Rep. Steve King: The ‘best vote’ I ever cast in Congress was opposing Katrina relief.

[babylonsister]

I can't even wrap my head around this. :(


http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/22/king-katrina/

Rep. Steve King: The ‘best vote’ I ever cast in Congress was opposing Katrina relief.


Rep. Steve King In a new interview with The Hill, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) reveals his proudest moment as a lawmaker:

THE HILL: What vote would you like to redo?

KING: I don’t really go back and re-live that sort of thing. Some of the big votes that I’ve thought about, some of the jury’s still out. And at this point, maybe I’d answer that question another way, probably the singular vote that stands out that went against the grain, and it turns out to be the best vote that I cast, was my “no” vote to the $51.5 billion to {Hurricane} Katrina. That probably was my best vote. But as far as doing something different again, I don’t know.

King was one of just 11 members of Congress to vote against the $52 billion aid package. (It passed unanimously in the Senate.) Media Matters Action Network’s Matt Finkelstein writes, “Katrina killed 1,464 in Louisiana alone and uprooted the lives of countless others all over the gulf region. Yet, King says this was his ‘best’ moment in Congress. Not fighting for ‘conservative principles’ like smaller government, lower taxes, or a strong national defense — no, he’s most proud of opposing relief for victims of a catastrophe.”

[Mike Daniels]

1. I see the reporter did a bang up job of following up that statement with "do you care to explain?"

Sarcasm.

[Chipper Chat]

2. Dubuque, Des Moines, Davenport, Marshalltown, Mason City,

Keokuk, Ames, Clear Lake..........ought to give STEVEN KING the boot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Skidmore]

4. All the wrong cities to chastise in Iowa. King is the nutcase sent to

represent the western portion of the state. Go talk to the folks up there. That area has a pretty conservative mindset.

[Peacetrain]

6. Not all of us by a long shot.. we have our suspicions about how that @sshat keeps getting

elected

[emulatorloo]

8. Iowa's Michele Bachmann. Like Minnesota, most of Iowa is sane. Some parts are quite insane though

EOM

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. Channeling Meredith Wilson, are we?

My family's from Iowa (though I haven't lived there since I was 7) and I have a lot of relatives still there, but they're up in NE (Fort Dodge) and SE (Albia) areas. Pretty conservative, sure, but I can't imagine any of them agreeing with this nutcase. When I think of Iowa I tend to think of Prairie Populists, moderates who don't really really worry too much about what others do, so long as they aren't drawn into it.

This guy sounds more like southern Missouri to me.

[Critters2]

17. Fort Dodge isn't NE, unless they've moved it. nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. Oh, that is weird. All my life I pictured it farther east -

maybe I got confused as a kid. My Dad was from Cedar Falls, and at some point his family moved to Ft Dodge - maybe he pointed out 'where he was from' and I thought he was pointing at Ft Dodge instead of Cedar Falls, and it stuck with me.

Thanks for making me check.

[Critters2]

32. It's okay. Just struck me as odd. nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

56. 'Sall right - like I said, I haven't lived there since I was a kid.

I'm regularly surprising myself with finding mistaken assumptions about geography - like a couple weeks ago I was looking to see how long it took to drive to my nephew's and discovered that Atlanta is NOT in the center of the state; and a few years ago learned that the big body of water beside N.O. is a lake to the north, not the gulf to the south.

What's fun is as I get older I will always keep learning, because I forget things as fast as i learn them, so it's always new.

[atreides1]

11. Look up the 5th District

That's Kings area.

[Critters2]

14. Not one of the cities you've named is located in his district.

I hope you know your own state's geography, and congressional delegation, better than you know Iowa's.

[Chipper Chat]

22. Sorry for the misunderstanding Critters

see post #16

[Bluzmann57]

15. Um, I live in Davenport

Our Representative is Bruce Braley. We can't do a whole lot about the western part of the state does. So try and do a little research before posting.

[Chipper Chat]

25. Damn, I wish I could just retract the post.

This was a play-on-words of a song by 'The Music Man' by Meredith Willson. Soplease: "try to do a little research" before condemning a fellow DUer's post.

[Chipper Chat]

31. Music Man link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XSEZCYp7X8

[Chipper Chat]

16. Was spoofing "Ought To Give Iowa a Try" from 'The Music Man'

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTIwMjQ3NDc5Ml5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODY5NzIyMQ@@._V1._SX82_SY140_.jpg
But if I ever came to Iowa I WOULD have something to say to the BecKKKites.

[Critters2]

Given your earlier post, I doubt you could find Iowa on a map. nt

[Bluzmann57]

19. Those people are everywhere

Not just in Iowa.

