A life-long resident of southeast Michigan, U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter was first elected to Congress in 2002 to represent the citizens of Western Oakland and Western Wayne Counties.
Congressman McCotter has focused his efforts on preserving and promoting manufacturing and small businesses, because he knows they form the back bone of our community's economy. He has steadfastly supported winning the War on Terror and increasing our homeland security; tirelessly fought to reduce taxes and the size and scope of government; and, most importantly, Congressman McCotter has dedicated every effort to listen to and serve his constituents.
Congressman McCotter was elected by his colleagues in Nov. 2006 to serve as Chairman of the Republican House Policy Committee, a leadership position once held by former President Gerald Ford. Congressman McCotter also serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee (formerly the House Committee on International Relations) and the House Budget Committee.
Congressman McCotter is a graduate of Catholic Central High School; the University of Detroit; and the University of Detroit Law School. He is a bar admitted attorney by profession. Thaddeus and Rita McCotter, a registered nurse, have three young children, George, Timothy, and Emilia. The McCotter family lives in his home town of Livonia. Congressman McCotter travels to and from our nation's capital every week to serve our community.
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The sign outside the ballroom was matter-of-fact: "Unsigned $20. Signed $15. No Haggling."
That matter-of-fact sign was next to a matter-of-fact pile of books, which sat on a matter-of-fact folding table. And sitting behind it was a matter-of-fact man, whom you might walk right past without so much as a glance.
That's too bad, because he could become the next President of the United States.
The man was Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, and he was signing copies of his new book, "Seize Freedom! American Truths and Renewal in a Chaotic Age," outside the Conservative Principles Conference in Des Moines late last month. When he addressed the crowd later in the day, he told them that he drove the 17-hour round trip from Detroit alone because, "If you spent 81/2 hours in a car with me, it would violate the Geneva Convention."
Are conservative pundits and columnists turning on Republican politicians? As evidence I first give you the week-long tirade George Will threw about John McCain, questioning whether his temperament made him presidential material. Then, a couple of days ago, Kathleen Parker (a woman who once advocated using nuclear weapons on Fallujah because the residents there had the temerity to shoot people who'd invaded their country) advocated that Sarah Palin step down from the McCain-Palin ticket. For that, apparently, she's being villified in rightwing circles (after running with that crowd as a wingnut lite for 20 years, can't say that she doesn't deserve to have the mask unveiled from the thing she's helped feed).
Now, this morning, we have Dan Calabrese from a little Grand Rapids outfit called North Star Writers Group* ... thrashing Mad Thad McCotter for making serious factual errors in what Calabrese described as a "rambling, incoherent speech."
One of the leaders of this oh-so-principled conservative revolt is Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, a Michigan Republican who – sensing that his 15 minutes of fame had arrived – took to the House floor on Tuesday with a rambling, incoherent speech that portrayed the bailout debate as a choice between the loss of short-term prosperity and the permanent loss of liberty.
Among other odd citations, McCotter lauded the example of Andrew Jackson and his refusal to renew the charter of the Second Bank of the United States in 1832. Presumably not an American history scholar, McCotter regaled us from the House floor with the following bluster: ...
...snip...
Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Those who don’t have the slightest idea what happened in history have a patron saint in Thaddeus McCotter.
He ruins a thing of beauty ultimately by blaming the financial crisis on Bill Clinton and the Community Reinvestment Act, a notion being bandied about on the right of late, and which Mike Thompson disposes of nicely and neatly via animation on the Freep's Web page.
*--As a point of disclosure, Calabrese is North Star Writers Group's editor, to which I contribute two columns -- a Monday Op-Ed and a Wednesday column about food called The Laughing Chef (though, today, the Chef wasn't laughing too hard on account of the sinus infection that took hold yesterday.
Randolph McGrorty, 45, of Miami, was touring the Capitol when his tour guide noted they could go on the House floor because of the GOP protest. Once there, McGrorty quickly grew frustrated at the drilling-centric Republican rhetoric and started asking McCotter why the Republicans don’t push hybrids instead as a transition to an economy less dependent on fossil fuels.
In front of a few dozen tourists and a few lawmakers, McCotter dismissed the idea as going “cold turkey,” to which McGrorty retorted, “A hybrid is not cold turkey, a hybrid is a mix.”
Last 'graf.
At any rate, the protest is starting to lag, with just four Members showing up Monday — Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) joined Foxx, Gohmert and McCotter. The press galleries are locked up with all of the attention on the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and even the tourist crowds have thinned with the opening of schools in many parts of the country.
Like all temper tantrums, what begins with impetuous whining ends with a yawn. Time to send Mad Thad to his room for a timeout and a nap.
