Bush Tours America to Survey Damage Caused by his Presidency

George W. Bush and Joe Knollenberg took a tour of America to see the damage caused by George W. Bush's presidency. Joe Knollenberg, one of his accomplices tagged along.

Joe Wants Us to Know He's Really Concerned about our 4th of July Plans

Joe sent out this 4th of July message. He wants us to know he's really concerned about gas prices, even though the Bush administration and Joe Knollenberg have been a big part of the problem and why we still don't have a comprehensive energy plan. Joe's plan will give Big Oil even higher profits at the expense of middle income Americans who are already struggling to put gas in the tank and food on the table.

Here's hoping that our military serving in Iraq will be home to celebrate the 4th of July next year with their families.

Wishing You a Happy and Safe 4th of July

Friends:

As those of us in Oakland County, along with Americans across the country, prepare to join with family and friends to celebrate our country's freedom, I wanted to wish you a happy Fourth of July and a safe holiday weekend.

Each year we set aside July 4 to mark the day our founding fathers, at great risk to themselves and their families, put their signatures to a historic document that turned colonies into states and charted the rights and freedoms of the greatest republic the world has ever seen.

The declaration they signed that day reminded the world that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. From that day until today, we as Americans have striven to make those written words living realities.

We should all pause this holiday to remember the brave men and women of our military who will spend this holiday away from their family and friends in the defense of the freedom we celebrate and cherish. Freedom is not free, and their heroic sacrifices are what pay the price for all of us.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Enjoy the good company, the barbeques, the beauty of Michigan in summer, the fireworks, and the good fortune of living in this great land - the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Sincerely,

Congressman Joe Knollenberg

PS - I know gas prices will be on your mind this weekend, and they may have even changed your plans. I want you to know that I'm as outraged by them as you are, and I'll continue fighting for my plan to bring them down. Then, someday soon, this country can celebrate its independence from high gas prices and foreign oil.

Joe Knollenberg all talk, no walk on energy for consumers

Joe Knollenberg is all talk when it comes to trying to protect consumers again. Part of Knollenberg's "energy plan" is to protect consumers against price gouging at the pump. Yet when he had a chance to vote to allow the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on price gougers, guess how Joe voted. You probably guessed. Joe voted no. Click here for details. Just another in a long list of blows to the middle class and how Republicans just can't seem to give the little guy a break.

In another yet another blow to the middle class, Joe Knollenberg voted against temporary relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax, which was meant to tax upper income tax payers, but it now hitting middle income taxpayers because it hasn't been adjusted for inflation since it was passed. Joe Knollenberg voted no on the measure to allow for temporary relief from this tax. I believe in Republican parlance, that's a tax increase.

Joe Knollenberg and Republicans Running on Empty

Joe Knollenberg and the Republicans have been screaming lately about increasing domestic production as a way to bring down prices at the pump. Guess what they did though, when the Democrats proposed a bill that would increase the amount of drilling on federal lands, most of the Republicans, including Joe Knollenberg, voted against it. Why would he do that you ask? Well, it turns out the proposed legislation didn't increase the amount of land available for drilling. That's Joe for you, hypocrite through and through.

Republicans Vote Against Quick Oil Drilling On Existing Leases

June 29, 2008 at 9:27 pm · Filed under House legislation

For the last couple of months, Republicans in Congress have been whining and complaining that gasoline prices in the United States would go down a whole bunch, if only the the Democrats in Congress would do only something to increase the amount of oil drilling taking place on federal lands.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, but last Thursday, the Democrats in Congress did just that. They proposed a law that would increase the amount of drilling for oil taking place on federal lands.

Funny thing - almost all the Republicans voted against the bill. Why? Well, H.R.6251, called the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act, moves to increase the amount of drilling for fossil fuels on federal lands without increasing the amount of land available for oil drilling. Instead, the law would force oil drilling companies to stop slacking off and to use the federal lands they’re already leasing more efficiently.

You see, although oil companies complain that oil supply is low because there isn’t enough public land available for them to drill on, those same companies are moving as slow as slugs to actually begin drilling on the public land they’re already leasing. The huge majority of land leased for the purposes of oil exploration hasn’t actually been tapped by the oil companies yet. They’re just sitting on that land, not drilling it.

CLICK HERE to read more.

We've all heard how much the war in Iraq is costing, but not like this.

This video puts the cost of the war in Iraq in dollars in very explicit terms.

Republicans have to be told in memo: Empathize with Voters

Oh, my god. Republicans actually had to write a memo to their candidates to remember to empathize with voters, feel their pain.

