Bruce Fealk talks to MDP Chair Mark Brewer about Joe Knollenberg

Bruce Fealk, host of Michigan Progress asked Mark Brewer about Joe Knollenberg's campaign strategy, about 10 minutes into the show.

Joe Has Lobbyists to Tell Him What His Opinion Is

Joe Knollenberg's Chief of Staff -- who also happens to be a Washington DC LOBBYIST -- said that raising fuel economy standards for automobiles would "be the death knell for the domestic auto industry". [Oakland Press, 4/3/07]

Funny thing though, the auto industry doesn't agree with him. Earlier this week, the major trade group for the Auto industry, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, was advocating that both cars and manufacturing plants reduce emissions of air pollutants like CO2 that cause global warming.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry trade group representing General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG, Toyota Motor Corp. and five others, said in a statement that "there needs to be a national, federal, economy-wide approach to addressing greenhouse gases."

Knollenberg's Positions Are Defined By Lobbyists
This week, Lobbyist Wisecup said:

CAFE (Corporate Average Funeral Economy) mandates would cost the Big Three $85 billion at a minimum, Wisecup said.

But less than 3 years ago he said:

President George W. Bush has proposed CAFE reforms based
on recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences, which would increase fuel efficiency without a negative impact on the U.S. automobile industry.

How could CAFE be a "death knell" today when just a few years ago it could have been implemented "without a negative impact"? Seems Joe just needed a phony crisis to harp on.

Knollenberg's Position is Whatever Lobbyists Tell Him It Is.

Joe & Gonzo

Calls for the resignation of the U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, are ringing out from both sides of the aisle in Congress. Members of the House and Senate -- both Democrats and Republicans -- have been calling for his resignation amidst the scandal of his firing 8 U.S. Attorneys and replacing them with Karl Rove's political cronies.

Congressman Vern Ehlers, a Republican from Grand Rapids, has called for Gonazales' resignation.

Joe Knollenberg, the Congressman with the amazing knack of finding the wrong side of every issue has yet to make any public declarations about his position on the issue. He hasn't said he supports Gonzales. But he hasn't called for his resignation either.

Why is Joe Knollenberg silent on important issues of corruption and cronyism?

Knollenberg Loses Power

The non-partisian Congress.org has put out their 2007 power rankings. Many Michigan Republicans took a big hit, especially Joe Knollenberg.

"Joe Knollenberg (MI-09) is 220th". This is HUGE considering Joe was all the way up at 12th just a year ago. We already know that Joe was fakin' the bacon, but will he be able to deliver at all for us anymore? Smart money should flock to the Democratic nominee, to deliver for our moderate district in a Democratic Congress.

How Knollenberg's Economics Have Hurt Middle Class Families

Joe Knollenberg has consistently supported economic policies that harm middle class families.

He has been a big supporter of George Bush's tax cuts for the rich -- which we were told would create jobs and drive economic growth.

Part of that is true, those tax cuts certainly drove economic growth -- but the growth was only in the net worth of the wealthiest of individuals.

Under George Bush & Joe Knollenberg's economic policies -- we'll call them "Knollenomics" -- the inequality between rich and poor has grown dramatically.

The Rich Have Gotten Richer Faster Under Knollenomics
A March 29, 2007 article in the New York Times reported on a professor's analysis of IRS data. According to the NYT, some of the conclusions are:

• In 2005, the top 1 percent of Americans (i.e., make over $348,000/yr) got their largest share of national income since 1928
• Those in the top 10% of income levels (i.e., over $100,000/yr) also got their largest share of national income. Everyone else LOST income.
• Total income increased almost 9 percent in 2005. But those gains went primarily to the top 1%

Those in the top 1% saw their incomes go over $1.1 million (a 14% increase).

There are approximately 300 million Americans now.

It takes half of them (150 million in the bottom income tier) to earn as much as the top 300,000 Americans.

The income inequality gap has almost doubled since 1980 -- with the top earners making 440 times what the average person in the bottom half earned.

We Were Warned

Remember during the 2000 Presidential campaign when Al Gore kept saying that George Bush's tax cuts were only going to benefit the top 1%. Well, the data now shows that he was correct.

The NYT article also reported that the "share of income taken by federal taxes" for middle class Americans has been essentially the same for 40 years. But the weathiest of Americans have seen their tax burdens drop by 50%.

The Bush tax cuts -- supported in full and rubber stamped by Joe Knollenberg -- have only made the very rich much richer while the middle class has been left behind.

