Where Did Knollenberg's PAC Contributions Really come from?

In just 3 months, Joe Knollenberg raised $264,311 in campaign contributions. That is an average of nearly $90,000 per month. (Clearly Knollenberg spends more time fundraising for himself than he does doing the people's business in D.C.)

His biggest contributors are from PAC funds and lobbyists -- all of whom are associated with special interests.

Over 28% of Knollenberg's funds came directly from PACs. This is actually low for Joe -- he usually gets at least a third of his contributions from PACs alone.

From the FEC:

AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION PAC (BANKPAC)	03/23/2007	1000.00	27930489071
GENERAL DYNAMICS VOLUNTARY POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION PLAN (GDVPCP)	03/23/2007	5000.00	27930488307
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE	03/27/2007	1000.00	27930490134
RED PAC	03/28/2007	2500.00	27930461881

This raises a question in itself.

The FEC reports Knollenberg got $74,800 from PACs.

But when you follow the link to the PAC contributions, the only PAC donations listed are the four listed above which only total $9,500. Where did the other $65,300 in PAC funds come from? Is Joe hiding something from the FEC?

Knollenberg Voted to Make Medicare MORE PROFITABLE For Insurance Companies

When Congress passed the Medicare prescription drug bill, they debated various provisions that would help make medication more affordable.

For example, they discussed allowing Seniors to import medicine from Canada where it is significantly less expensive. But, Knollenberg's current Chief of Staff, Trent Wisecup, was the lead lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical companies at the time and he led a campaign to keep Congress from allowing Seniors to import their medicines from Canada.

Joe Knollenberg voted to Stop Seniors from
Importing Less Expensive Medications.

Congress also discussed allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. Other government programs such as the Veteran's Administration and Medicaid negotiate drug prices. Such negotiations would have saved Seniors and taxpayers billions of dollars.

Joe Knollenberg Voted To
Prohibit Medicare From
Negotiating Lower Prices on Drugs.

As a result, the Medicare prescription drug program has become just another big profit machine for insurance companies. And insurance companies don't even try to hide the fact that Medicare can pay big profits.

An April 1, 2007 article in a magazine for insurance company executives starts out with the following paragraph:

Most Medicare Advantage and Part D sponsors share a common goal: make Medicare a more profitable line of business.

Yes. Insurance companies are now talking about how to maximize their profits from Medicare. This is obscene.

Joe Knollenberg is fighting to help insurance companies, not Seniors.

The Exponential Rise in US Debt Under Knollenberg & Bush

Our economy has suffered an exponential increase in debt under Joe Knollenberg's watch.

Clinton had reined in the debt and deficit spending and in fact turned over to Bush an economy with a $127 billion surplus. By 2005, Bush & Knollenberg had turned that into over $319 billion in deficits.

Chart 1 shows how federal spending has increased dramatically under Bush & Knollenberg. Federal spending has grown from 18.5% of the GDP in 2000 to 20.3% in 2006.

Chart 2 below shows how Bush & Knollenberg have grown the federal budget. This chart shows what will happen if Knollenberg is re-elected in 2008. We can no longer afford Joe Knollenberg!

Since Bush came into office, Knollenberg has readily rubber stamped every single spending bill.

Knollenberg's fiscal irresponsibility has led to enormous debt - - over $8,887,588,819,701. That is nearly $30,000 for every one of us. Bush & Knollenberg are bankrupting this country.

We Can't Afford 2 More Years of Joe Knollenberg!

Schwarzenegger fires back at Joe, get off your butt and join us

Arnold Schwarzenegger fired back at our boy, Rubber Stamp Joe Knollenberg today, telling him to 'Get off your butt and join us.' Good for Arnold. It's about time some people in Joe's party expose Joe Knollenberg for his backward thinking. This blog is exposing Joe for who he really is and I hope that more and more voters in Joe's district are coming to know that Joe Knollenberg is not looking out for their best interests. Joe Knollenberg is looking out for the interests of the lobbyists that donate to his campaign. They've already filled his campaign coffers with $262,000. That money isn't coming from $10, $25 and $50 dollar contributions. It's coming from lobbyists that want something from Joe. For example, the pharmaceutical companies that don't want Joe to vote for the ability of Medicaid to be able to negotiate drug prices. Medicaid Part D has been a boon for the big drug companies. Medicaid is paying about 40% more than they should for drugs for seniors. The Veterans Administration get the same drugs that Medicaid does for 40% less.

When will voters in the 9th Congressional District wake up and smell the coffee? I think I know the answer, November 4, 2008.

If you'd like to help raise money to oust Joe Knollenberg, please go to Retire Joe Knollenberg and click on the Host a Retirement Party icon. Invite families and friends to your house and raise some money for the Democratic candidate. Donate directly by clicking on the ActBlue graphic and use you debit or credit card. It's past time for Joe to go.

Did We Really Invade Iraq To Help Bush & Cheney's Oil Friends?

Did we really go into Iraq to help Bush & Cheney's Oil Company friends get their hands on billions of dollars in oil?

You decide.

From the Dow Jones Newswire (1/9/07)

Iraq's massive oil reserves may be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies - which could end up grabbing up to 75% of the beleagured nation's oil profits.

A draft of this controversial law, which the U.S. government has been helping to craft, would give oil giants such as BP PLC (BP), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude.
Oil industry executives and analysts say the law, which would allow Western companies to pocket up to three-quarters of profits in the early years, is the only way to get Iraq's oil industry back on its feet after years of sanctions, war and loss of expertise.
* * *
Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Barham Salih, who chairs the country's oil committee, is expected to unveil the legislation as early as Monday and the government hopes to have the law enacted by March, according to the report.

Have our troops really been dying to make money for Exxon and Shell? Seems awful suspicious to me.

