A week after Mike Bishop came under fire for charging taxpayers for his chief of staff’s apartment, national Republicans have added Congressman Bishop to their list of most vulnerable incumbents, exposing their very real concern that voters in Bishop’s district have had enough of his inability to do his job correctly.
Last week, it was reported that Mike Bishop has been charging taxpayers $900 a month – $10,800 a year – to pay for his chief of staff’s apartment in D.C., even though taxpayers are already paying this staffer’s salary.
What’s more, the apartment complex is owned by a wealthy donor to Mike Bishop’s campaign, and former national Republican finance chair.
This comes after Bishop raised a mere $160,000 in the 2nd quarter fundraising period, and after claiming he’s “never missed a vote,” despite actually very clearly missing lots of votes in his career.
And we all remember when Bishop complained about there being “too many cars on the road” in D.C. Uh, Mike, I’d think the Michigan Autoworkers may have something to say about that….
“It appears National Republicans have caught on to what Michiganders already know: that Congressman Mike Bishop’s inability to do his job has made him vulnerable, and after Bishop has been caught misleading voters on his attendance record and bookkeeping, they’re worried there’s more to come,” said Sacha Haworth of the DCCC. “After his measly 2nd quarter fundraising efforts, small wonder Republicans are recalling his embarrassing comments that likely angered Michigan workers, and are running to his aid.”
BACKGROUND
“Bishop expensed $900 each month for “lodging” and paid it to McKinley Associates … Bishop’s office says the expense is to pay for lodging for Bishop’s Chief of Staff Allan Filip. Filip made a tidy $34,222.23 in the first quarter of 2015 (which equates to $136,888.92 a year) … McKinley Associates is owned by Ron Weiser, a former Bush-appointed ambassador to the Slovak Republic, a former RNC National Finance Chair, and a former Chair of the Michigan Republican Party … Weiser and his wife Eileen have donated a total of $21,200 to Bishop since 2014, $10,400 in 2014 and another $10,800 in 2015. Coincidentally(?), $900 a month in rent equates to $10,800 a year. [Eclectablog.com, ]
Headline: “Why Does MI-08 Congressman Mike Bishop Use Tax Dollars To Pay For “Lodging” In Washington, D.C.?” “Bishop expensed $900 each month for “lodging” and paid it to McKinley Associates … Bishop’s office says the expense is to pay for lodging for Bishop’s Chief of Staff Allan Filip. Filip made a tidy $34,222.23 in the first quarter of 2015 (which equates to $136,888.92 a year) … McKinley Associates is owned by Ron Weiser, a former Bush-appointed ambassador to the Slovak Republic, a former RNC National Finance Chair, and a former Chair of the Michigan Republican Party … Weiser and his wife Eileen have donated a total of $21,200 to Bishop since 2014, $10,400 in 2014 and another $10,800 in 2015. Coincidentally(?), $900 a month in rent equates to $10,800 a year. [Eclectablog.com, 7/28/15]
Bishop Complains “There’s Too Many Cars On The Road” In Washington, D.C. In an interview discussing Bishop’s first couple days in Washington, D.C., Bishop said, “My first impression of Washington is that you all need to do something about your transportation. There’s too many cars on the road.” The interviewer noted that Bishop was talking about D.C.’s traffic congestion and wrote, “Still, Bishop quickly backtracked, recognizing that such a comment might not sound so great to his constituents back home in the automobile state.” Bishop followed up by saying, “That really wasn’t meant to be a policy statement. I was joking, but….” [NPR, 11/12/14]