Knollenberg Lies About Lobbyists!

Joe Knollenberg is a liar.

I don't generally call people liars. If you look at past posts you will see I say things like, "he has an aversion to the truth" or "he must not know any better" or "he must be misguided".

But at some point, when one tells this many untruths -- there is no other way to categorize him -- he is a liar.

Knollenberg just sent out another campaign brochure (but made taxpayers pay the postage) and this time it says he is trying to reform Washington and the lobbyist culture.

But Knollenberg has consistently voted TO KEEP LETTING LOBBYISTS GIVE HIM GIFTS AND TAKE HIM AND HIS WIFE ON LUXURIOUS VACATIONS!!!

• 1994. Knollenberg voted against restricting lobbyists from giving gifts, vacations, etc.
  
  In a way it is true -- he is reforming the way Congressmen and lobbyists interact -- it used to be that lobbyists were on the outside looking in --but Joe Knollenberg keeps his lobbyists closer -- Knollenberg hires lobbyists for his Chief of Staff. His current lobbyist Chief of Staff is Washington DC lobbyist Trent Wisecup. His former Chief of Staff is Lobbyist Paul Welday.
  
  This isn't a fluke either. Knollenberg has had 2 lobbyists for Chiefs of Staff in the past few years. We have already written about Knollenberg's propensity to put line items in legislation to set aside federal funds for his campaign donors.
  
  Here is the truth about how Joe interacts with Lobbyists:
  


• Knollenberg's Chief of Staff, Trent Wisecup, is a Washington DC lobbyist


• Knollenberg's former Chief of Staff, Paul Welday is a lobbyist


• Knollenberg put a line item in a bill that set aside $8 million that he was mandating that AMTRAK pay to one of his largest campaign donors. (This is called "earmarking" funds.)


• Knollenberg was a key obstructionist who blocked efforts to make public the earmarks that Congress puts in spending bills -- Joe doesn't want you to know which ones of his campaign donors he puts millions of dollars of federal funds aside for.


• More links showing just how hard Joe worked to keep earmarks from being reformed: Here at this conservative website, here at this conservative website, here is an article by the conservative pundit Bob Novak, here,

Watch here to see Joe speak out against any restrictions or changes in the earmarks he makes for his friends.

Oh. And back in 2002 when Congress was trying to pass campaign finance reform -- which is in large part necessary due to the money that lobbyists put in the pockets of incumbent Congressional members -- Knollenberg tried to stop the legislation and when he couldn't he filled it with loopholes. Here is an excerpt from an article in The New Republic:

When Congress finally passed the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill
last month, Republicans were all but unanimous in charging that it would never
work, that it was riddled with loopholes that would shift money to the darkest
corners of politics. "Reformers claim this bill will increase disclosure and
shine the light on big money in politics. This is, of course, not true," warned
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. "Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker," explained
Michigan Representative Joe Knollenberg, "I support real reform with no
loopholes and full disclosure--not just lip service to reform." Having thus had
their say, Knollenberg's House brethren this week hopped down off their high horses and got to work widening loopholes and squelching disclosure. Specifically, they tried to relax disclosure requirements in the most shadowy corner of the campaign finance world--so-called "stealth" PACs, or 527s, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money. (The phony "Republicans for Clean Air" PAC that sandbagged John McCain to the tune of $2.5 million during the 2000 GOP primaries was of this breed.) These are precisely the groups whose influence is likely to grow once campaign finance reform takes effect next year, making disclosure all the more important. Nonetheless, the House GOP sought to exempt some 527s from the stringent disclosure requirements of federal law if they instead file reports at the state level, where campaign finance laws are often flimsy. The effort failed when 25 House Republicans broke ranks to vote
with the Democrats. But given the longtime GOP position that the way to fix
campaign finance is not contribution limits but rather full, fast disclosure,
you'd think their colleagues wouldn't have minded a bit more paperwork in the
name of "real reform." Unfortunately, you'd have been wrong.

Oh. And here are some more examples of where Joe voted NO on reforming earmarks and reforming lobbyist rules: HR 4, January 2007; Floor Debate, June 2006. As you can see, the evidence is overwhelming that Joe Knollenberg has opposed reforms that would restrict his ability to give earmarks to his friends.

Next time, we will talk about HAWAII JOE Knollenberg's propensity to accept gifts and expensive luxurious vacations from lobbyists.