Not So Funny

The Neighborhood knows that Mr. Rogers shows up on Fox and MSNBC with great regularity. Once the camera light comes on, he starts in with the scary, drama-filled and highly conditional phrases (See Iran, evidence-based medicine, tanning salons).

Mr. Rogers' latest rant: advocating the death penalty for alleged Wikileaker Army Pfc. Bradley Manning.

That's right -- the guy who kept his mouth firmly shut when the Vice President of the United States and assorted other turd blossoms deliberately exposed the identity of a covert CIA operations officer as political payback is now baying for the blood of someone who leaked information about the not-so-great inside story of the Afghan War.

Thanks to Mr. Rogers' penchant for drama, residents of MI-08 can also see their congressman on Comedy Central.

Too bad there's nothing funny about a hyper-partisan, hypocritical representative.

Do the Write Thing

The Neighborhood is pretty excited about Tuesday's primary! On August 3rd, the voters of MI-08 have a chance to make history by writing in Lance Enderle as the Democratic candidate for Congress.

Long story short, the original candidate quit in June -- too late to have his name removed from the ballot.

Lance registered to run as a write-in, because he believes that

After a long dark decade of living in "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood", the good people of Michigan's 8th District deserve much better than this.

They must have a REAL choice at the ballot box on November 2nd

Learn more at Daily Kos (please rec both posts) and Lance's website.

Donate to Lance's campaign -- he's not taking any PAC money.

Promote his Facebook page to your friends.

And definitely do the write thing on August 2nd: write in Lance Enderle!

Reflexive Response

Far from being idle in DeeCee, Mr. Rogers has been busy saying "no" to some pretty common-sense bills, and his knee-jerk opposition is just, well, jerky.

Mr. Rogers voted against the Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act, which pretty much does what it says: extends authorization for the national flood insurance program and identifies "priorities essential to reform and ongoing stable functioning of the program."

Perhaps Mr. Rogers needs a peek at FEMA's list of 2010 flood disaster declarations, which sadly is a long one, to reinforce the importance of the federal flood insurance program.

Michiganders are lucky to have escaped the severe flooding that affected nineteen states and Puerto Rico so far this year, but that doesn't mean we think more efficient federal flood insurance is a bad idea...

Mr. Rogers also voted against the Telework Improvements Act, which would

set standards for federal employees working remotely. It would require the head of each federal agency to establish and implement a policy that would allow employees to work remotely as much as possible without diminishing agency operations or performance.

My guess for his no vote: he can't understand why anyone would want to work from home instead of on Capitol Hill. (The dinners! The happy hours! The PAC money!) We all know that Mr. Rogers is none too fond of being in Michigan, since he has to pretend he likes talking with constituents.

The bottom line: Mike Rogers doesn't represent anyone but himself.

If you'd like someone to represent you for a change, write in Lance Enderle for Congress on the August 3rd primary ballot August 3rd.

We'll all be glad we did!

Rogers: tax worse than cancer and mustard gas

The Rogers Newsletter, AKA the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, carried a Mike Rogers press release today entitled “U.S. Rep. Rogers: Get your tan now” about the 10 percent tax on tanning beds that went into effect on July 1 as part of the historic health care insurance reform passed last March.

The Brighton Republican says “the 10 percent tax "kills jobs, hurts women (and) college students." Perhaps someone should tell Mr. Rogers about the harm caused by tanning beds to women and college students, as well as men and non-college students.

In fact, experts at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, “moved tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas."

The good news is they will now have health care to treat the cancer, and people can no longer be denied health care coverage because of the pre-existing condition of cancer.

Tan-mageddon!

Summer is in full swing, so Mr. Rogers has shifted his Doom'n'Gloom pronouncements from health care to tanning salons.

That's right: the new health care reform bill included a 10% tax on tanning salons, which went into effect yesterday. The tax is expected to raise $2.7 billion over the next decade.

Mr. Rogers promptly sent out a press release screaming that the tax would

"kill[s] jobs, hurt[s] women (and) college students."

"In Michigan, where we've lost more jobs than any other state and led the nation in unemployment for more than four years, this tax is another job-killing burden on small businesses," Rogers said.

"The tax targets a service provided by mostly small entrepreneurs, many of them women, and it unfairly hits working women and college students, who make up the majority of tanning customers," he added.

Awww! Mr. Rogers is sticking up for working women and college students! (Do you feel all warm and fuzzy yet?)

Funny, but Mr. Rogers didn't worry about college students when he compromised their voting rights or voted to keep big banks skimming the student loan process.

Come to think of it, he hasn't shown too much concern for workers, small business owners or women's health, either...

Mr. Rogers' drama aside, will the new tax hurt the tanning industry?

An ABC news report finds that

no one thinks a few extra dollars is going to come between diehard tanners and their bronzing. Legislators in favor of the new tax cited health concerns. The industry itself, however, couldn't be healthier.

This is just another example of Mr. Rogers' Olympic-level ability to bring the tears and sell the trauma from a piece of legislation he doesn't like.

Mike Rogers has been in Washington for ten years now -- and our state has lost nearly 800,000 jobs. The next time he starts in on the "job-killing" rant, let's ask him exactly what he's done to grow jobs in Michigan.

Want a REAL representative in 2010?

Write in Lance Enderle for Congress on August 3rd, and let the sun shine in!

Where's the Representation?

It's been a busy week for Mr. Rogers!