Politico: Republicans told not to run as Republicans

After 3 special election losses in what had been heavily Republican districts, the Republicans have concluded that their brand is so badly damaged they are now advising their candidates to not mention they're Republicans. How sad is that? With all the running to the middle Joe Knollenberg is doing lately, trying to avoid Joe Knollenberg's hard right voting record, it looks like Joe's campaign is following the new Republican playbook.

GOP reps. advised to avoid party brand
By: Mike Allen
June 27, 2008 05:20 PM EST

A new playbook for House Republicans urges them to run essentially as independents, showing empathy for voters, emphasizing local issues and ignoring many traditional party campaign practices.

The advice for House candidates is part of an effort to minimize Republican losses in a year when voters are exasperated by the economy, the Iraq war and President Bush:

“Encourage Republican candidates to establish themselves in a personal manner, emphasizing local issues whenever possible.”

“Candidates have to have a positive alternative vis-à-vis their Democratic opponents.”

“Work to develop an issues matrix that is different than in years past and also shows a deep empathy towards the voters.”

The advice, from consultants to the National Republican Congressional Committee, was presented this week to House leaders, including NRCC Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.).

The assessment is contained in a 15-point PowerPoint presentation provided to Politico and first reported by David Espo of The Associated Press.

The review was an effort to distill lessons learned from unexpectedly deep Republican losses in special elections in Illinois, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The assessment was provided by the NRCC Audit Committee, formed at the behest of House Republican leader John A. Boehner of Ohio.

The review found that the losing Republicans failed to successfully establish “themselves and their local brand in contrast to the negative perception of the national GOP.”

“Traditional Republican messages essentially did not work in these campaigns,” the analysis says. “Nationalizing these elections as a choice between a traditional Republican and a traditional Democrat did not work in this political environment.

“Democrats ran candidates that were a reflection of their districts.”

Some Personal Stories - Why Health Care Matters

Here are some personal stories about health care and why it matters that we have universal health care for all Americans.

Why would anyone trust Joe Knollenberg on energy plan?

Ah, the good old days. When George W. Bush took office the price of gas was $1.70. Why in the world does Joe Knollenberg think we'll trust him and his constant companion, George W. Bush on a real energy policy to bring down prices now? I will admit, the Republican "energy plan" has been good for Bush's buddies in the oil industry and has produced record profits.
This is a quote from George W. Bush in 2001. "I worry about the fact that hard working people are paying high prices at the pump; it concerns me a lot," the president said recently. "I also say we need to build more refining capacity. We need more supply." Isn't that the same thing he said last week? Sounds to me like Joe Knollenberg and George W. Bush need some new material.

Driving into Debt?
May 23, 2001

Traveling by car these days will cost you more this summer-- at least $1.70 a gallon for gas. That's the average price at the pump this month, up 13 percent from just a year ago.

An estimated 30 million drivers will hit the road for Memorial Day weekend. If each one buys just a gallon of gas, they'll have spent about 51 million bucks. Click here for the rest of the article.

This is about the issues.

This election is about the issues. I do want to apologize to Gary Peters for any grief my letter caused to his campaign, even though the letters attacking me made statements that were lies about me and my relationship to Gary Peters and his campaign. Many of the letters were written by Republicans with ties to Joe Knollenberg's campaign and volunteers working on Knollenberg's campaign. One letter was written by an employee of the Michigan Republican Party. Suffice it to say, the response letters were a coordinated campaign, not random citizens.
In fact, one of Joe's letter writers/volunteers, is Caron McCracken, is Joe's top petition signature gatherer.

Another letter writer, Lauren Gervason, is the field director for Joe Knollenberg's campaign, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Field Director

Knollenberg for Congress

(Public Company ; Political Organization industry)

June 2002 – November 2006 (4 years 6 months)

- Assisted with the 2002-2006 U.S. House of Representatives campaigns
- Organized Letters to the Editor, oversaw absentee ballots, planned and worked events
- Responsible for community outreach

Janelle Tischer, is the wife of Chip Tischer, current political director of the Oakland County Republican party. Chip used to work for the Knollenberg for Congress campaign.

Amy Drumm is a current employee of the Michigan Republican Party.

Teresa Stayer is a member of the GOP 9th District Committee .

Valerie Knol is the current mayor of Farmington, a "non-partisan" position.

Margaret Alberts, wife of attorney Dennis Alberts of Troy, has given large amounts of money and has spread it between the RNC, Joe Knollenberg, the Michigan Republican State Committee, the Bush-Cheney campaign and the Federal Action Committee and lists her occupation as attorney, homemaker and landlord, depending on the contribution you look at. In total, she has given over $13,000 to the various Republican causes and candidates.