"President Bush and "Karl Rove" show up to help launch RetireJoeKnollenbeg.com

"President Bush" and "Karl Rove" were nice enough to stop by at Joe's office in Farmington Hills to help launch www.RetireJoeKnollenberg.com today. Everyone that attended was really excited to meet Karl and President Bush. I hope you will visit the www.RetireJoeKnollenberg.com site often.

"Do Nothing Joe"

"Do Nothing Joe" Knollenberg is certainly living up to his nickname these days.

Looking back at his record over the first quarter of this year we can see that he hasn't done anything useful!!!

One could argue that given concerns over Knollenberg's competency, maybe it is better that he doesn't do much. Like his friend George Bush, Knollenberg is always on the wrong side of the issue anyway.

But there are times when leadership is important. And Joe provides no leadership whatsoever.

One such area has to do with our trade policies.

Knollenberg Supports Trade Agreements That Threaten Our Jobs & Our Health
We've reported before that Joe Knollenberg supports what he calls "free trade" with countries like China. He fails to recognize that there is no such thing as free trade. There is always a cost.

The cost to us in Michigan has been jobs. We have seen our high paying jobs -- both blue collar manufacturing jobs and the associated white collar engineering jobs get shipped overseas. And Knollenberg supports the federal policies that allow that to continue.

And we can now see another example of how Knollenberg's "Free Trade" agreements cause us harm -- look at the poisoned pet food problem that we are experiencing.

That poison has been traced back to a manufacturing plant in China that sold wheat gluten to the food manufacturers.

Not only is this tragic because it means many of us have been unknowingly poisoning our dogs and cats, but today DelMonte announced that the wheat gluten they used in their recalled foods was labeled as "human grade". That means that it may well have been used in human food products.


Another disturbing aspect of this crisis is that FDA's activities seem limited to posting information on their website and maybe helping with some forensic evaluations of the pet food.

Isn't this the sort of thing the FDA should be protecting us from in the first place? Why aren't they? Of course Joe Knollenberg has shown NO LEADERSHIP on the issue of FDA's failure to protect public health and welfare from bad drugs or bad food.

Is Knollenberg incompetent
or has he just been paid off
by lobbyists
to not do anything that could
cost their industry's money?

When is a Blog Not a Blog -- When it is Joe Knollenberg's

Joe Knollenberg now claims to have a "blog".

What is most interesting though, is that he doesn't allow anyone to leave comments on his "blog".

So, basically, Knollenberg's idea of a "blog" means he gets to censor free speech.


The Irony of it All
Of course there is even more irony on Joe's new website -- he doesn't allow you to contact him by email!!!

His "contact" page only provides snail mail addresses.

That is not a surprise to his Constituents who have tried to contact him already know that he doesn't meet with or correspond with, or even reply to constituents.

It is just ironic that he has a website, but won't allow anyone to make comments or contact him via email.


Joe Knollenberg Ignores Constituents But Meets With Lobbyists
He does meet frequently with Washington DC lobbyists from Big Oil, Pharma, etc. He particularly likes to have them host fundraisers for him. (We have more about that coming up in a future post.)

Too bad we as voters don't have a lobbyist. That would be the only way we could get Joe to listen. Well, if we had a lobbyist and we gave him lots of money towards his re-election campaign.

We have a different strategy for 2008 though. We are building a grassroots effort to replace Joe. We have been getting great support from the community.

If you want to help us
get Joe Knollenberg out of Congress,
contact us at
joe@knollenberg.org

Meanwhile, notice all the anti-Knollenberg websites that are popping up these days like www.retirejoeknollenberg.com and www.knollenberg.org. No wonder Joe is so nervous these days.

First Retire Hawaii Joe Knollenberg House Party a Success

The first Retire Hawaii Joe Knollenberg House party was held in Rochester Hills on Sunday. We had an enthusiastic group as we gathered for fun, food and politics. Here's a little video we recorded to express our feelings about Joe Knollenberg.

Joe Knollenberg's War on the Middle Class Continues

Once again Joe Knollenberg has voted AGAINST Middle Class families.

Yesterday, Congress voted on a Resolution to:

* Provide Funds for the State Children's Health Insurance Program
* Grant middle-income tax relief
* Provide funds for higher education
* Make improvements in Medicare
* Support the creation of long term energy alternatives


JOE KNOLLENBERG VOTED NO ON ALL OF THOSE THINGS.

JOE KNOLLENBERG Opposes providing Health Insurance to Children.

JOE KNOLLENBERG Opposes providing middle class tax relief

JOE KNOLLENBERG Opposes making higher education more affordable.

JOE KNOLLENBERG Opposes allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices to save Seniors and taxpayers money.