Immediately sharing his thoughts on Gen. McChrystal's Rolling Stone interview with MSNBC and the Press & Argus, Mr. Rogers intoned

“you can’t have military commanders out there working against the policy of presidents, even if they’re wrong. “That’s my job,” the Brighton Republican and Army veteran said

Now, you may have thought that Mr. Rogers' job was to represent his constituents in Washington.

Oh, you big silly!

In addition to working against the policies of the President of the United States of America, Mr. Rogers has many serious responsibilities in DeeCee.

For example, on Wednesday he co-hosted the first Capitol Hill Family Game Night to educate families on

“how to enjoy video games and online media in ways that are safer, healthier and more balanced.”

Don't worry -- Mr. Rogers is working on lots of other crucial issues, too:

* he wrote a letter to MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo imploring him to stay in Michigan

* he continues to run his cash-raising machine with a string of foodie fundraisers

* he voted against H.R. 5175, which would

prohibit foreign influence in Federal elections, to prohibit government contractors from making expenditures with respect to such elections, and to establish additional disclosure requirements with respect to spending in such elections

* last but not least, he voted against H.R. 4213, which extended unemployment benefits and provided tax relief for individuals and businesses.

Got all that?

Michigan has led the nation in unemployment since April 2006 (as of last month, we slipped to Number 2, behind Nevada). We've lost nearly 800,000 jobs since Mr. Rogers first went off to Washington.

Given Michigan's devastated economy, why does Mr. Rogers think it's more important to work against the President, fight government transparency, screw over the unemployed and keep video games safe for families?

The bad news: this is just more proof that Mike Rogers doesn't give a rat's patootie about MI-08.

The good news: you have a choice this year!

East Lansing educator Lance Enderle has filed to be the write-in candidate for the Democratic nomination in the August 3rd primary.

Write him in, and see the difference a REAL representative can make!

Breakfast of (Fundraising) Champions

A major shout-out to That's My Congress for today's post, "Mike Rogers Breakfasts With Lobbyists"

Michigan’s Mike Rogers doesn’t live like you and I do. While we get up and pour ourselves a bowl of cold cereal for breakfast, Congressman Rogers goes out to eat his breakfast. Rogers doesn’t go to just any old place for his bacon and eggs either. [skip]

An invitation sent out by the Mike Rogers re-election campaign asks individuals attending the breakfast to come with at between 500 and 1,000 dollars to give to Rogers. Political Action Committees seeking some attention from Rogers are being charged between 1,000 and 2,000 dollars.

Where I come from, we don’t charge people thousands of dollars for the privilege of sitting at our breakfast table. Of course, where I come from, no one sits on a powerful congressional committee that has influence over government regulations. Mike Rogers does have that kind of position, and it seems that he’s willing to take a good deal of money from lobbyists in order to keep his hold on power secure.

Pick a Side

Here in The Neighborhood, we know that Mr. Rogers is a superduper awesome fundraiser.

Did you know that he's been working just as hard to protect American jobs?

Well, as long as the jobs belong to American Republican Representatives, anyway.

Since becoming Incumbent Retention Chair for the NRCC in 2009, Mr. Rogers has working hard to protect GOP incumbents, meeting weekly with party leaders and individual members.

[Wouldn't it be great if Mr. Rogers spent this kind of time focusing on jobs for his constituents?]

All that hard work paid off, I guess.

At a PAC briefing yesterday, Mr. Rogers was

telling attendees that the committee's work had already shielded a substantial group of members from facing any serious challenge in 2010.

"A year and a half ago, I was giving you the names of 30 members and you know what? It worked," Rogers said, according to a source familiar with his remarks. "We feel strongly at this point that only nine incumbents need your help to withstand the attacks by the DCCC and their allies."

Gee, Mr. R., that's epic!

Maybe now that you've fixed the jobs situation for Republican politicians -- not to mention Tom Izzo -- you could pay a wee bit of attention to the job situation for the people who live in your district.

Because a Million Just Isn't Enough...

Mike Rogers just can't stop raising money for his campaign, even though he no longer has an opponent.

Yesterday, Mr. Rogers wined and dined (literally) at his luncheon for the telecom industry at the Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar.

The restaurant, where the main floor is

a bustling, upscale casual bistro inspired by the neighborhood enotecas found throughout Italy

and the second floor

Avenue Lounge is an airy, elegant, modern space, and is perfect for large cocktail parties, fundraisers, product launches, and personal events up to 125 guests.

has been named Washington's Best Wine Bar (2010) and was the runner-up for Best Charcuterie Plate (2009).

Did I mention the ticket prices for this little get-together?

Contribution Information:

$2,000 PAC Co-Host; $1,000 Individual Co-Host; $1,000 PAC; $500 Individual

It's such a relief to know that Mr. Rogers isn't slumming it.

Jobs for Michigan?

A quick review of Mr. Rogers' fundraising for the first quarter of 2010 shows that he's been pretty busy: taking in just over a million dollars ($1,018,397 to be precise) and spending only $319,151.

Where did the money go? Well, $40,000 went to the Michigan Republican Party. There are also operating expenses, like website development, payroll services, e-commerce vendors, fundraising and direct-response firms... We could talk for hours about the role of money in politics, but like it or not, these types of expenses are pretty standard for a Congressional campaign.

What's not so standard? A Congressman from the state with the nation's highest unemployment rate spends quite a bit on out-of-state businesses.

Mr. Rogers has hired a Wisconsin web developer, an Illinois payroll company, a New Hampshire direct mail/telemarketer and a California software vendor to assist his re-election campaign.

It's a little hard to believe that there are no Michigan businesses providing these services.