Here’s a direct link to pitch in…

Ten 4 Tony

Every time it’s come up, he has voted against federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. He even voted to affirm Bush’s only veto (of the stem-cell bill). And he has tied it to his Catholicism and opposition to abortion.

That Michael J. Fox ad would be wonderful here in Michigan…

McCotter misuses taxpayer money for campaign literature
Congressman’s ‘abuse of official mail’ is offensive: Tony Trupiano

Friday, August 18, 2006

Dearborn Heights, MI – Residents of Michigan’s 11th Congressional District saw some of their hard-earned tax dollars in their mailboxes this week, in the form of campaign literature sent out from the office of Congressman Thaddeus McCotter.

“This is misuse of taxpayer funds at its most basic level,” said Tony Trupiano, the Democratic candidate challenging McCotter in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District. “As a taxpayer and a constituent, I am personally offended by this abuse of official mail.”

The document in question, a slick full-color brochure entitled “Ensuring Opportunity for All Americans,” includes McCotter’s Congressional office in Livonia as a return address. Below that is the legally-required statement “Public Document – Official Business” and the disclaimer “This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.”

Members of Congress are allowed to send mail to constituents, a privilege called “franking” that dates back to the founding of the nation. “But there has always been, and needs to be, a dividing line between communicating official matters to constituents and brazenly touting your reelection bid,” Trupiano said.

“Since when is a laundry list of supposed accomplishments, describing legislation Thaddeus McCotter supported but had no hand in crafting, serving the hard-working voters of the 11th District?” Trupiano asked. “What’s being communicated beyond ‘vote for me?’ Nothing, that’s what.”

“If McCotter wants to send campaign flyers, he needs to do it on his own nickel,” Trupiano insisted, adding that his office is investigating the legality of the mailing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). “As your Congressman, you can be sure I’ll never send out anything so self-serving and wasteful.”

-30-

McCotter has gone ballistic on this matter, stating that his use of franking is legal and was approved by the House Franking Commission. Now, seeing he’s a lawyer, I actually don’t doubt that the mailer was TECHNICALLY legal. That said, it is still an abuse of the privilege and an abuse of taxpayer money.

And the kicker? The Chairman of the House Franking Commission at the time (until he resigned from the position in September)…was BOB NEY.

Chew on that, folks…

I searched for criminal/civil court records in WI. According to the database, he’s clear.
http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl

We’re in Michigan, not Wisconsin. Unfortunately, he’s clear here, too. A criminal record would be too much of a “low-hanging fruit” to miss…

Thankfully, Tony’s own site and his intrepid battalion of volunteers (and I use that in the literal sense since there’s more than 700 of us, equivalent to an full Army battalion) has already done the work…

Here’s the CORRUPTION Stuff — basically, McCotter can’t be proven to be PERSONALLY corrupt, but he is very “corruption-adjacent” and his votes show a high degree of “corruption tolerance:”

The McCotter Record on Money & Ethics

Thaddeus McCotter’s Tainted Donations

2002:

$1,000 American Liberty PAC (outgoing U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-OH)
$5,000 American Prosperity PAC (former U.S. Rep Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-CA)
$10,000 Americans for a Republican Majority PAC (former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-TX)

2004:

$10,000 Americans for a Republican Majority PAC (DeLay)

McCotter’s “Corruption-Tolerant” Votes:

McCotter voted to weaken the ethics rules in a move that many say served only to protect Tom DeLay. [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll006.xml]

Then he flip-flopped when Republicans realized it was “impossible to win the communications battle” over the gutted ethics rules. He voted to put the old rules back into place. [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll145.xml]

