Monday, February 22, 2010

Hell: Freezing Over Yet Again!

Over the years,The Neighborhood has seen some pretty conservative folks call out Mike Rogers on issues of national security, fiscal responsibility and earmarks.

Well, it's happening again -- and this time, it's close to home.

Leon Drolet, leader of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance and close pal of Mr. Perks the pig, recently posted his take on the latest Club for Growth RePork Card.
Congratulations to Congressman Pete Hoekstra (R-Holland) for earning the only 'A' grade of all 15 Michigan congress members.

Thaddeous McCotter (R-Livonia) earned a 'B+' and Vern Ehlers (R-Grand Rapids) received a 'B-'. The only other sorta passing-ish grade went to Mike Rogers (R-Howell) who received a D+.
We know that Mr. Rogers was for the earmarks before he was against them (ahem!)... nice to see that the conservatives are admitting it, too.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

A Load of Crepes

After years of laboring on behalf of Republican Congressional candidates (first as a record-setting RNCC Finance Chair, Deputy Majority Whip, campaign contributions from his MIKE R Fund, and most recently as NRCC Incumbent Retention Chairman), Mike Rogers finally got a little local shout-out for his efforts in maintaining and expanding the GOP presence in the House.

The Press & Argus story describes Mr. Rogers as an "enforcer" for the NRCC; he's already been dubbed "Top Cop" by Roll Call and "a powerhouse fundraiser" by Politico.

Here in the Neighborhood, we've known about his strong-arm efforts on behalf of the party for quite a while. Regular readers know that Mr. Rogers is willing to give 110% when it comes to retaining jobs for his GOP colleagues: one-on-one meetings with at-risk incumbents to develop individualized campaign goals, weekly meetings with GOP leadership, weekly meetings with NRCC directors, and keeping close tabs on Patriot Program members, right down to the level of call time, volunteer recruitment and local press.

How local, you ask? Well, Mr. Rogers has carved out time to be the headliner at next month's "Pancakes and Politics" fundraiser hosted by the Macomb County Republican Party ("Aggressive - Visible - Organized").

I can't help but wish that Mr. Rogers was willing to spend this kind of time and energy on the at-risk workers right here in his own district.