Did Joe get Yen maniupulation wrong?

I'm no economist, but this seems to make sense to me. It's Toyota combating Knollenberg's argument on yen manipulation.

Weak Yen or Strong Products?

We're going to take an overdue look at an old wives' tale that materializes rather like unwelcome ghosts from time to time.

It is that the Japanese government has somehow manipulated the value of its currency, the yen, to benefit Japanese-based companies that do business in the United States and Europe, holding it artificially low so that the manufacturers are able to realize what amounts to a subsidy on products they build in Japan and sell abroad.

Indeed, this tale of the manipulated yen is far more spectral than, say, Casper, our friendly ghost of theatrical cartoon series fame. It raised its wispy head again late last year, this time in a letter from Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R., Mich.), published in the Wall Street Journal.

CLICK HERE for the rest of the story.

Right to Work is Wrong for Michigan

On Tuesday, January 15, primary election day in Michigan, you may run across people asking you to sign a petition to make Michigan a "Right to Work" state.

DON'T SIGN THAT PETITION!!!!

It will drastically affect you and your family in a negative way if Michigan were to become a "Right to Work" state. Watch this video.

Joe Knollenberg Loves George W. Bush

I wonder how this will look played on television in say, October of 2008.

West Bloomfield Eccentric: Congressional Election Could Hinge on Outsiders

Congressional election could hinge on outsiders
By Annette Kingsbury
STAFF WRITER

In the 1860s, Abraham Lincoln suffered the slings and arrows of nasty political cartoons. In 1964, a black-and-white TV ad showed a mushroom cloud over a child picking daisies, implying that presidential candidate Barry Goldwater would use the nuclear bomb in Vietnam.

In the digital age, you don't have to have money, access to the media or party connections to make waves in politics. Anyone with a camera phone and Internet access can get involved in a big way.

Rochester Hills retiree Bruce Fealk has forced people to pay attention to his campaign to unseat incumbent Congressman Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Township. A liberal, Fealk has put up his own Web sites, hosts a cable TV show and engages in good old-fashioned demonstrating, such as showing up at the Rochester Christmas parade in a big papier mache likeness of Knollenberg.

Michign Progress

Retire Joe Knollenberg

CLICK HERE for the rest of the story.

Detroit News notes Albright hire by Knollenberg

This article appeared on January 2 in the Detroit News, noting Trent Wisecup's run-in with a camera wielding anti-war activist (me) and gives the link to the video and quotes Joe as saying Craig Albright is a professional, maybe implying Trent wasn't so professional?

It looks like rather than take a new tack, Joe prefers to stick with someone he knows. I expect that we'll see more of the same from Joe, rather than learning from his mistakes of the past. That's good news for Gary Peters, his expected opponent in the 2008 general election. This being Joe's last campaign, I'm glad Joe at least isn't going to turn into a Mitt Romney flip-flopper. Oh, did I mention Joe endorsed Romney?

Rep. Knollenberg hires top aide

U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills, announced today that he's hired a new chief of staff, Craig Albright, who's worked in Republican politics since the mid-1990s and who's also getting ready to be a first-time dad.

Knollenberg is expected to face another barnburner of a race. He's targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He'll face the winner of the Democratic match between former Michigan lottery commissioner Gary Peters and Nancy Skinner, who held Knollenberg to an unimpressive 52-percent victory in 2006.

The already hot feelings in the race were captured on video and posted on YouTube in October. Knollenberg's chief of staff at the time, Trent Wisecup, got into a testy exchange with a camera-wielding anti-war activist. The video has now been watched 47,696 times. Afterwards, Wisecup announced he had gone on paid medical leave to seek treatment for a mood-swing disorder. Knollenberg's office said Wisecup is no longer employed either on the congressional or campaign staff.

"I'm excited to have Craig on board," Knollenberg said in a statement. "He's a true professional and effective at getting things done. It's rare to find someone with extensive knowledge of both my congressional district and Washington, DC."

