Sept. 9, 2013

Mike Rogers serious, candid in exclusive interview

By SCOTT WRIGHT

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If there is one thing you can count on from Dist. Three Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, it is unadulterated truth as he sees it.

Rogers’ willingness to be candid with the press is a rare quality in politics at any level these days. Last week, we spoke with the congressman on the phone and asked him for the “straight dope” about a few of the more pressing issues currently facing the politicians who represent us in the nation’s capital--and as usual, that’s exactly what Rogers gave us.

Regarding the issue of the recent use of chemical weapons in Syria, Rogers was critical of the administration’s handling of the American response.

“President Obama has gotten us into a mess,” Rogers said. “He should have never issued the warning about what he would do if Syria ‘crossed a red line’ because now America's creditability is on the line.”

Rogers said President Obama did not need to ask for Congress' permission to strike in Syria if government intelligence agencies have solid evidence that chemical weapons have been used on the population. Obama did so last week, and members of Congress have been holding public and private meetings on the matter ever since.

Votes on whether or not to grant Obama's request for military action in the Mideast are expected within the next few days.

Syria, which borders Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel and Jordan, has been in the throes of a civil war for the past two and a half years. Recent evidence indicates that Syrian forces used chemical weapons on thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children.

Rogers said Obama's failure to act at the outset of the crisis involving the chemical weapons attack has led America's friends around the world to question our nation's resolve on all matters of international security.

“This makes our allies think they can't count on us when we need them,” Rogers said. “Israel and Jordan, two of our strongest allies in the region, must be sweating bullets right now because they are afraid we are not going to do anything.”

Rogers said most of the people he has visited with from District Three during Congress' August recess begin their conversations by declaring their staunch opposition to any military action in Syria. However, after Rogers explains the dangers of doing nothing, he said they almost always change their minds.

“Their initial reaction is 'no war,' but when I explain everything to them they realize the situation is much worse than they thought,” Rogers said. “Then, the say 'we can't not do anything'.”

Rogers said he would have supported immediate, targeted strikes on any group in Syria that was found to have used chemical weapons. He said America's failure to act decisively runs the risk of emboldening not only Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, but also Iran, which he implied is calling the shots in Syria.

“Syria is nothing more than a puppet of Iran,” Rogers said. “And they won't blink at threats.”

Now, he said, with all the hand-wringing from the White House, an always-complicated situation in the most volatile area of the world has become even more convoluted.

“This is a dilemma that is very, very serious,” Rogers said. “I don't know what the right answer is.”

On the subject of domestic politics, Rogers was critical of voices within his own party that have recently been calling for a shutdown of the federal government in an attempt to cripple the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare.”

“There are about three Republican senators who are all running for president and they all apparently missed eighth grade civics,” Rogers said. “The threat of shutting down the government is irresponsible. It takes all three branches of government to pass laws.”

Rogers said he believes the three GOP members of Congress with eyes on the White House know as much themselves.

“The reason they are on TV debating this is to stir up the members of the Tea Party so they will call in and leave their phone numbers and addresses so they can raise money for their campaigns. I've been doing this for 27 years and I know how it works.”

Rogers said he believes Obamacare, if left to its own devices, may eventually crumble under its own weight anyway.

“They have already delayed the employer mandate for a year and they may have to delay the individual mandate for a year, because frankly the health care exchanges are not ready,” Rogers said. “This whole plan is just so expensive and unwieldy.”

Rogers said he believes the best plan of attack for the Republican Party as the next round of elections approaches is to continue to show the “shortcomings” of the Affordable Care Act.

“If we do that then maybe the Senate flips in 2014 and if we still control the House maybe then we can formulate a budget that will defund Obamacare,” he said. “We just have to keep showing that you can't insure more people and it cost less and that, eventually, the government is going to have to subsidize this program—and we can't afford that.”

Rogers, in his 11th year in Washington, said the reality of the federal government's constantly-ballooning $17 trillion debt is one of the most disheartening takeaways of his congressional career.

“That's my biggest concern, that the American people either aren't noticing or don't care how bad our economy is and about the tough choices we are going to have to make if we are going to be able to defend ourselves and remain a free people.”

Asked what else he has learned in his decade under the dome of the Capitol, he pointed to the value of all the experience he has gained since his arrival.

“I know why seniority counts; whether you are flipping burgers or building nuclear weapons, experience matters,” Rogers said. “Competency—and by that I mean the knowledge of how the system works—only comes with time. I know now how much I didn't know when I got here.”