Hultgren Agonistes

If your LakeCountyEye took a free junket to Taiwan for every time asked how to get a Republican into Congress, you would now be reading this in Chinese. Haha, Congress's approval ratings may be in the low negative digits, but getting re-elected to the House of Representatives has never been easier in Lake County. The trick is to position yourself far enough on the extreme Right to scare away any Joe Walsh who wants to run against you in the Primary. But not so extreme that your voters blame you for shutting down the government and bouncing grandma's Social Security check.

Don't take it from your LakeCountyEye. This foolproof pathway to re-election has already been forged by Lake County's stealth Congressman, Randy Hultgren. In August Hultgren signed a letter, along with some 80 other like-minded House Republicans, urging their leadership to "de-fund" ObamaCare by removing it from any appropriation bills -- all at the risk (and now a reality) of shutting down the Federal government:

Since much of the implementation of ObamaCare is a function of the discretionary appropriations process, including the operation of the "mandatory spending" portions of the law, and since most of the citizens we represent believe that ObamaCare should never go into effect, we urge you to affirmatively de-fund the implementation and enforcement of ObamaCare in any relevant appropriations bill brought to the House floor in the 113th Congress, including any continuing appropriations bill.
The Meadows Letter

Once the Primary predators that were circling around got scared off, Hultgren then pivoted to the center by hurrying over to the Daily Herald ...

Congressman Randy Hultgren says he is deeply torn between two mandates from his constituents: Fighting Obamacare and keeping the federal government open for business.
Hultgren's dilemma: Derail Obamacare or keep government running

... to warn everyone about the dire consequences of a government shutdown:

"No one wins with a government shutdown," Hultgren said. "We realize that a government shutdown doesn't defund Obamacare. We need agreement on a continuing resolution."
Hultgren's dilemma: Derail Obamacare or keep government running

Your LakeCountyEye would not be surprised if the crafty Hultgren is currently pricing residential real estate in or near Washington D.C. for permanent occupancy.

Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry. How many plans are truly foolproof? What if a fact-checker finds the letter that Randy Hultgren signed, and the Daily Herald then spills all the beans?

Did your LakeCountyEye just say fact-checker and Daily Herald in the same sentence? Haha -- foolproof!