The letter that started the flurry of responses was mainly about the issue of health care and Joe Knollenberg's hypocrisy of hosting a women's health conference while receiving a 0 ranking from the National Breast Cancer Coalition and a plethora of other health care advocacy groups. While I applaud Joe Knollenberg for hosting the conference and trying to emphasize the importance of women doing self examinations and having screening tests for breast cancer, he can better serve the interests of the women that attended his conference and all women by actually voting for legislation supporting the issue of women's health, not just talking about it. It might be a good idea for the people that are affiliated with Knollenberg's campaign to do their own research and find out why the National Breast Cancer Coalition gives Knollenberg a 0 rating.

Most of my posts on this blog about Joe Knollenberg have been about issues. They are issues I care about deeply, the economy, health care, the war in Iraq, the gutting of our civil liberties by the Bush administration.

Knollenberg Plan on Energy Seriously Flawed

Joe Knollenberg presenting an energy plan is like George W. Bush presenting a peace plan. Now that Joe Knollenberg is in a tough re-election fight, he's going all green on us. Since he's new to this game, he tries to sound like he has all the answers. Much like his recent women's health conference where he tried to make women think he was a friend of women's health issues, while being ranked with a 0 rating from the National Breast Cancer Coalition, Joe's record on energy issues is disappointing. I searched his web site, and couldn't even find the specifics of his energy plan. As always, the devil is in the details.

The first point of his energy plan is to drill in ANWR, which has been the holy grail of Republican energy policy for years.

It turns out drilling in ANWR solving our energy problems is a myth.

Unraveling myths about ANWR drilling: It just won't work

The first myth about ANWR is that we can solve today's oil problem by drilling there.

But the government says that, even under best-case scenarios, it would take 10 years to start production and the average net drop in price would be about 86 cents per barrel — 0.6 percent.

The second myth about ANWR is that drilling there would provide us with "energy independence."

But the government's most optimistic estimate is that peak ANWR production would be less than 1 percent of total world oil output — about 750,000 barrels per day in a country that consumes 19 million barrels per day.

In fact, the government admits that foreign-oil dependence would decrease only slightly, between the years 2022 and 2026, and would then return to pre-ANWR levels.

The fourth myth about ANWR is that we "know" there's an awful lot of oil just waiting to be pumped there.

But the government admits that "there is much uncertainty" about ANWR and "little direct knowledge" about the location of oil, how easily it can be recovered, the size of the fields and the quality of oil in them. What we "know" is little more than a guess, based upon some hypothetical, exploratory models.

The fifth myth about ANWR is that so-called "limited-footprint" technologies would minimize environmental harm.

But the government admits limited-footprint technology probably won't work and "full development of the 1002 area" would require infrastructure throughout the area.

And the government openly acknowledges the threat to what it calls "the most biologically productive part of the Arctic Refuge for wildlife," "the center of wildlife activity," and the only federal land that "protects, in an undisturbed condition, a complete spectrum of the arctic ecosystem in North America."

At the end of the day, ANWR simply doesn't live up to the mythology. It certainly doesn't seem worth the cost. So it seems the only real relief will come from the dreaded "nanny state" remedies — higher corporate average fuel efficiency standards, smaller cars, fuel conservation and slower driving speeds.

Under its own best-case scenario, the government admits that drilling in ANWR would produce a pitifully tiny effect on foreign-oil dependency — four short years of relief at most — and a trivial effect on gas prices.

And even then, it'd be 10 years before that Suburban and I felt a penny's worth of relief at the gas pump.

It's interesting too that Knollenberg voted NO in 2005 on increasing funding to Amtrak, which a logical person might think funding rail and mass transit would be a good way for our country to decrease dependence on foreign oil. In another flip-flop, only in the right direction in an election year, Joe voted yes for more Amtrak funding provided in the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act.

Another part of his plan is to build more nuclear power plants. The problem is we still haven't figured out what to do with the radioactive waste from the plants we already have. The largest obstacle is lack of private investment. The liability is so high that no one on Wall St. will invest in plants. One catastrophe will eliminate the entire investment. Also, there is a shortage of uranium, so even if the plants are built, there may be no fuel for them by the time they're finally online.

On Joe's idea of allowing more refineries to be built, this is another Republican diversion. The fact is, the oil companies don't want to build new refineries. In fact, they haven't built a new refinery in 29 years. They always try to blame the environmentalists, which these days Joe might say he's gotten religion on the environment, but the fact is the oil companies are enjoying record profits partly due to the fact that there is limited refining capability. Only now that prices are at record levels are oil companies considering building new refineries.