Albright grew up in Birmingham and has a BA in economics from Michigan State University.

He worked as a legislative aide in the Michigan state legislature before Knollenberg hired him from 1997 to 2005 (including as campaign manager in 2002). He then worked for Vice President Cheney as deputy assistant for legislative affairs and for President Bush as special assistant for legislative affairs.

Joe ignores Albanian-American prisoners

Albanian-American RALLY at Congressman Joe Knollenberg’s Office

RALLY IN SUPPORT OF THE ALBANIAN-AMERICAN POLITICAL PRISONERS ILLEGALLY DETAINED & TORTURED IN MONTENEGRO

Monday, January 7, 2008 at 11:00 am

Farmington Hills Office

30833 Northwestern Hwy
Suite 100
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Phone: (248) 851-1366
Fax: (248) 851-0418

We are rallying at the District Office of Honorable Congressman Knollenberg after numerous appeals by the families of his (4) four imprisoned constituents have gone unheard. The Montenegrin authorities need to be held accountable for their crimes against the U.S. Citizens. It is expected that our elected officials secure the safety and well being of their citizens at home and in other nations. Four (4) American men are deteriorating in a Montenegrin prison while Congressman Knollenberg chooses to ignore the cries of his constituents. The Honorable Congressman Knollenberg needs to fulfill his obligations in Washington by being the voice of his constituents and bring his Americans home!


Contact: Ms. Katrina Dedvukaj Contact: Mrs. Suzanne Lucaj
Phone: (248) 499-3856 Phone: (248) 346-4383

Joe promised to hold hearings on toilets

Wow, this is going to be more fun than I thought. The more I look into the scandal surrounding low-flush toilets, the more serious a problem this looks like. After introducing legislation to repeal the low-flush toilet requirement, Joe, through his legislative director, Craig Albright, promised to hold hearings looking into this serious matter facing the nation.

I feel better already knowing that Joe was on the case and holding hearings. I wonder who the witnesses were. I'll report back in another post.

Even the New York Times weighed in on Poopgate. Click here.

Click here to read the full article.
Early last year, Knollenberg introduced H.R. 859, the Plumbing Standards Improvement Act of 1997, which would repeal the low-flow mandate. The bill has generated substantial public support. "The mail has just been tremendous," says Craig Albright, a legislative assistant to Knollenberg. Most complain about the performance of the new toilets, and about a government that would do such a thing to them. For example, Bill Lynn of Davenport, Iowa, said his new toilets "clog easily, and I find that I sometimes must flush them five or six times," and that "this is just another case of government intrusion, and we have plenty of that." A few have also come to realize that the law's means for conserving water may be a bit misdirected. "It is especially frustrating when I'm plunging my toilet for the third time in one day, to gaze out my window and see my neighbor's sprinkling system," noted Kurt Topel of Riverwoods, Ill. The congressman has promised to hold a hearing after the fall elections.

Albright worked for Joe during toilet movement

I did a little research on Craig Albright, Joe Knollenberg's new Chief of Staff. It appears Craig was Joe's legislative director in 1998 when Joe made it a priority to repeal a law mandating low-flow toilets. Click here for Dave Barry's point of view on the Toilet Police.

I'm impressed! Repealing something with as much importance and low-flow toilets is something I'd want to to flush out for the voters in the 9th District.

I can't wait to see how Craig reacts to the swirling campaign taking place in the 9th District.

Knollenberg names former Bush Cheney legislative director as Chief of Staff

Welcome to the race, Craig. Given your background working in the Bush/Cheney White House, it looks like Joe chose someone with some pretty bad baggage. Looks like Craig has the same priorities as Trent, so he looks to be a pretty good fit for Joe's last campaign.

Albright named Knollenberg chief of staff

Birmingham native Craig Albright has been named chief of staff for Congressman Joe Knollenberg (R-9th District).

Albright replaced Trent Wisecup who resigned later last year.

Knollenberg made the announcement Wednesday.