[Chipper Chat]

29. Music Man link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XSEZCYp7X8

[marmar]

3. He's a really horrible organism.

nt

[Critters2]

26. LOL!! At first, I misread your post,

and was trying to imagine in what way an orgasm could be horrible.

What does that say about me?! :rofl:

[Solly Mack]

5. That man is a pus-pocket

[SIMPLYB1980]

7. What a Douche.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/01/king-minority-caucuses/

"Yesterday, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) took to the House floor for an hour-long speech consisting of tired denunciations of Obama shaking hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and more hysterical complaints about how new hate crime legislation protects gays. During his tirade, King decided to direct part of his vitriol at the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, calling both organizations “separatist groups.”"

[xxqqqzme]

12. Wow, I didn't know he was one of the loonie caucus.

my un-representative is dana whorbacher. One of the founding members of the loonie caucus.

[Critters2]

21. He's the King of the Loonie Caucus! nt

[Louisiana1976]

49. Agreed. Rep. Steve KKKing is an evil scumbag.

[gratuitous]

9. As I recall, parts of Iowa flood from time to time

They're also prone to getting hit with tornados every now and then. I wonder if Rep. King would like to be treated in the same manner that he treats others (that whole Golden Rule thing)?

[MrScorpio]

13. You got to this thread first

My thoughts exactly

[Critters2]

24. The floods weren't in his district.

But something for other congresscritters to keep in mind, should the Missouri ever go over its banks.

[shcrane71]

57. The Missouri did overflow

Back in the 1850's, a great flood created my hometown of Carter Lake. It's the only spot in Iowa *West* of the Missouri River. Omaha surrounds the town.

Also, in 1993, Western Iowa (Carter Lake, Council Bluffs) suffered property damage just as Eastern Iowa did.

King is crazy. I don't know who is voting for him.

[Critters2]

23. He'd tell you it's the liberal parts of Iowa that flood.

Dangerous commie places with universities, like Iowa City and Cedar Falls.

None of that lefty stuff goes on in his district.

[shcrane71]

58. However... Council Bluffs...

CB elected Gronstal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2s2R5qKhbo

[Cha]

28. I remember a disasterous flood in Iowa during the

primaries of 2008.. We have a poster here who was keeping us updated.

http://www.iowaflood.com/

<snip>>

"Obama Campaign Organizes Iowa Flooding Relief Efforts"

"BarackObama.com: Several Midwest states were flooded this weekend, forcing families to evacuate their homes and leave their communities.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by the floods.

The American Red Cross is providing relief efforts in Indiana, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and West Virginia. Almost 1,100 workers have been deployed to help out in the Midwest.

Throughout this campaign, we have seen time and again that when ordinary people act together, they can make a difference.."

<more>>
http://plainsmanpolitico.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/486/

[Critters2]

33. That's not King's district.

And believe me, he doesn't care about the rest of Iowa anymore than he does New Orleans.

[Cha]

41. Right...no aspirations for anything

higher.

[Critters2]

42. He knows he couldn't win statewide office.

The eastern half of the state, especially the cities, are solid blue. That's why, when he did want something higher than his state senate post, he didn't make any noise about running for governor or US Senator. Wouldn't have a chance in hell. He can get the crazies in the far west to vote for him, but that's all.

[liberalhistorian]

40. Oh, but that's "different." Believe me, I live in SD, and

the attitude here and in many western states toward Katrina victims is downright hostile and cruel. There's little understanding of the tremendous toll in human life, and I frankly doubt they'd really care all that much even if they DID understand that. My local weekly paper has a columnist who goes on the same old tired rants against the eeeevil gubmint, but send us our federal farm and ranch subsidies and maintain our interstate highways by which the state ships and receives its agricultural products and give us OUR federal disaster relief after blizzards and floods, thank you very much.

She had a column back in May that went on a real hateful tirade against Katrina victims, comparing and contrasting how SD citizens handle disaster as opposed to the ignorant, lazy welfare bums of NOLA. I fucking kid you not. She went on and on about how "we don't sit on top of our roofs expecting the government to rescue us and then get mad when they don't" and on and on in that hateful, ignorant vein. I couldn't believe it. Then again, from some people around here, I guess I could. There was no understanding of what they went through, the vicious racism that kept victims from certain areas at gunpoint, etc., etc. I'll see if I can try to find that column and post it.

[Cha]

43. When you suck up hateradio to feel special

only about yourselves so there's no room for the reality of the plight of other people then, yeah, that hate is going to grow so ugly that they'd better be careful it doesn't turned into bitter self hatred.