In fact, there are internal oil comapny memos that show the oil companies have been purposely not building refineries so that they can keep oil prices high.

Knollenberg presents plan to fight high gas prices

by Greg Kowalski • Eccentric staff writer • June 17, 2008

Backed by a sign proclaiming the price of gas at $4.09 a gallon, Congressman Joe Knollenberg said, “These gas prices are totally unacceptable,” and unveiled his plan to bring them down.

Knollenberg presented “The Knollenberg Plan to Lower Gas Prices” Monday afternoon at the BP gas station at Maple and Crooks in Troy.

“Two things control what something costs,” Knollenbeg said. “Supply and demand.” Knollenberg’s plan addresses both. To increase supply he is proposing such steps as drilling in Anwar — the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — in Alaska; demanding an increase in foreign output of oil; establishing a uniform national blend of gas; increasing domestic refining, investigating price gouging and halting putting any more oil in the national reserves.

On the demand side, he proposes investing in alternative fuels, hybrids and biodiesel; increased use of renewal fuels, use of nuclear power to generate electricity and the conservation of gas through better driving habits.

Launching the program with Knollenberg was U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, House Minority whip. The Republican from Missouri praised Knollenberg, saying, “He’s been voting for more supply and ways to assist the auto industry.”

“I’m not saying my plan is a silver bullet,” Knollenberg said. “It’s not, but it will turn the tide.”

Recently Knollenberg launched the “Big Three” Act, which encompasses a range of proposals to aid the auto industry and promote fuel efficiency. It includes advanced battery research and development, hydrogen fuel grants and establishment of a new group to set CAFE — Corporate Average Fuel Economy — standards.

Knollenberg is in a tough re-election bid in the 9th U.S. House District against challenger Democrat Gary Peters. Both men have been holding events across the district.

John McBush and Joe Knollenberg, you can't have Alex

This is a really powerful ad that MoveOn just released. I think it says all that's necessary to say about John McCain and Joe Knollenberg's message to the American people. Since Joe has endorsed McCain and McCain has said when we get our troops out of Iraq is "not too important," maybe watching this ad will change their minds.

What was Joe Munem, Andy Dillon recall infiltrator doing at the Obama Event

It looks like Joe Munem, from the Andy Dillon recall and paid Republican operative was busy at the Obama rally in Detroit last night. I went to one of my favorite blogs, Michigan Liberal this morning and there was a post about me and the incident described in a prior post. With a little detective work, I was able to find out that the poster was actually Joe, or as he is known on Michigan Liberal, surferdudedetroit.

Apparently Joe likes to doctor photos, too. During the Dillon recall campaign he was caught altering photos after he infiltrated the group trying to stop the recall of Speaker Dillon.

What were Glenn Clark and his henchmen doing at the Obama Rally in Detroit

Look who we found while we were waiting in line for the Barack Obama Rally last night in Detroit. A few Republican operatives were there with their fearless leader, Glenn Clark. They were trying to get Democrats to sign an unofficial petition they had labeled, Democrats for Gas Tax Repeal. One of them even had a T-shirt on, Jack Bauer for President. You remember Jack Bauer, he's the main character in the TV show, 24, the guy that regularly uses torture to get the bad guys to talk.

It seems our Republican friends were a little camera shy. My friend and I chased them off up the ramp of the people mover station. It seems Glenn didn't want to be on camera. Justin Zatkoff was there too, but I couldn't get a picture of him.

I'm just betting they were going to try to use the signatures to send to John McCain's campaign, since Glenn is John McCain's paid staffer in the 9th District, to the tune of $10,000 per month. CLICK HERE

Tracy Lynn Dunigan

Peter Vitale

This is Jim Arapostahis

No Wonder Joe Doesn't Feel Our Pain

The Oakland Press reported today on the financial portfolios of our Congressional delegation in Michigan. It's no wonder Joe Knollenberg doesn't feel the pain of his constituents. $4 a gallon gas, no health care, those aren't really problems Joe Knollenberg can relate to at all.

Now I Understand Why So Many Letters

No doubt you noticed the unusually large number of letters that have appeared in the Oakland Press and the Eccentric/Observer newspapers regarding my guest opinion on Joe Knollenberg's appearance at a recent women's health conference. This has been a full out smear campaign trying to connect me to the Democratic candidate.

Well, guess what, those weren't just your average citizens writing into the papers. Some of them were volunteers for Joe Knollenberg's campaign and one is even an employee of the Michigan Republican Party.

A couple months ago there was a strategy meeting that took place at a law firm and one of the discussion points was how to deal with MoveOn.org. MoveOn.org, in their minds is me. They even had a representative from the Republican National Committee in attendance. This coordinated letter campaign looks like it was one of the strategies they decided to utilize when the time was right.

