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.
I think it’s entirely possible to characterize this, while abiding by my intent to refrain from hyperbole, hysteria, or histrionics, as clear evidence that Randy Hultgren is either certifiably insane or too stupid to operate a calculator.
Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, you might want to keep in mind that Mr. Hultgren’s temper tantrum has cost, by the estimate of S&P (and there are higher, much higher, estimates out there) $24 Billion. Yes, that would be Billion, with a B. And not only did Mr. Hultgren wish to continue to spend, spend, spend on that temper tantrum, he wanted to tack on the risk of global financial meltdown rather than pay the bills our government has already incurred.
Mr. Hultgren would have it that it’s his “fiscal conservative” conscience that induced his spending spree at the country’s expense.
To be perfectly fair to Mr. Hultgren I feel I should acknowledge that he didn’t vote to, or even propose to, do anything so frivolous as waste taxpayer money on something tangible, such as, for instance, a blood test for a sick constituent, or a social security payment for a senior resident of his district. No, and no, and no! That would violate his ideals.
What Mr. Hultgren did, in point of fact, was to piss away $24 Billion to take a quixotic and extremist stand that achieved only a great deal of harm to a great number of Americans.
That said, as any employer can tell you, the real cost of an employee is higher, sometimes much higher, than the employee’s actual salary. In Mr. Hultgren’s case, I’d say the cost he has incurred for us to date, and is on record as willing to keep incurring, is a bit on the high-maintenance side as employees go.
Let’s fire him, shall we?
Tags: 2014 elections, Dennis Anderson, IL-14, Randy Hultgren, Tea Party, US House