“I’m excited to have Craig on board,” Knollenberg said is a press release. “He’s a true professional and effective at getting things done. It’s rare to find someone with extensive knowledge of both my Congressional District and Washington, D.C.

“Craig’s dedication to the people of the 9th District and knowledge of Washington are the perfect combination to assist me in accomplishing what I want to do for the people here in Oakland County.”

Albright worked for two years as a legislative aide in the Michigan State Legislature before moving to Washington to work for Knollenberg. He worked for Knollenberg from 1997-2005, including nearly four years as legislative director, and served as Knollenberg’s campaign manager in 2002. From 2005-2006, Albright served as deputy assistant for Legislative Affairs to vice president Dick Cheney. From 2006 until the end of 2007, he served as special assistant for Legislative Affairs to President Bush.

Albright was raised in Birmingham and his parents live there. He received a bachelor of arts in economics degree from Michigan State University. He and his wife Mary Beth are expecting their first child later this year.

385 days until a Democrat Represents Michigan's 9th District

Well, it's New Year's Eve and only 385 days until January 20, 2009, when a Democrat will finally start to represent the 9th Congressional District of Michigan.

I have done my best in 2007 to draw attention to Joe Knollenberg's voting record on things that Americans care about, like torture, the fiasco in Iraq, warrantless wiretapping andthe criminals in the White House and their above-the-law attitude toward the high office they hold. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Joe Knollenberg all think that the presidency is their personal playground to do with what they will. Well, the American people have news for you, George, Dick and Joe, this country was founded on government of the people, by the people and for the people and 2008 will be the year that Americans remember this founding principle of our government and start to treat the U.S Constitution the way our founding fathers intended.

The long nightmare of the George W. Bush presidency can't be over soon enough for me, nor can the nightmare of Joe Knollenberg's representation of the 9th District of Michigan. Soon we will have a representative that actually cares about the people and not the corporations.

Joe brings home money for Woodward signs, but says no to money for children's health care

This article showed up in Friday's Free Press. So I guess residents are supposed to say thank you to Joe Knollenberg for bringing home money for signs for Woodward Avenue? Not me. Joe Knollenberg has let voters down on the big issues like health care, voting against expanding a government program that works, the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Thanks to Joe 9 million children won't be able to afford health care. He continues to vote with the President to fund the fiasco in Iraq. He votes for more invasion of our privacy by allowing President Bush to spy on Americans. He votes to allow the President to break international laws by allowing torture of prisoners, leaving American prisoners open to the same treatment by our enemies.

Joe Knollenberg bringing home a few hundred thousand dollars for signage for Woodward Avenue does not make up for all the damage he's heaped on our country. I'd gladly give up the money for the signs in exchange for bringing our soldiers home to their loved ones. I'd gladly give up signs for Woodward in exchange for him protecting our civil liberties. I'd gladly give up the signs for a vote for protecting the health of our children. What kind of human being is Joe Knollenberg that he thinks that signs are more important than children?

How many children will die needlessly that could have been covered by the $845,000 that Joe brought home for signs? Shame on you, Joe.

Fortunately I have health care coverage, so I can afford to say this, Joe, you make me sick.

Woodward Avenue beautification helped by federal grant

December 28, 2007

BILL LAITNER

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Woodward Avenue’s signs and tourist attractions will get a shot in the arm in the new year from a fresh round of federal transportation grants.

News of four grants totaling $845,000 came early this month in a letter from U.S. Rep Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Township.

The letter was being made public this week, said Debbie Schutt, a consultant for the nonprofit Woodward Avenue Action Association, which will implement the grant spending. The actual grant recipient is the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Knollenberg “was instrumental in getting this money,” said Schutt, who lives in Bloomfield Township one block from Woodward.

The real goal of Shock and Awe in Iraq

I'm reading Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein right now, and it's a very enlightening look at the U.S. involvement and how Milton Friedman's economic theories have played a role across the globe. Iraq was the ultimate testing ground for the theories Friedman espoused. As we now know, the experiment has gone very badly and has been a catastrophe for U.S. foreign policy.