JOE KNOLLENBERG Opposes alternative energy plans that could reduce profits for Big Oil companies.


Joe Knollenberg Has Spent His Career Fighting AGAINST MIDDLE CLASS families.

Joe Knollenberg is TOO EXTREME for Oakland County.

Now Joe is trying to pass himself off as defender of education

It's so sad. Joe is so scared of losing his seat in Congress, he's willing to do and say anything.

Joe Knollenberg is not a defender of education

I feel compelled to write in response to Joe Knollenberg’s recent letter to the editor in the Birmingham Eccentridc regarding his legislation to provide a $5,000 scholarship for high school students that enter college and major in math, science, engineering or health-care related field.

Great idea Joe, but you’re a little late to the party. If I could ever get to meet with you face to face, I’d ask why you’re only now proposing legislation to address the education needs of our children. Just to refresh the voters’ memory, back in 2005, Joe Knollenberg voted to slash funding for primary schools by $784 million. Joe also voted to cut federal student aid by $12.7 billion that would have allowed middle class students to obtain low cost loans. That same legislation increased the interest rate charged on the loans that are still being offered. Now Joe Knollenberg would have us believe he’s on our side. The hypocrisy is overwhelming. When Joe Knollenberg was in the majority and he felt his seat was not at risk, he felt perfectly safe slashing education funds.

Now that he feels his seat in Congress is in jeopardy, Joe feels the need to introduce legislation. I say voters are smarter than you give them credit for, Mr. Knollenberg.

In a recent document that was referenced in Congressional hearings involving the General Services Administration, Mr. Knollenberg is listed as “may not run.” Even though he has announced he is running, it makes one think, maybe the White House knows something we don’t know as Joe’s constituents.

Bye Bye Joe

Both the Democratic Party and the Republics consider Knollenberg to be on the endangered list in terms of the 2008 election.

The 9th District is only marginally ~1% Republican now. By 2008 that will have changed in part because of demographics and in part because the Republic Party as a brand has a reputation somewhere below that of Enron.

Add to that Knollenberg's unconditional support of George Bush's war in Iraq when the vast majority of voters in this District oppose the war and you have a recipe for Knollenberg being defeated by a landslide.

Bye bye Joe.

Why don't you do us all a favor and just resign now.

Oh, and take your smarmy lobbyist staffers with you.

Rove document lists Knollenberg as "may not run"

During a hearing today in front of Henry Waxman's committee a Powerpoint presentation was being discussed. On page 10 of the presentation there is an asterisk next to Joe's name which indicates that Joe may not seek re-election. Is there something you're not telling us, Joe? Maybe this blog is having a bigger effect on Joe's re-election plans than we thought.

Knollenberg Gets Even Cozier With Lobbyists

Joe Knollenberg must know that voters are starting to realize just how EXTREME he is and how out of touch he is with the District.

He has already started campaigning for 2008!

Not only has he started campaigning, but he has started to line up lobbyists and is collecting their big checks. He has a big fundraiser scheduled for April 25th in Washington DC. He is charging lobbyists $1000 per ticket just to get in. I wonder what how many favors a $1000 buys from Joe these days?

Oh, and the fundraiser is a function of ROMP -- an organization started by TOM DELAY!!! Yep. Joe Knollenberg is still following Tom Delay's lead. Maybe this is how Tom Delay pays back rubber stamp Congressman like Joe Knollenberg.

Of course just last week Knollenberg was at a fundraiser with Karl Rove. Rove of course is good friends with the lobbyist and convicted felon, Jack Abramoff.

Joe sure knows how to pick his felons lobbyists criminals friends.

Why Does Joe Knollenberg Hate Free Speech?

Most members of Congress have at least some appreciation of the Constitution -- including the Bill of Rights.

Joe Knollenberg is the exception. Joe Knollenberg's actions indicate he is an ardent opponent of free speech.

Here are a few examples of how Knollenberg tries to stifle free speech:

1. Knollenberg has started a "blog" but refuses to accept public comments on his blog
2. Knollenberg's Chief of Staff, a Washington DC Lobbyist, attacks voters who exercise their free speech rights by writing letters to the editor or by engaging in peaceful protests
   
3. Knollenberg consistently objects to members of Congress who propose resolutions that he objects to -- he doesn't just indicate his objection to the substance of the resolution, he argues they shouldn't even offer the resolution in the first place.

Then again, Knollenberg seems to object to everything about the 1st amendment. We know for example that he believes that government should ignore the portion of the first amendment that precludes the government from establishing religion -- because Knollenberg is a Christian Nationalist, Knollenberg believes the U.S. is a "Christian Nation" and doesn't think citizens who are not christian should be able to challenge government actions to promote the Christian religion.

