Lou Dobbs Calls Knollenberg one of many Lame Ducks

While Joe Knollenberg is announcing his campaign for re-election, a Lou Dobbs editorial calls Congressman like Joe Knollenberg "Lame Ducks".

Dobbs notes:

With the electorate asserting a strong impulse to be independent, and with populism exerting a significant influence in the 2006 midterm elections, there is a possibility that all of those incumbents in the House and Senate may have to consider the possibility of actually having to represent their constituents and the popular will, rather than corporate America, socio-ethnic special interest groups and the tens of thousands of lobbyists who represent every interest but that of the common good and the nation.

Dobbs notes that Bush's approval ratings are at 29% giving Bush the highest approval rating (~90%) and one of the lowest in history (except for Truman, Carter, and Nixon).

With the war in Iraq raging endlessly, the White House involved in scandal after scandal, an FDA so involved in banning condoms around the world rather than protecting you or your pet from consuming poisons from China, jobs disappearing by the day, etc., we are due for an overhaul in Congress -- particularly to weed out the worst of them like Joe "Do Nothing" Knollenberg.

Watershed Moment For Bush & Knollenberg's War In Iraq?

Was the meeting yesterday between 11 moderate Republicans and President Bush the watershed moment in the history of Bush & Knollenberg's War in Iraq? Watch this:




What does Joe kNOllenberg say about this watershed moment? Nothing. Look at his website. kNOllenberg still doesn't even list Iraq as an "issue". Apparently he is too busy going to sporting events with lobbyists to pay any attention to Iraq.

Knollenberg's colleagues don't even consult him on the issue of Iraq. Knollenberg wasn't even invited to the meeting with President Bush.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a Congressman who was a leader and not a follower?

Joe Knollenberg's Unconditional Support for
the War in Iraq is Wrong For America.

Joe Knollenberg is too extreme for Oakland County.

"Progress" According to Joe

Joe Knollenberg has very little to say about the war in Iraq. He has been a follower on the issue, not a leader. He rubber stamps whatever George Bush says.

At most he explains that he wants to see "progress" in Iraq.

He has been saying that for months. How long do we have to wait until we know if they are making progress?

Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki Supports Militias & Not the U.S.
According to the Washington Post, Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki is actually working against us, not with us. He is firing army and police officers who are too aggressive in combating militias:

A department of the Iraqi prime minister's office is playing a leading role in the arrest and removal of senior Iraqi army and national police officers, some of whom had apparently worked too aggressively to combat violent Shiite militias, according to U.S. military officials in Baghdad.

The problem is that Maliki is merely a puppet for Al Sadr and his militas. How can we possibly train Iraqi troops and quell violence when they are not really working with us, but instead are taking the training and the weapons we supply and using them against Sunnis and even American troops. Is that progress?

U.S. Has Given Up on Goal of Training Iraqi Troops to "Stand Up"

For years we have heard Bush say that our troops will "stand down when the Iraqi troops stand up". And that we have been training the Iraqi troops so they can stand up. Bush has been saying that since before the elections in 2004.

Well, apparently we've given up on that goal:

Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces.

Training Iraqi troops, which had been the cornerstone of the Bush administration's Iraq policy since 2005, has dropped in priority, officials in Baghdad and Washington said.

Is that progress? Is giving up on training Iraqi's progress? If we don't train them, how will they ever stand up so that we can stand down?

How Many More U.S. Troops Have To Die Before We See "Progress"?
Bush announced the escalation of the war in Iraq in January and began increasing the troop levels in February. The results so far? More U.S. troops died in April than any other month this year.

Joe Knollenberg Has Failed To Show Any Leadership on Iraq

Knollenberg has never once stood up for changing policies or strategies in Iraq. He has done nothing but quiver in Bush's shadow.

If this is progress, then how much more progress can we bare?

How many more U.S. troops Have To Die before we know if we are making "progress"?

We Deserve A Leader in Congress. Retire Joe Knollenberg.

Rubber Stamp Knollenberg condemns more troops to death in Iraq

There he goes again. After saying his patience was running out on the disaster in Iraq, Rubber Stamp Joe Knollenberg votes against funding the troops in Iraq. Even though the Iraq Accountability Act fully funds the troops, Joe Knollenberg voted against funding the troops because it has a goal of bringing our troops home to their families, hopefully alive, rather than in a coffin.

When does Joe Knollenberg finally vote to end the madness that is going on in Iraq?

Even though a recent survey conducted in downtown Birmingham, at the heart of the most Republican part of Joe's district, showed that 79% of respondents are against the escalation of the war in Iraq, Joe refuses to represent his district. Joe continues to vote against the vast marjority of his district. Why does he refuse to take his head out of his rear end and take a breath of fresh air?

Maybe it's a lack of oxygen to Joe's brain that is causing him to continue to Rubber Stamp President Bush's disasterous policies in Iraq.

Knollenberg Still Unconditionally Supports Bush's War in Iraq -- Part 1

Joe Knollenberg has given Unconditional Support to George Bush's war in Iraq.

In one of his most recent statements, Knollenberg said he was supporting Bush's "STAY THE COURSE", but add more troops plan.