Vowing the voices of the vast majority of the American people would not be silenced by the Democrat Congress’ Stalinist tactics, Republicans took to the dimly lit, microphone and C-Span silenced House Floor. There, they demanded a vote to lower gas prices by unleashing America’s oil and energy resources from the clutches of the Left-wing special interests controlling Speaker Pelosi and her Democrat Congress.
America's oil resources were unleashed a long time ago, of course, and peaked in production in the early 70s. Whatever ... what are facts when you can hurl childish insults.
But, still, my heart goes out to the city of Livonia and the rest of the 11th District ... you are indeed represented by a halfwit. And, one who the Wall Street Journal editorial page thinks is out-of-touch with America.
Let's see ... tauting the loan shark paying for the way, arguing with his fellow Republicans over ear marks, and delivering boring, supercilious insults against Democrats on the floor of the House. Who else might Mad Thad clash with? Oh yes, a Republican organization he sought to join:
Amid speculation that the RSC had rejected McCotter’s application, The Hill contacted the Michigan Republican last month, but he said he hadn’t been given an answer either way.
He then sought one, according to a June 16 e-mail sent from McCotter to several RSC members and obtained by The Hill:
“As you might or might not know, on Jan. 23, 2008, I applied for a Republican Study Committee membership.
“Since then I have received no response. Today, I have been contacted by a reporter doing a story about how the RSC has refused my membership application. Thanks for the heads-up …”
At the time, McCotter attributed the perceived slight to a personality conflict with RSC Chairman Jeb Hensarling (Texas): “This may be deeper than politics. I’m a Lennon fan — he’s a Harrison guy,” he quipped.
Eventually, they let him in, and everyone shared big snuggly, hugglies. Still, the picture that's emerging here is that McCotter's first instinct, when confronted by differences of opinion, is to immediately launch into full-blown jerk mode.
Do we remember Thad McCotter's speech from the floor of the House last week? The one that reminded most of us of those times at Thanksgiving when the family's drunk uncle spouts off about minorities, thinking he's being really clever as safe because he's among family, but really just making people uncomfortable? The one that made me want to go pat the city of Livonia on the back and say, "Dude, I'm really sorry about that."
From The Young Turks:
I would suggest that McCotter owes his district an apology for making such a fool out of himself on C-SPAN, but that would start with realizing that he'd done something wrong in the first place.
Our Congressman from the 11th District, Thad McCotter, offered up a few Clumps of Silliness the other night.
1. Our liberty is from God, not the government
Except that it's often the government that defines what we are at liberty to do. Breaking that definition can result in a collision with the police or the Feds. Just take a look at our state's growing prison system.
2. Our sovereignty is in our souls, not our soil
Sovereignty might reside in our souls, but it's difficult to exercise without actually owning a plot of soil. These days, I'm not sure the people having their homes foreclosed feel sovereign over a whole lot.
3. Our security is from strength, not surrender
The strength to force people to surrender all of their rights as soon as they step into an airport.
4. Our prosperity is from the private sector, not the public sector
But Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan, a member of the leadership, is credited with only $8,500 of nearly $950,000 he's been tasked with raising. "I've always met and exceeded whatever number they pull out of the air, and I intend to do so again," McCotter said in an interview. He said he represents a swing seat and usually takes care of his commitments to the committee later in the election year.
Sure, sure, of course. He's only $940,000 short, but with the economy being so strong, I'm sure he can make that up in, like, no time.
The U.S. House today voted to extend unemployment benefits an additional 26 weeks in hard-hit states like Michigan -- 13 weeks for states that aren't suffering as badly.
An amendment extending the benefits passed by a vote of 256 to 166.
...snip...
Voting against the amendment that included the jobless benefits were Pete Hoekstra of Holland, Mike Rogers of Brighton, Vern Ehlers of Grand Rapids, Tim Walberg of Tipton, Thad McCotter of Livonia and Dave Camp of Midland.
Offered a chance to support something that would specifically benefit unemployed workers in the state of Michigan, these people said, "Nah ... not interested."
He was in, then he was out. Then, he was back in again (actually, first time around, his campaign was just suspended), and now Tom Spencer has formally dropped his bid for the 11th Congressional District nomination. From Ye Olde Inbox:
The upcoming election is one of the most important elections to come along in a long time. It will determine the future of this country as a republic based on the rule of law and not on the rule of men. For several years now this District has not had a representative that represented the people and as I visited with people in the District, I found that to be one of the most important issues people were disgruntled with.