3.3 Million MoveOn Members Target Joe Knollenberg

Joe Knollenberg is one of the most vulnerable members of Congress. We will have a strong, well funded candidate that will finally flip the 9th Congressional District of Michigan to the Democratic column and help turn this country around.

To help, please consider donating at Peters for Congress. There is no coordination of effort between MoveOn and the Peters campaign. However, Joe Knollenberg is one of the races that MoveOn has targeted in the 2008 election cycle.

Joe, Santa could use your help to bring them home for Christmas

I'm getting to spend the holidays with my granddaughter, so I know how special it would be if all of our soldiers serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world could spend the holidays with their spouses and children, the way it was meant to be. We can do it. Our soldiers have done all they can in Iraq. Let's show some real family values and reunite our service men and women with their families. Not one more Christmas in Iraq.

Joe, this is why we need, single-payer, universal health care

(From Crooksandliars.com) Many people have followed the horrifying story of Nataline Sarkisyan. She was denied a liver transplant by health care giant CIGNA because they called it “experimental.”

Play video

CIGNA has ignored this medical decision and calls the transplant “experimental” as justification for denying the treatment. CIGNA’s refusal of Nataline’s liver transplant—overruling the urgent appeals of an array of doctors and nurses—is indicative of the failures of the new healthcare plan sponsored by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Fabian Nunez. That plan, which is actively supported by CIGNA, requires every single Californian to purchase insurance products from companies like CIGNA, but does not address the problem of denial of care evident in this situation.

After a protest led by the California Nurses Association along with family and friends turned the heat up on CIGNA, they finally approved the life saving procedure, but…

In a stunning turn around, insurance giant CIGNA has capitulated to community demands, and protests that the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee helped to generate, and agreed to a critically needed liver transplant for Nataline Sarkisyan, a 17-year-old girl in the intensive care unit at UCLA Medical Center…

…they acted too late and she died.

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee today blasted insurance giant CIGNA for failing to approve a liver transplant one week earlier for listen to 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, who tragically died last night just hours after CIGNA relented and agreed to the procedure following a massive national outcry.

An editorial by the Houston Chronical called CIGNA’s decision to deny the teen a liver transplant until it was too late “Heartless.”

As California and the nation debate how to institute universal health insurance coverage for citizens, the Sarkisyan case indicates that more must be done than simply covering everyone with a policy. All too frequently, insurance company bureaucrats are making medical judgments that should be left in the hands of a patient’s physician…

If the staff at the UCLA transplant unit approved Nataline’s procedure, that should have been the end of the discussion. For universal health coverage to be meaningful, such decisions must be taken out of the hands of insurance adjustors and placed with an impartial arbiter whose interest is the welfare of the patient rather than a corporation’s balance sheet.

Will the tragedy that struck Nataline Sarkisyan and her family because health care giant CIGNA initially refused a life saving medical treatment become an important story for the voters in Iowa as they begin the process that will determine which candidate will represent each party in the upcoming Presidential election?

Republican voters may face the same situation as the Sarkisyan’s. The CIGNA’s of the world could care less if a family filled out a GOP loyalty oath or did the Pledge of allegiance to President Bush...

Trent Wisecup - The Gift that keeps giving (Crain's)

I found this little gem in Crain's Detroit Business.

Gifts we hope will keep on giving

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg: New press aides. Though hailing from different political parties, these guys share at least one thing in common: Both had press aides flame out in spectacular fashion during 2007. Kilpatrick aide Matt Allen was out after his arrest for domestic violence in November. Knollenberg aide Trent Wisecup had been sending bizarre emails to news media for months before he left the congressman's office. What took so long?

I hope you're happy Joe. How many children will die because of your callousness?

This story makes me literally sick to my stomach, that the Democrats pass legislation extending health care to millions of children and Joe Knollenberg and his Republican colleagues vote the legislation down and then don't have the courage to override the President's veto of this important and life-saving program. What kind of country is this anyway, that leaves children without health care coverage? Pro-life my ass. Joe Knollenberg and the Republicans that voted against this bill are hypocrites of the worst variety.

