Picking and Choosing

Back in September, Mike Rogers boasted about his success in achieving a "victory for Michigan workers."

Then for some reason, he decided it would be more fun to rail against the Wall Street bailout (to the point where a local reporter basically told him to put up or shut up). Nothing more was heard from Mr. Rogers on the auto industry, despite non-stop coverage in local and national media.

In fact, Mr. Rogers was so mum about the imploding auto industry that Judy over at LivingBlue was forced to point out that, for a guy who just finished campaigning on JOBS, he was being a little too quiet:

Now that the election is past and the hometown boy has been returned to his government job, Rogers is pretty silent about protecting the jobs of the rest of us.

Finally, a written statement was released by Rogers' office, including the pithy observation of his spokeswriter spokesperson Sylvia Warner that Rogers was "researching the details of the proposed package before commenting."

OK, time to compare and contrast.

Today, at 10:51 a.m., Roll Call reported that Michigan Congressman Dingell was replaced by Henry Waxman (D-CA) as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Within hours, Rogers blasted out a press release offering his opinion on this leadership change in the other party and chatting with Livingston County radio station WHMI.

He [Rogers] says this does not bode well for Michigan or any of the thousands working in the auto industry.

Wait -- does this mean everything was swimming along just fine until Henry Waxman got the chairmanship? Henry Waxman is the reason things are tanking in Michigan? How many terms has Mike Rogers been in Washington?

Mmmmmm... smells like a big, juicy CYA effort is underway!

Stay tuned for more of Mr. Rogers' self-justifying gymnastics as our state's economy swirls down the drain.

UPDATE: Mr. Rogers has also popped up on the Livingston County Press & Argus website, with slaps at both Henry Waxman and the CEOs of the Big Three.