Bob Murray is the president and CEO of Murray Energy, the company that owns Crandall Canyon Mine. Crandall Canyon, of course, is the mine where three rescue workers died Thursday while trying to rescue six of their colleagues that have been missing for nearly two weeks.

Murray has owned Crandall Canyon for a year, during which time it has accumulated 64 safety violations and $12,973 in proposed fines. Sadly, in the mining business, that’s considered a “solid” safety record.

Murray, though, isn’t even normally that good when it comes to safety. Murray Energy’s Galatia Mine in Illinois has been cited for nearly three thousand violations in the last two years and is looking at $2.4 million in fines.

Why is he still in business? Probably because he’s a massive donor to the Republican Party and to its candidates, and he isn’t afraid to use the influence he buys. In 2002, when an inspector at the Mine Safety Health Administration annoyed Murray by reporting too many violations, Murray went to a close friend for help. That friend was Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, whose wife just happened to be Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

Guess what? The inspector was reassigned, and when his appeal of the transfer was turned down, he retired.

Murray funnels his money to the Republicans in many ways, including the National Mining Association. He serves on the NMA’s board of directors and he has donated over $30,000 to their PAC in the last 10 years.

Joe Knollenberg has been a regular visitor to Murray’s NMA bank, taking $11,000 in campaign contributions since 1998.

Why is Joe Knollenberg taking money from the mining industry? Does he think coal mining will replace the jobs that have fled Oakland County under his watch?

Will he show the courage to stand up to Robert Murray and push for tougher safety standards to prevent disasters like Sago and Crandall Canyon? There are eleven thousand reasons that we probably shouldn’t expect him to do it.

Posted: August 18th, 2007 under business, campaign finance, knollenberg watch.
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It’s obvious that Joe Knollenberg doesn’t care about the needs of the Ninth District.

Maybe it’s because we aren’t the ones paying for his campaigns.

Do you wonder why your electric bills keep climbing? You could complain to your congressman, but you probably can’t match the $215,551 Joe Knollenberg has gotten from electric utilities since 1998.

Are you angry at how much you have to pay for insurance? Give Joe Knollenberg $203,100 like the insurance industry has, and he’ll get right on that for you.

Do you think the Big Three should be held accountable for abandoning Michigan in a wild rush of outsourcing? Joe Knollenberg will listen, if you top the $137,800 they’ve paid him to take care of them in Congress.

Getting tired of your flights being late or cancelled? Joe Knollenberg has 132,341 reasons to worry more about the airline industry than he does about you.

There’s also $99,514 from law firms, $91,000 from banks and $77,120 from the health-care industry.

But just in case that’s still not enough, Republican leadership PACs have paid Joe Knollenberg another $150,207 to make sure of his loyalties.

Since he arrived on Capitol Hill in 1993, Joe Knollenberg has taken over $2.6 million from Big Business. Is it any wonder he’s forgotten about the people he is supposed to represent?

All statistics courtesy of the Center for Responsive Politics.

Posted: August 10th, 2007 under business, campaign finance, knollenberg watch.
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