Democrats target Buchanan with robo-calls on debt ceiling

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, is one of six Florida Republican members of the U.S. House being targeted by Democrats with a series of robo-calls as lawmakers try to reach a deal on raising the nation's debt ceiling.

The St. Petersburg Times' The Buzz blog reports:

Six Florida Republican members of Congress are being targeted in Democrat-paid robo calls as the negotiations over raising the debt ceiling continue to frustrate both sides.

“Hi, this is Travis calling on behalf of the DCCC. Congressman Daniel Webster and Speaker Boehner would rather our economy default just to protect tax breaks for Big Oil companies and billionaire jet-owners," a voice says on the call facing the Orlando lawmaker. "Republicans quit negotiating with President Obama on raising the debt ceiling."

The other Florida targets are Reps. C.W. Bill Young, Vern Buchanan, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Allen West and David Rivera. All voted last week for the "cut, cap, balance" budget plan. The DCCC robo call campaign targets 60 Republicans nationwide, and the DCCC said President Obama won 83 percent of the districts in 2008.

Democrats and Obama say the House GOP is unreasonable and have accused Republicans of playing political games. Republicans, of course, say the same thing about the Democrats.