Specifically, Knollenberg said, "I am hopeful that the Administration’s new policy [the additional 21,000 troops] will bring an end to the sectarian violence in Iraq. . ." (March 23, 2007 statement.)

Instead, as we have seen, as more and more troops are added, the violence in Iraq just increases as well. Although only half of the additional troops have even arrived in Iraq, last month was the bloodiest month in the history of the conflict.


Vast Majority of Voters in Michigan Disagree with Knollenberg

But voters in Michigan disagree with Knollenberg on the war. In an April 21, 2007 article, the Detroit News reports that 67% of voters disapprove of Bush's handling of the war.

A full two-thirds of us disapprove of Bush's overall job performance! That is a remarkable statistic.

With only a third of us approving of the President's job performance, one would think that our Congressional representatives would feel similarly. Not because they would be following the polling, but simply because it seems they would be well aware of the same failures and problems of which the rest of us are aware and concerned about. But Knollenberg continues to vote with Bush over 90% of the time -- including unquestioning support for the war in Iraq.

Joe Knollenberg's Position on Iraq is Too Extreme for Oakland County.

Knollenberg Consistently Votes To Slash Funding For Veterans

With the shameful condition that seriously wounded Iraq veterans are being subjected to at Walter Reed and other military facilities, it is important to remember just who is responsible for slashing the budgets of these critical veteran services.

Joe Knollenberg is one of the Bush/Cheney team that have sent troops in harms way in Iraq, while failing to adequately fund their care after they return.

This isn't really a new issue -- it has been an issue for years -- it is just now getting more attention as more and more of our troops are getting seriously wounded in Iraq.

And the cost of adquate funding isn't exactly a mystery. The Congressional Budget Office has studied it and reported on the matter to Congress. But Joe Knollenberg still voted to underfund the VA.

More specifically, here are some of Knollenberg's votes against the troops:

Knollenberg Voted Against the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act
Joe Knollenberg voted to maintain the “widow’s tax” on benefits received by survivors of their husbands and wives killed in service. Over 50,000 American families whose loved one was killed in Iraq are now living at or below the poverty line. But the government continues to impose a “widow’s tax” on survivors. After putting money into the Survivor Benefit Plan—sometimes for decades—the government offsets VA survivor compensation by keeping SBP money, then returning the paid premium as taxable income.
In May 2006, Congressman John Salazar moved to add the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act to the 2007 defense bill. Joe Knollenberg voted against removing this unfair penalty on military widows. [HR 5122, Vote #144, 5/11/2006]

Knollenberg Voted for an Increase in Pharmacy Co-Pays for Military Families
Knollenberg voted to kill an amendment to the FY 07 Department of Defense Authorization bill that would remove the Bush administration’s proposal to increase pharmacy co-pays for military families.
Currently, military families who purchase their drugs through a retail pharmacy have a co-pay of $3 for generic drugs and $9 for brand-name drugs. However, the bill would raise those co-pays to $6 for generic drugs and $16 for brand-name drugs, as proposed in President Bush’s budget. The Democratic amendment sought to remove the provision increasing the co-pays and to leave the co-pays at their current level. [HR 5122, Vote #139, 5/11/06]

Knollenberg Voted for a FY 2007 Budget That Hurts America’s Veterans
For the FY2007 budget, Knollenberg supported a Republican budget resolution that cut funding for veterans’ appropriated programs by $6 billion below the level that CBO estimates is needed to maintain current services.
Additionally, the Republican budget resolution included significant increases in TRICARE costs for military retirees under 65. In fact, healthcare fees will triple for retired officers, double for retired senior enlisted personnel, and increase by 40 percent for junior enlisted retirees. [HCR 376, Vote #158, 5/18/2006]



So while JOE KNOLLENBERG says he supports the troops -- in fact he slashes funding for important veteran programs every time he gets the chance.

And these are just a few of his votes over the last year!

There are more votes -- and for each one, JOE KNOLLENBERG VOTES AGAINST OUR TROOPS!

Has Knollenberg EVER even visited any troops at Walter Reed? There is no evidence that he ever has. So Knollenberg is willing to send young men and women to war where they may die or suffer serious debilitating injuries -- but then he votes to cut funding to care for them when they return. That could only be considered negligent or just plain cruel.

Knollenberg Votes Against Middle Class Workers & Their Families

In yet another attack on the middle-class, Joe kNOllenberg voted NO on the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Act was merely to assure that workers would have a free choice as to whether to join a union.

Apparently, Knollenberg prefers an economy where CEO's can drag a company into bankruptcy, lay off workers, ship jobs overseas, default on workers pensions, and cancel long promised health care benefits -- all while making millions in bonuses for themselves. The average worker -- particularly white collar employees and middle managers in our local auto industries -- have no say in the matter. They are the ones losing their jobs, pensions, benefits, etc.

Soon the average white collar worker is going to wish he or she had a union to protect them from being fleeced by the robber baron CEO's and Wall Street Moguls.

But the average worker doesn't have a lobbyist. And we all know by now that Joe Knollenberg always votes the way the lobbyists tell him to vote.

Why does Joe Knollenberg hate the middle class?