It looks like the Knollenberg campaign and the 9th District Republican officials can't wrap their brains around the fact that someone could possibly have the level of dedication to revealing Joe Knollenberg's record to voters in Oakland County that I do.

They have on more than one occasion written that I'm a highly paid operative of MoveOn.org or even being paid directly by George Soros, neither of which is true. They also seem to think that I’m on the payroll of their opponents’ campaign, which isn’t true either. But putting the words truth and Republicans in the same sentence is an oxymoron for the last 8 years, especially.

Another reason my guest opinion seems to have upset the Knollenberg folks so much is Joe wasn’t merely a speaker at the event, Joe and Sandie organized the event. They even have a special page on Joe’s web site with pictures of what they say are the 400 women that attended. I wonder how the women that attended the event would have reacted had they known that Joe Knollenberg received a 0 ranking from the National Coalition for Breast Cancer along with all those other health care advocacy groups. Probably not too well. But Joe’s just your typical hypocritical Republican, say one thing and do another.

2005-2006 & 2006-2007 Representative Knollenberg supported the interests of the National Breast Cancer Coalition 0 percent of the time.

2007 Alliance for Headache Disorders ranked Knollenberg as a 0

2007 American Academy of Family Physicians gave Knollenberg a 0 rating

2007 Children's Health Fund gave Knollenberg a 0 rating.

2006 American Public Health Association ranked Knollenberg with a 0 rating.

2005-2006 AIDS Action Council rated Knollenberg with a 0 rating.

2005-2006 American Academy of Emergency Mediine ranked Knollenberg - 50 percent.

2005-2006 American Nurses Association ranked Knollenberg with a 0 percent.

2005-2006 National Rural Health Association ranked Knollenberg with a 0 percent.

Political Currents Beginning to Shift in the 9th

From the June 12 Birmingham Eccentric

Political currents beginning to shift

June 12, 2008

The whole Birmingham area is approaching what may be an historic period. For the first time, a majority of Democratic contenders may gain more votes than Republicans.

We take no stand on whether this is a good or a bad turn of events. We will make individual endorsements closer to the election.

Rather, what is worth noting is that the political currents certainly seem to be shifting. Once a solidly Republican stronghold, the Birmingham area is trending more toward the Democrats, which is fueling some heated campaigning. Nowhere is that more evident than in the hotly contested race between incumbent Republican Joe Knollenberg and his Democratic challenger Gary Peters in the 9th U.S. House race. Elsewhere on this page you will see a host of letters attacking Peters and community activist Bruce Fealk, who has been a vocal and visible critic of Knollenberg.

It is clear the Knollenberg campaign is revving up the letter-writing constituency, which is an entirely legitimate campaign tactic.

For his part, Peters is running hard, seemingly everywhere around the district. He even had the plum job of introducing Barack Obama when he came to Troy last week. Knollenberg has been participating in a flurry of activities as well.

Knollenberg has a solid base of support that he has carefully nurtured over the years. And to his credit, he has been an attentive congressman, delivering much for the district.

But there may be bigger forces at work here: the dreary Iraq war and the staggering economy as well as the charismatic Obama.

If Knollenberg loses in November it will signal a change of historic proportions.

Finally Some Sanity in the Oakland Press Letters

I had no idea the firestorm that my guest opinion would start. The criticism has been totally off base and finally some balance is coming to the Letter to the Editor page. Here are two letters that emphasize the central point of the letter, Joe Knollenberg's hypocrisy on the issue of health care and the fact that he even had the nerve to show up a women's health forum, considering his multiple 0 rankings from health advocacy groups.

When Republican go on full smear alert, the results can be very interesting.

Oakland Press Letter Points out Misinformaton

Today's Oakland Press has another letter pointing out the lies that were printed on the Letters to the Editor page about me and about my campaign to unseat Joe Knollenberg. It's nice to read some truth for a change.

Lies are the hallmark of Republican and Joe Knollenberg's campaign, but that's nothing new.

McCain says to treat wives with respect

Now, this is just kind of sad. Apparently John McCain is trying to make a statement about how the press and other media should be respectful of the candidates' wives. This is kind of ironic, especially since it has been reported in Cliff Schecter's book, The Real John McCain an occasion where apparently Cindy, McCain's wife, was tossling his hair and commented that he was getting a little thin and he angrily responded by calling her a c*unt and a trollop. I wonder if he would consider that respectful. This clip is a segment from The Young Turks discussing the incident. CLICK HERE for the rest of the story.