Still, Joe Knollenberg is supporting Bush's "Stay the Course" strategy. I bet Joe has a lot of stock in Exxon and Shell.

Joe Knollenberg's Positions are Out of Sync With Voters in Oakland County.

Earmarks More Than Triple Under Knollenberg

According to the Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan, government agency that does research for Congress, earmarks have more than tripled under Joe Knollenberg's reign in Congress!

That is right. TRIPLED.

Knollenberg is unapologetic about his earmarks. In one bill alone, he set aside over $2.1 million in earmarks for his friends. [109th Congress, RollCall Vote 628]

Indeed, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget, while on the Appropriations Committee, in 2005 alone, Knollenberg oversaw the adoption of 322 individual earmarks targeted for Michigan and totaling an amazing $ 293,815,000.

Yes. That is $293 Million of earmarks in a single year -- for Michigan alone!

Nationally, under Knollenberg's guidance on the Appropriations Committee, there were over 14,000 earmarks inserted into appropriation bills totaling $19,037,681,000 in 2005. Again, this is just for one year.

It is hard to even fathom what $19,037,681,000 means. It equates to nearly $65 for every American though.

Again, earmarks are not for federal budget items that are critical. They are generally included to payback friends who donated to their campaigns or others who may influence voters in the community. So, earmarks are more like graft, or bribe money. And Joe Knollenberg approves hundreds of millions of such bribe money every year.

JOE KNOLLENBERG's Wasteful Spending Habits
are Too Extreme for Oakland County!

This is sooooooo funny. Just for fun I put a poll on my web site, Retire Joe Knollenberg.


Do you think it's appropriate for Joe Knollenberg to have a lobbyist as his Chief of Staff?

Yes, lobbyists should tell Joe what his opinion should be: 80.00%

No, Joe should make up his own mind: 20.00%

I voted myself, No, Joe should make up his own mind. The thing is, Joe's Congressional office in D.C. is visiting my site 6-8 times per day, so they decided to rig the vote and vote that Yes, it's OK that Joe's Chief of Staff is a lobbyist and tells Joe what his opinion should be.

It's pretty pathetic Trent that you are controlling what Joe says and does. Just what voters in the 9th Congressional District need, another puppetmaster controlling an elected official.

We deserve a Congress person that can think for themselves.

Diabetes Cured by Stem Cell Research? Why Does Joe Knollenberg Oppose Such Breakthroughs?

Joe Knollenberg consistently opposes any efforts by the Federal government to fund embryonic stem cell research.

The importance of this type of research cannot be overstated.

The London Times has an article describing how stem cells have been used to cure diabetes Type I in children! This is a remarkable medical advance.

Can you imagine what medical breakthroughs we could accomplish if scientists in the U.S. weren't so restricted by federal regulations?

Yet Joe Knollenberg continues to support severe and unnecessary restrictions on stem cell research.

Stem Cell Research. Another area where Joe Knollenberg

is Out of Touch with his constitutents.

Joe Knollenberg is too extreme for Oakland County.

'Retire Joe Knollenberg' camp activates early - Farmington Eccentric

Oakland County resident Mike Smith, left, along with "Karl Rove" and "George W. Bush" demonstrate outside of U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg's office on Northwestern Highway in Farmington Hills on Wednesday to urge the Congressman to retire.

An Oakland County grassroots group has a creative way of getting its message across.
The group, led by Bruce Fealk of Rochester Hills, stood on the curb on Northwestern Highway, outside of U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg's Farmington Hills district office on Wednesday, sporting cartoon-like images of President George W. Bush and his Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

The demonstration was a kick-off event of the group's "Retire Joe Knollenberg" campaign, which is fueled by a new Web site, www.RetireJoeKnollenberg.com.
Click here to read the rest of the story.

Joe, I hope your press secretary is paid overtime

Hawaii Joe Knollenberg’s press secretary is certainly working overtime these days. I hope Joe is compensating him or her by the number of articles appearing in the local papers these days. But quantity does not equal quality. Knollenberg is still the same backward thinking Congressman he was when he was lazily spending time in Congress saying nothing and only appearing in print when it was election time. So let me address two of Knollenberg’s big initiatives, his $200 tax credit for health care education in the workplace and his vocal opposition to higher gas mileage requirements for the Big 3.

Knollenberg’s proposal does nothing to address the 46 million Americans that have no health care coverage. In a recent poll, 80% of Americans said they are willing to pay more taxes if they could have a health care plan that covered all Americans. You read that right, 80%, so that surely includes a majority of Knollenberg’s constituents, even the Republican ones. Half of those polled said they’d be willing to pay $500 more in taxes to have universal coverage. I’d say that is overwhelming support for an idea whose time has come. Joe even voted against giving the government the ability to negotiate for lower drug prices on behalf of seniors. Another big giveaway to the drug company lobbyists that have Joe in their hip pocket.

Another Knollenberg policy cornerstone is opposing higher gas mileage standards for automobiles. Joe says, alternative fuels, yes. Higher gas mileage standards, no. Again, Joe is out of touch with his constituents. A recent survey in the Detroit Free Press says that 67% of those polled would pay at least $500 and as much as $2000 for cars that get higher mileage. I wonder if the Big 3 could increase sales and profits if their cars were able to get 40 mpg instead of the mandated 27 mpg. I also wonder if higher mileage would mean more jobs for Michigan autoworkers. Just wondering.

So, all I ask is that you not be fooled by the fact that Joe Knollenberg is getting his name and face in your local newspapers frequently. Do your civic duty as a voter and read about his voting record and his past performance. We need more innovative representation for Michigan’s 9th Congressional district. Let’s elect someone in 2008 that listens to us, instead of Joe Knollenberg, who keeps his office door locked and guarded from his constituents.