When Democrats offered a solution to clean up the House by strengthening ethics rules, Thaddeus McCotter voted not once, but twice to make sure it never even came to an up or down vote. [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll070.xml AND http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/10/26/blue-america-for-tony-tripiano/#comment-352243 <p>Rep. McCotter voted against cracking down on the oil and gas industries price gouging.<br /> Rep. McCotter voted for the GOP energy bill that gave billions to oil, gas and nuclear industries.<br /> Big oil and gas industries have given Rep. McCotter $12,950. Any surprise?<br /> Rep. McCotter voted to strip overtime protection from millions of workers.<br /> Rep. McCotter voted for the GOP Medicare Prescription Drug Bill that will give billions to businesses and the health care industry, while forcing seniors to accept annual increases in premiums and deductibles and a growing gap in coverage for the prescription drugs they buy.<br /> Rep. McCotter voted against allowing millions of Americans to save their hard-earned dollars on prescription drugs by re-importing them from Canada, even though these were U.S. made and patient safety was ensured.<br /> $20,000 from Tom DeLay’s ARMPAC.<br /> $1,000 from Bob Ney, the first congressman to plead guilty in the Jack Abramoff investigation.<br /> Voted to weaken House ethics rules when DeLay proposed doing so as GOP Majority Leader.<br /> Voted to allow the GOP House Leader to continue to serve after an indictment, an apparent tactic to protect DeLay.<br /> Voted with Tom DeLay 92% of the time (through 3/31/2006)<br /> Rep. McCotter voted to continue awarding contracts to Halliburton even if the Pentagon’s own audit processes found that more than $100 million of their contractor’s costs in Iraq were unreasonable.<br /> Rep. McCotter opposed expanding access to the military’s TRICARE health insurance program to thousands of Reservist and National Guard members, even though 20 percent of all Reservists do not have health insurance, and 40 percent of Reservists aged 19 to 35 lack health coverage.<br /> Rep. McCotter voted against granting a bonus to grant a $1,500 bonus to every American service member serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, including National Guard and Reserve forces.<br /> 1,861 water systems in 29 states have been contaminated with MTBE, exposing as many as 45 million Americans to this potential carcinogen, but Rep. McCotter voted to protect the companies responsible from lawsuits by communities that need their help to clean up these systems.<br /> Rep. McCotter voted against bipartisan reform of the Endangered Species Act.<br /> While tuition costs are rising for ordinary Americans, Rep. McCotter voted to cut Federal student aid by $12.7 billion — the biggest such cuts in history.<br /> Rep. McCotter sided with social conservatives against patients with debilitating diseases and voted against expanding Federal funding of stem cell research.</p> <p>(http://www.dccc.org/gopauctionhouse/members/ThaddeusMcCotterMI-11.html)</p> Rep. McCotter voted against cracking down on the oil and gas industries price gouging.
Rep. McCotter voted for the GOP energy bill that gave billions to oil, gas and nuclear industries.
Big oil and gas industries have given Rep. McCotter $12,950. Any surprise?
Rep. McCotter voted to strip overtime protection from millions of workers.
Rep. McCotter voted for the GOP Medicare Prescription Drug Bill that will give billions to businesses and the health care industry, while forcing seniors to accept annual increases in premiums and deductibles and a growing gap in coverage for the prescription drugs they buy.
Rep. McCotter voted against allowing millions of Americans to save their hard-earned dollars on prescription drugs by re-importing them from Canada, even though these were U.S. made and patient safety was ensured.
$20,000 from Tom DeLay’s ARMPAC.
$1,000 from Bob Ney, the first congressman to plead guilty in the Jack Abramoff investigation.
Voted to weaken House ethics rules when DeLay proposed doing so as GOP Majority Leader.
Voted to allow the GOP House Leader to continue to serve after an indictment, an apparent tactic to protect DeLay.
Voted with Tom DeLay 92% of the time (through 3/31/2006)
Rep. McCotter voted to continue awarding contracts to Halliburton even if the Pentagon’s own audit processes found that more than $100 million of their contractor’s costs in Iraq were unreasonable.
Rep. McCotter opposed expanding access to the military’s TRICARE health insurance program to thousands of Reservist and National Guard members, even though 20 percent of all Reservists do not have health insurance, and 40 percent of Reservists aged 19 to 35 lack health coverage.
Rep. McCotter voted against granting a bonus to grant a $1,500 bonus to every American service member serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, including National Guard and Reserve forces.
1,861 water systems in 29 states have been contaminated with MTBE, exposing as many as 45 million Americans to this potential carcinogen, but Rep. McCotter voted to protect the companies responsible from lawsuits by communities that need their help to clean up these systems.
Rep. McCotter voted against bipartisan reform of the Endangered Species Act.
While tuition costs are rising for ordinary Americans, Rep. McCotter voted to cut Federal student aid by $12.7 billion — the biggest such cuts in history.
Rep. McCotter sided with social conservatives against patients with debilitating diseases and voted against expanding Federal funding of stem cell research.

(http://www.dccc.org/gopauctionhouse/members/ThaddeusMcCotterMI-11.html)

if anyone has a job working for the democrats or a liberal group, please let me know!

Any guide to issues in his district that he/we would focus on?

He is willing to impeach! Was one of the first out of the box. Tony is a true liberal. He is not just another conservative D in a red state. He is a blue liberal in a blue state. He if knocks off his Republican thug, we do gain big time for his victory. Please support Tony.