In reality, health care costs have been skyrocketing for years now. The same article in the News also shows that the costs projected for 2008 are more than double the cost of healthcare in 1999.

We all know that these costs and other legacy costs such as pension plans are a large burden on the domestic auto industry. These are costs that make them less able to compete because the off-shore companies don’t have those same liabilities.

Knollenberg’s Proposed Healthcare Solution

Joe Knollenberg recently proposed his plan for healthcare — he proposed to give companies $200 in tax credits if they hold a seminar for their employees on topics like stopping smoking or the dangers of obesity.

Knollenberg proposes that the tax credit be given to companies even if the company does not offer health care insurance to their employees.

All they have to do is have someone from the local health department come out and give a talk for a few minutes, and voila! the company gets a $200 tax credit.

Now, some of you reading this may think I’m joking. I’m not. Here is a link to the proposed bill.

Oh, and lest you think Knollenberg thought this all up by himself, don’t be silly.

Knollenberg only does what wealthy lobbyists like Jack Abramoff tell him to do. In this case, this “preventative” plan — which is really nothing more than Corporate Welfare — was devised by extreme right wing think tanks like the The Heritage Foundation, the Galen Instiute, the National Center for Policy Analysis, and the American Enterprise Institute.

Certainly preventative medicine is a critical component of a strong health care system. In fact, I would agree that it is important to have enough Dr’s trained in that field to provide such care. But they are not likely seeing the uninsured.

And giving your company $200 to have you sit through a seminar that was given to the company for no charge isn’t part of a strong health care system. If it wasn’t so serious, it would be laughable.

Here goes Joe again. Coming up with a solution to something that isn’t a problem. There is no crisis of a lack of seminars in the workplace.

We welcome your comments regardless of whether you agree or disagree with our positions.

Between now and November 2008 we will present information to the voters in this District about Knollenberg’s activities (and lack of activities) in Congress so that you will have the information necessary to make an informed decision when you go to vote in November 2008.

We will report on how even though the 9th District is overwhelmingly against Bush’s escalation of the war in Iraq, Knollenberg is supporting it. We will give you links to his voting record and his statements on the issue so that you can see for yourself whether he is representing your interests or the special interests of lobbyists like Jack Abramoff.

We’ll tel l you what he does and what he doesn’t do. For example, in the area of healthcare, Knollenberg supports giving tax payer money to Corporations offer to give their workers seminars on health issues — even though the company doesn’t offer healthcare benefits to their employees.

We will be giving you information on the people and organizations and special interests that have contributed large amounts of money to Joe Knollenberg’s campaign and how Knollenberg repaid them with legislation that would guarantee them millions of dollars in government contracts.

For example, we will give you the facts on how Knollenberg inserted a provision into federal law that would have required Amtrak to purchase $8 million in equipment from a company whose owner is one of Knollenberg’s biggest campaign contributors. (See, New York Times, December 11, 2005.)

Shawn Ciavattone, Mr. Knollenberg’s staffer in his Farmington Hills office, refused to let the protestors into the office and would only speak to them in the hallway outside of Mr. Knollenberg’s office. Mr. Knollenberg has consistently refused to meet with constituents on prior occasions.

Mr. Knollenberg apparently forgotten who he works for and who pays his salary.

MoveOn.org members recently did a survey on the issue of the escalation war in Iraq in which 77% of respondents in Birmingham, a Republican stronghold and the core of Mr. Knollenberg’s district, were against the escalation of the war. Clearly Mr. Knollenberg is out of step with voters in his district.

Even in the face of enormous pressure from the Republican leadership and the BUSH/CHENEY Whitehouse, 17 Republicans joined with the majority Democrats to let the President know that their consituents were fed up with the way the BUSH/CHENEY cabal were mismanaging the war.

Unfortunately, the wishes of the majority of voters in Michigan’s 9th District were once again ignored by Joe Knollenberg. Instead of representing his District, Joe Knollenberg chose to rubberstamp whatever BUSH & CHENEY wanted.

http://www.actblue.com/page/retirejoeknollenberg 2008 is going to be the year the we retire Joe Knollenberg (R) from Michigan’s 9th Congressional district. Joe said he would only serve two terms when he took office, well, he’s been in Congress for 7 terms. It’s time for Joe to retire, so we’re going to help him.Your contribution will go to whoever the Democratic nominee is for the 2008 Congressional cycle and will help to fund a successful campaign to put a Democrat in Joe’s seat. The Democratic Campaign Committee has already targeted Joe Knollenberg and your contribution will convince them to support the nominee for this seat.We will be holding retirement parties across the district. Look for parties in your area and contribute generously.Make your generous contribution here:http://www.actblue.com/page/retirejoeknollenberg

Our goal is to raise $100,000 by April of ’08