Democrats Suffer Loss as House Extends SCHIP

by Julie Rovner

Listen Now and read the rest of the story [3 min 33 sec] add to playlist

All Things Considered, December 19, 2007 · The Democratic-led Congress on Wednesday officially waved the white flag of surrender on its top domestic issue: the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP. Eleven months and two presidential vetoes after vowing to expand its reach, the House instead passed and sent to President Bush a bill that will essentially continue the program in its current form until 2009.

Naomi Klein - Shock Doctrine

Yesterday I purchased a book every American should read, The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. I've been struggling to make sense of the Bush Administration's policies, torture, war, privitzation of government functions, etc. I thought surely George W. Bush gets that he has lost the support of most of the country, yet he continues to put forward policies that make him less and less popular with the vast majority of Americans. But yet he pushes forward. Why?

The first 20 pages of Shock Doctrine explain why. Get yourself an early Christmas present and pick up a copy for all your friends. This is a very powerful book, and I'm not even through the first chapter of the book, but I know everyone needs to read this book if you love America, the way America used to be. CLICK HERE to purchase it at Amazon.com.

Republicans pass Christmas Resolution, but Joe votes against children's health care and for torture

I have to admit to being a little confused this morning. As Christmas approaches, it makes me wonder what the Christmas spirit really means and how Christian Republicans translate their faith into their political life. I wonder what Jesus would say about how the U.S. Congress voted yesterday. Congress approved a non-binding resolution recognizing the importance of Christmas in America. Yet the same people, Joe Knollenberg among them, twice voted against expanding health care to more of America's children, and he's for allowing torture by America's armed forces, CIA and contractors on behalf of the U.S. military and all Americans, for more war, threatening war with Iran, for more spying on Americans and countless other measures that go against the historical moral position of America, not to mention the President continuing to diminish the power of Congress in general and disrespecting the checks and balances the founding fathers wrote into the Constitution that Joe Knollenberg swore to uphold when took his oath of office while his right hand was on a bible.

But Republicans still try to claim the moral high ground based on their "pro-life" position on abortion, but justify their pro-capital punishment position somehow. "Faith" whatever that means in America today, has been a topic of much discussion in our presidential debates, even though the Republican party only has one candidate that is on his first marriage, and he's a Mormon. Rudy Giuliani's shortcomings (a polite word for corruption) are now coming to light. First it was the fact that his mistress had a security detail paid for with public funds. Yesterday it came to light that one of his clients was a company that provided data mining services to U.S. intelligence agencies and Rudy's company, Giuliani Partners was paid a commission by the company he helped and that that help consisted of setting up meetings with Vice President Cheney with the data mining company.

The most religious of the Republican candidates, Mike Huckabee, thinks women in this country should be subservient to their husbands and HIV patients should be put in quarantine.

How in the world did we get to this point in American politics?

Joe Votes to Allow Torture

Joe Knollenberg voted against banning waterboarding to interrogate detainees. Joe wants America to continue to break international law and against the Constitution of the United States.

This morning the House Republicans once again affirmed that they want the CIA to disobey international law AND use interrogation techniques proven to result in false or inaccurate intelligence. In short, the Republicans love torture.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation to bar CIA agents from using waterboarding during the questioning of suspected terrorists...

The House, in a 222-199 vote, passed annual policy legislation for intelligence agencies that included the ban on the use of simulated drowning in interrogations.

``This would mean no more torture and no more questions about what the CIA is allowed to do behind closed doors,'' said Representative Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat...

The legislation approved by the House today would require that all U.S. spy agencies follow the Army Field Manual's interrogation standard, which doesn't authorize waterboarding or other harsh techniques.

To become law, the legislation approved today would have to be approved by the Senate, which hasn't scheduled a vote, and be signed by Bush, who has stated his opposition.