said story. If you're not going to do the story properly, why even bother to do it at all? By the way, I inquired as to how difficult it would be for other media outlets to verify that the documents Progress Michigan has released are accurate. The liens are on file with the Register of Deeds, and the other documents are at the courthouse and can be had for the price of printing. The cost of doing journalism in this case would be extremely minimal. |