[Dappleganger]

18. Rot in hell.

[Arkana]

20. What a subhuman piece of shit.

[CoffeeCat]

27. In defense of our fine state of Iowa...

I would like to say that the vast majority of the state HATES Steve King and is horrendously
embarrassed by his ignorance and ashamed of his extremist views.

King represents the northwest portion of the state, which is rural and incredibly conservative.
Wackjob, Palin-followers are plentiful there. This portion of the state does not represent
the bulk of the state--especially in the larger cities (Des Moines in central Iowa, Cedar Rapids,
Davenport, Waterloo and Dubuque in eastern Iowa).

With that said, please remember that Iowa was the "first in the nation" state, that led off the
Democratic primaries. Hillary was well ahead in the polls and she was the favorite--but Iowans overwhelmingly
voted for Barack Obama in the caucuses. Our state is not that diverse. We have a 96 percent white
population. However, the population is incredibly educated and progressive. We listened to what Obama
had to say and bucked "business as usual".

Yes, we have our conservative-nutjob contingent--but overall--I find the people here very
enlightened, smart and compassionate.

As far as I'm concerned--Steve King may represent a small wacknut contingent that happens to be
concentrated in one part of the state--but overall, the people of this state reject his bizarre,
ugly views and statements.

...just had to get that out. :-)

[Critters2]

34. For accuracy's sake, King does not represent the whole state of Iowa. This is his district:

[ellie]

35. And yet he still gets

elected. What does that say about the citizens of Iowa?

[Critters2]

37. So does Bruce Braley and Tom Harkin.

What does that say?

Again, for clarity...he represents a PORTION of the state of Iowa.

[shcrane71]

59. It says

That King gets elected in the most rural portion of the State. Have you lived in very rural areas? There's a massive brain-drain, young people, for the most part, leave as soon as they graduate from high school, jobs are scarce.

Drive from Des Moines to Council Bluffs sometime, and notice how quickly your radio station options disappear. There's a reason that "red" states are the most rural places in the country. People do not have the mass media options that one enjoys in cities. Rural areas have a larger part of their population serving in the military -- hey, it's an employer. Right wing radio runs rampant.

Council Bluffs is strongly Democratic, and Nebraska's 2nd District (Omaha) gave its electoral vote to Obama.

[KamaAina]

36. Today's Worst. Person. In The World!!

:grr: :banghead: :argh:

[City Lights]

38. Taking assholery to new heights.

He and those who voted for him must be so proud.

:puke:

[WCGreen]

39. Perhaps the Democrats could challenge him by saying how does he

expect the rest of Congress to come to our aide if, God forbid, a natural disaster should strike our distrit.

Anyway, his was probably a racially motivated vote anyway.

[Nikki Stone1]

44. Steve King makes Baby Jesus cry.

Not to mention St. Francis, Mother Teresa and the Statue of Liberty.

[Critters2]

46. He claims to be Roman Catholic.

Seems to have missed the stuff about caring for the poor.

[Nikki Stone1]

47. And I claim to be a 6 foot redhead

But that doesn't mean I am one.

[Critters2]

48. True enough. nt

[Critters2]

45. Here's an interesting tidbit--King volunteering in NOLA.

U.S. Congressmen volunteer with Operation Helping Hands
posted: July 1, 2009

About a quarter of the way down: http://www.ccano.org/

People there should hear about his remarks, so they can welcome him appropriately the next time he comes to town.

[Louisiana1976]

50. Well said--he's two-faced, too.

[burning rain]

51. Oppose large-scale government relief for New Orleans,....

but paint a house. Well! That sounds like effective private charity. Did he donate a can of pork & beans, too?

[Zix]

52. This is a politician? Enlighten me, please, I'm not American.

Politicians can say things like this in the US? And not be essentially fired instantly after causing a total meltdown in the confidence of their entire party?

[Critters2]

53. Now you're just making me pissed at my ancestors who left Scotland!

:)

Yes, in some parts of this country, idiot politicians can make statements like this, and get re-elected. Stunning, no?

I'm sure he'd say he believes in people pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, or getting help from private charities, rather than the government. There's a lot of that kind of Libertarian nonsense going around lately.

But, mostly, he's an idiot, who, on a daily basis, does everything in his power to embarrass my native state.

[Zix]

54. ...

The idea of allowing someone to take charge of part of a nation who battles AGAINST the interests, possibly the LIVES of its citizens... (shakes head) and then people VOTING for them... something is very, very wrong.

[Critters2]

55. No argument here.

Any idea how difficult it is for the descendants of Scottish emigrants to immigrate back? I even know where my ancestors came from--Jedburgh, Yetholm, and Selkirk in the Borders District.

Cuz, this place has become nucking futs!