I don’t intend to engage in hyperbole, hysteria, or histrionics this morning – that’s apparently something that Randy Hultgren sees as his job – but I don’t want Hultgren’s vote last night to continue the government shutdown, and default on the nation’s debt, to pass unremarked.
Last night Randy Hultgren was the only member of the Illinois Congressional delegation to vote to continue the wildly expensive government shutdown.
That’s right, the only one, of either party.
Looks like Randy Hultgren is finally trying to make good on some of the promises and agendas he offered at an Oswego Town Hall Meeting the summer of 2012 when he said “I’m not planning on Social Security. Most people my age aren’t planning on Social Security.” At the time, Hultgren actually paused a few moments and looked around for cheers which did not come forth. His pronouncements fell on dumbfounded ears–people could hardly believe he was attacking Social Security.
But now, over a year later, Hultgren has found about fifty other like-minded people in the House of Representatives. After joining the Suicide Caucus in August to shut down our government in their effort to defund Obamacare, Hultgren has additionally joined with fifty other Republican House members to demand Boehner use the government shutdown to negotiate Social Security reductions.
In a letter drafted by Wisconsin Representative Reid Ribble, and signed by Hultgren and 49 other House Representatives, the signers demand Boehner use the “ongoing fiscal discussions” and “this window of opportunity” (i.e. government shutdown), to address the “long-term viability of Social Security.” The letter has four demands, three which would clearly lower retiree benefits. Hultgren, Ribble and the rest, call for upping the retirement age, cutting retiree benefits by changing calculations, and for using ‘means testing’ for recipients.
What do all the following have in common?
Answer: They all were opposed by Republicans in Congress.
Just when I thought Illinois politics couldn’t get any worse than what it has been, it did. I am referring to an upcoming vote against Governor Quinn’s veto on HB 2454 which prevents citizens from petitioning voters to get advisory questions on a ballot in the future.
Last summer, there were 14 petitioners who spent 6 months collecting signatures from Kane County voters for an advisory question for the 2012 November ballot. That collection took place at the Gail Bordon and St. Charles Libraries, faires, festivals, Geneva’s French Market and the DMV in Elgin. The question asked if the voters thought the Constitution should be amended to limit all the money that is now part of our political process….thanks to the Supreme Court’s disastrous 2010 decision on Citizens United. Last November, it was ultimately passed by 74% of ALL Kane County voters who said they wanted to get rid of all this unlimited, secret and unregulated money that continues to pour into our elections and used to pay off politicians for their yes vote for favors. I believe this is still called bribery and it is the number one reason citizens have such low opinions of those we elect to speak on our behalf. The truth is, you just don’t have enough money to influence the legislators.
By now, it is quite clear Randy Hultgren has aligned himself with the far right wing Republican contingent responsible for shutting down our government and threatening the debt ceiling crisis. Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer has actually termed Hultgren and his contingent of about 79 other representatives as the “suicide caucus.”
Hultgren and the rest of the Republican politicians known as the “suicide caucus” are called that because they signed Republican Mark Meadows’ letter, known as The Meadows Letter, which demands that House Speaker Boehner pass legislation to defund the Patient’s Rights and Affordability Care Act (ACA–Obamacare) and to commit to defund the ACA by using the continuing resolution to fund the government. In other words, shut down our government.
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