We already addressed this in a previous post where we noted that that Joe Knollenberg voted YES on the Christian Supremacy Act.

Poor Joe doesn't like it when the Democrats play politics

From Joe's blog:
http://www.knollenberg.house.gov/blog/?p=27

"Support our Troops
Earlier this year, I introduced a resolution recognizing March 26th as “National Support Our Troops Day.” I introduced the same resolution last year and the House passed it unanimously! However, this year Speaker Pelosi won’t even allow a vote on my resolution. There is only one reason for this: POLITICS. Why won’t a Democrat Speaker allow a Republican member to offer a resolution honoring our troops? POLITICS!It’s time for the politics to end and the bipartisan support of our troops to begin."

OMG! Politics in Congress! Who could ever imagine that.

Yes, we should support our troops, Joe, and the best way to do that is TO BRING THEM HOME!!!! Funny how short the Republicans' memory is -- when they were in charge it was okay to block votes on resolutions, but now that the Democrats are in the majority, it's all of a sudden something to cry about.

And, by the way, Joe, Nancy Pelosi is the Democratic Speaker, not the Democrat Speaker.

Knollenberg Wastes Taxpayer $$$ To Spread Campaign Lies

Joe Knollenberg just send out another campaign flyer on taxpayer money.

He doesn't even bother to try to send out fake newsletters anymore, he just sends out regular campaign literature.

This is just another in a long line of examples of Joe Knollenberg's refusal to exercise common sense when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars.

The flyer is humorous though in the sense that it states in bold red type: "Knollenberg Votes NO on Oil Subsidies..."

What is funny is that if he hadn't voted for them in 2005, he wouldn't have been embarrassed into voting against them in 2007!!!

Joe Knollenberg voted to give Big Oil companies billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies.

Joe is on the Wrong Side of the Iraq Issue

Once again, Joe Knollenberg is on the wrong side of an important issue.

We know the majority of Americans now oppose the war in Iraq. In a recent poll, USAToday found that 59% of Americans thought the war in Iraq was a mistake in the first place.

46% of Americans don't think we can win in Iraq.

58% think we should withdraw troops within the next 12 months.

Once again, Joe Knollenberg is ignoring the will of the people.

Joe Knollenberg is still advocating the failed strategy of "Stay the Course".

Knollenberg's Vote Today Hurts Our Troops

In addition to assuring funding sufficient for the Pentagon to properly equip the troops, the supplemental spending bill that passed the House today (also known as the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act" also supported the troops in other ways as well.

The Act would hold the Bush Administration and Iraqi government accountable and would get our troops out of the way of the current civil war by engaging in a strategic redeployment by 2008.

In addition, the bill expanded funding for veterans’ health care and hospitals.

The bill also funded efforts to refocus military efforts on Afghanistan and fighting terrorism.

The only thing the opponents could come up with was that the bill was "micromanaging" the war. But that is disingenuous. There are legislative off-ramps that would allow the President to waive any provisions that were too restrictive. There was no excuse not to support this bill.

Joe Knollenberg voted NO on all of these things.

But I think the part that is still most disturbing is that Knollenberg refuses to vote for legislation that would mandate that the troops have proper body armor.

Again, this 30 second video illustrates the consequences of Knollenberg's stubborn refusal to give our troops the proper body armor:

Knollenberg Votes Against The Troops Again!

Joe Knollenberg voted against the troops again!

HR 1591 was the supplemental funding bill. It includes funding for the war in Iraq. Unlike previous legislation funding the war in Iraq, the Democrats have insisted that any troops that Bush sends to Iraq have at least the minimum amount of body armor that a soldier should have.

Specifically, the bill prohibits

the use of funds under this Act to deploy any unit of the Armed Forces to Iraq unless the chief of the military department concerned has certified to the congressional appropriations committees in advance that the unit is fully mission capable.

There is an "escape" provision that "Authorizes the President to waive such prohibition and deployment limits on a unit-by-unit basis for reasons of national security."

Knollenberg voted NO on this bill because it contained provisions like that that were intended to protect the troops by guaranteeing they would not be sent into harm's war without at least having the proper protective equipment including the current technology for bullet proof vests. Knollenberg would allow our troops to go into battle using the old and outdated vests that were used in Vietnam.

This 30 second video shows that using the most current technology for bullet proof vests is a matter of life and death.



Rather than support the troops, Joe Knollenberg has once again chosen to just vote his Party line.