Rogers and voting

(Lance Enderle is the Democratic candidate for Congress in the 8th District. This column is unedited.)

Posted

(Lance Enderle is the Democratic candidate for Congress in the 8th District. This column is unedited.)

Recently, a surge of people have been defending Mike Rogers’ voting record.  They’ve also attacked me for shedding a very bright light on his indefensible voting decisions.  Lets take a hard look at the record and decide for ourselves.

I take issue with the way Rogers campaigns, so let’s look at his record on election reform--he’s against it.  In 2002 he voted against HR 2356 the Campaign Reform Act of 2001.  In 2007 he voted against the Lobbying and Donation Regulations bill.  He voted against the Federal Funding for Voting System Changes (HR 5036), and against Backup Paper Ballots (HR 5803) in 2008.  In June of this year he said no to Campaign Finance Disclosure Requirements, HR 5175, a bill that passed thanks to our Democratic majority.

Those who say Rogers never voted against unemployment benefits are dead wrong.  He voted NO on HR 5749, the Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2008.  In January of last year he voted no on HR 1, the Appropriations, Tax Law Amendments, and Unemployment Benefit Amendments, and in February, he voted against it again.

In November of last year, when Michigan’s unemployment was at it’s worst level in decades, Congress was voting on HR 3548, the bill Extending Federal Emergency Unemployment Benefits and Providing Business and Homebuyer Tax Credits.  Rogers didn’t bother to vote.  In May of this year, again, Rogers voted NO on HR 4213, the Unemployment Benefits Extension and Tax Law Amendments bill.

In the last two calendar years, when unemployment in Michigan left families devastated, Rogers voted against their unemployment benefits four times.  I wonder if he felt they should stop whining and pull themselves up by their bootstraps as we often hear from so many on his side of the aisle.   Rogers’ anti-worker, anti-middle class voting record doesn’t end with unemployment compensation issues.  He left home owners out in the cold by voting against the Mortgage Restructuring in Bankruptcy bill (HR 1106) in March of 2009.  He voted against the Equal Pay bill (HR 2831) in 2007, and the Aid To States for Medicaid, Teacher Employment, and Other Purposes bill (HR 1586) this year.  Four times he voted against Employment Discrimination Law Amendments, HR 1338 July 2008, HR 11 January 2009, HR 12 January 2009, and S 181 in January 2009.

Roger has stated; “we need to get government out of the way so small businesses across Michigan can keep their doors open and create jobs.”  He says he fights for small businesses.  His voting record tells the truth.  Less than two weeks ago, and in June of this year, he voted against HR 5297, the Small Business Lending Fund and Tax Law Amendments.

Twice (December of 2009, and June of 2010) he voted against Regulation and Oversight of the United States Financial System.  He voted against HR 3221, the Student Aid Program Modifications in September 2009, and against the Flood Insurance Program Extension (HR 5114) in July of this year.  One thing we can count on is that when any of us need help, Mike Rogers will be there to kick us over the edge.  We no longer have to take any politician at their word.  It’s easy to check their voting records on the internet.  There are a number of web sites that log how our representative’s vote including Votesmart.org, or you can go right to the source: http://clerk.house.gov/legislative/legvotes.html.

I’ve saved the best for last: March 11, 2008, a bill for the Establishment of the Office of Congressional Ethics, H Res 1031.  You guessed it, Congressman Mike Rogers voted NO.  What more needs to be said?



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