Caught an interesting political spot on t.v. tonight. Dick Jr. in his run for governor ran an ad in which an Alticor (f.k.a. Amway) employee admitted that the company had been in serious trouble recently. Then other employees lauded Dick Jr. for turning Scamway around. Apparently he feels the need to establish his bona fides as a real businessman. For reasons I have stated elsewhere, I think this is an uphill battle for the young DeVos.
Of course, you heard it here first about Amway's financial problems. We covered how the Amway/Quixtar pyramid was crumbling and the Fixer helped the DeVoses and Van Andels with a financial workout of their multi-level marketing scheme. We explained how these alleged benefactors of River City got their hooks into tax dollars and other public revenue streams to fund their workout payments. And we showed why that indicates that there is no multi-billion-dollar Amway fortune. (We're still waiting for the Van Andel heirs to commit Dad's billions to the Van Andel Institute, while son Dave is making sure he nails down that $30,000 pension for heading up the institute.)
Because of all this, for the past twenty years there has been an ethical sewer flowing from Ada down Michigan Street hill into downtown G.R. Even though it stinks to high heaven, the local media has ignored it all, especially DeVos suck-up Danny Gaydou, publisher of the Grand Rapids Press. So why did Dick Jr. run counter to the family's 11th commandment to hype Amway at all costs? Maybe he thought the hostile Detroit media would eventually catch up with the Amway's financial troubles and report them an at inopportune moment doing the campaign. So he's making a virtue out of a vice in a pre-emptive move. Clever politicking to ensure smooth sailing, I suppose.
Comments