It is time for us to take back the seat that Mr. McCotter has held and abused and give it back to the people. This election isn?t about me or other single person; it is about the future of our District, State, and Federal Government. In other words, it is about our people and their future. I feel it is important that we get behind someone that truly has the ability to beat Mr. McCotter in the upcoming election and that is why I am throwing my whole-hearted support behind Joe Larkin. He is a progressive Democrat with connections to the party for many years. But even more important, he wants to represent the people of the District and do what is best for our country.
I am asking for those who have supported me in the past and who signed my petitions to give their support to Joe. It will be a hard fight to overcome the entrenched candidate, but I feel Joe is the one to do it. I plan to continue to work to remove Mr. McCotter from office in anyway that I can. Thanks again for all your support and kind words of encouragement over the past several months.
Thaddeus McCotter has found a target too tempting to pass up ... this year's Olympic games!
Yes, he said the following:
As the world stumbles toward the Communist propaganda extravaganza labelled the Beijing Olympics...
Someone ... alert the Spartans!
What has suburban Detroit's guitar-playing Congressman so exorcised to have him railing against a century's-old amateur sporting event meant to promote goodwill and peace among men? Well, it's China's ban on athletes bringing Bibles with them. 'Cept, it turns out that Bible bans ain't quite what they used to be.
Today is Yesterday was the deadline for 4th Quarter/Year End FEC filings. Here are the latest figures from the FEC reports. (Please note that the figures represent only what was filed with the FEC and may differ from press releases or totals reported elsewhere.)
CD-07 (update 7:00 a.m. 02/01/08) Sen. Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) has raised a whopping $338,258 in the last quarter according to the latest FEC filings. Sen. Schauer's team has raised more than $560,000 since his campaign kicked off and currently has just over $500,000 on hand. Congressman Tim Walberg (R-Tipton) raised just $151,741 in the same time period and has $438,005 on hand. Sharon Renier is also in the race, raising just $745 in the last quarter of 2007. Former Congressman Joe Schwarz didn't raise any money but he still has $58,899 left from his last campaign. Jim Berryman refunded $3,200 in campaign contributions, raised nothing and has $17,288 left. There's also a report for Brad Smith who has cash on hand of just $474 and outstanding debts of $138,150.
CD-09(update at 7:00 a.m. 02/01/08) Incumbent Joe Knollenberg (R-Bingham Farms) raised a total of $294,300 in the last quarter of 2007 with a total of more than $1 million in cash on hand. On the Democratic side, Gary Peters raised $165,345 in the last quarter with a total of $358,516 on hand while Nancy Skinner raised $13,394 with a total of $6,785 on hand.
CD-11(update at 7:00 a.m. 02/01/08) Incumbent Thaddeus McCotter (R-Livonia) raised $88,027 in the 4th quarter with a total in his war chest of $373,169. Democratic challengeer Tom Spencer hasn't yet filed his reports. Trupiano raised $0 but is in debt $34,317.
Tom Spencer is looking for volunteers to help his campaign in the 11th District! This week, Tom will be appearing at the following events to build awareness and get signatures for his primary ballot petition:
Wednesday, Jan. 23rd - Garden City Democratic Club, with special guest Lt. Gov. John Cherry - Garden City Community Center Room 114 - 31735 Maplewood, Garden City, 48135 (734) 421-2638
What do you call a Congressman who ignores the will of his constituents so badly that he needs not one, but two blogs to cover his misdeeds?
Why, it's none other than one Thaddeus McCotter!
Mad At Thad has been around since July, while theMcCotter Monitor was just launched last night. Both are dedicated to exposing the truth about Michigan's 11th District Congressman, in an effort to remove him from office in the upcoming election.
I don't know how this works legally, but I'd support Nancy Skinner for Congress from the 11th District. How about it, Nancy, make a move to the 11th and run against Thaddeus McCotter, that way if you win, we'd have two Democrats in Congress instead of one.
I'd even support your candidacy and if it helps I'd work on your campaign and donate what money I can.
I am the blogger at Mad At Thad, a blog devoted to the ousting of Thaddeus McCotter, and I would like to urge you to join my Facebook group, also titled Mad At Thad.
McCotter is a shill for the George Bush. He still supports the war, he is still against stem cell research and is still against SCHIP. He must be voted out in 2008.
So please, join the group, and help send Rep. McCotter a message.
Also, any advice with the group or my blog would be appreciated.
Interesting story over at DailyKos from former Michigander DHinMI. Guess Republican Rep. Thaddeus McCotter didn't take too kindly to being called out on his pro-life and yet anti-health care for kids stance.
This past Wednesday, October 17, Representative Thaddeus McCotter authored an opinion piece in the National Review Online under the title "False Prophets Arise." In the article, Congressman McCotter characterizes Catholics United as a "devil" and as committing "sin" for criticizing his vote against health care for millions of children despite his "pro-life" beliefs.
2008 Status: Unknown
