Kline hates everyone-- young and old!Steve Israel was never a businessman-- nor a farmer. He's always worked in politics. He doesn't know how to make long term plans or how to initiative and follow through on long term goals. He can't see beyond the quarter or, off on his furthest horizon, the cycle. And the DCCC chair isn't the only near-sighted Democrat in power. The whole party is blinkered by strategists who never see the value of long-term planning. Putting a plan into operation to win a House seat in 2 or 3 cycles? Unheard of... by these congenital losers whose idea of strategy is begging for money they can spread around among their cronies. Democrats do, however, think the "Ted Cruz problem" might be taken care of long term by demographic changes that hand them a blue Texas. That's what we pay them for?If Ted Cruz is a nihilistic Bolshevik figure in the Senate, though, there are dozens of mini-Cruzes in the House, kooks like Steve Stockman (R-TX), Paul Broun (R-GA), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Steve King (R-IA)... well, there are dozens of crackpots who we've been hearing all week advocating shutting down the government if they can't get their way on taking health insurance away from poor people. These are generally looked at as problems Boehner has to contend with among the Tea Party trash that seeped into Congress since 2010. But a closer examination shows that some of Boehner's own top lieutenants are just as nihilistic and destructive. Let's take John Kline, Boehner's head of the Education and the Workforce Committee. He's always been very, very right-wing and has only gotten more so since first being elected in 2002. MN-02 has a PVI of R+2 and Obama beat both McCain and Romney there, albeit narrowly. Amy Klobuchar won every district county in the district last year. It's one of the wealthiest districts in the state and includes 6 counties, Dakota, Scott (the two big ones), Goodhue, Washington, Wabasha and Rice.Last year the Democrats nominated Mike Obermueller and the DCCC completely ignored the race, giving Kline a free ride to reelection. Obermueller wound up with a strong 46% showing, even though Kline outspent him $1,957,356 to $705,166. Obermueller is running again. The DCCC hasn't moved yet, even though Kline is facing a radically right teabagger, David Gerson who's been pushing him to take more and more deranged positions that could easily alienate independent voters... if the DCCC ever decides to let them know about his votes. What the DCCC should be doing now, is alerting voters in Eagan, Apple Valley, Cottage Grove, Hastings, Burnsville, Lakeville and Northfield-- basically the Twin Cities southern suburbs-- that Kline is trying to remake himself into the Ted Cruz of the House.Last Friday before Kline voted to shut down the government unless the Affordable Care Act is defunded, he spoke to Minnesota Public Radio (above) about the next arson the GOP is planning.
"We're not just going to give a carte blanche to raise the debt limit," he said.Unlike many in his caucus, including U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann, Kline isn't demanding a repeal or delay of the 2010 healthcare law-- though he'd certainly take that. [And voted for it.]"I think the real answer to the debt limit is to get some agreement from Senate Democrats and more specifically the White House that you've got to do something about entitlements," Kline said in a reference to Social Security and Medicare.In particular, Kline is interested in ideas such as a higher retirement age.When asked whether it's appropriate to push for such complex changes with just weeks to go before the federal government runs out borrowing room, Kline said, "yes.""I think it's a better place to have this fight," he said.That's the position of most Republicans. They want concessions from President Obama to raise the debt ceiling-- even though tax and spending policies voted on by Congress are what drives the government's need to borrow....Former Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Frenzel, who represented Minnesota's 3rd District in Congress for 20 years, is not impressed with the GOP's hardball tactics."The Republicans in the House are looking for a way to get themselves into the minority," he said.Frenzel said when he retired in 1991, debt limit votes were routine and didn't keep the markets on edge.
Derailing Social Security, Kline's goal, has been Republican Party policy since the 1930's. When Alf Landon ran on repealing Social Security in 1936, he only won two states-- and the Republicans found themselves with only 16 Senate seats and only 88 House members left in Congress! I asked Obermueller about Kline's strategy of using the debt ceiling to blackmail Obama into cutting Social Security benefits:
“Given Congressman Kline's visceral disregard for the middle class and the benefits they’ve earned, I am not surprised he remains uncompromising in his belief that scoring political points is well-worth the severe economic consequences of a full-scale government shutdown. We’re at a standstill because Congressman Kline wants to cut benefits while giving millionaires a tax break. When I’m elected I’m going to work hard to protect Social Security, Medicare and other benefits that middle-class families earned and I’m not going to give in to these concessions when the costs are too great for our families.”
Anyone think Steve Israel is listening?