Steve King and Tom Harkin: Strange Bedfellows

Clearly in the camp of not trusting the Iowa Constitution's equal protection clause, Iowa Rep. Steve King condemned the Iowa Supreme Court's Friday decision to lift a decade-long ban on same-sex marriage, saying it puts the state in danger of becoming a "gay marriage Mecca." While both insulting to Muslms and the GLBT community in making this bizarro comparison, he also insults the intelligence of many Iowans who do believe in equality.

"This is an unconstitutional ruling and another example of activist judges molding the Constitution to achieve their personal political ends," King said in statement. "Iowa law says that marriage is between one man and one woman."

Showing that bipartisanship can create strange bedfellows, Senator Tom Harkin with his disclaimer in making a statement about the Iowa high court's ruling strikes me as weak-kneed (though not as blatently dismissive of the court's ruling certainly as Rep. King). Said Sen. Harkin, “My personal view has been that marriage is between a man and a woman, and I have voted in support of that concept." It seems like an attempt to distance himself from a key group of his constituency at a time when he should be celebrating a win for their civil rights.

To his credit he does continue to say "I also fundamentally believe that same sex couples in a civil union should be entitled to all the basic legal protections and benefits of marriage. The Court found that it is necessary to afford same sex couples the ability to marry in order to allow them those legal protections and benefits. I will respect and support that decision and I hope that other Iowans can do the same." For a senator who has generally been supportive of justice and protection of rights, his equivocation does not sit well with me.

In any case, I'm sure many Iowans will support the conflicted views these elected officials hold. As Harkin himself said, "I know that this decision will be very hard for many to accept but I also know that it will provide many committed same sex couples and families important rights, as well as an important sense of recognition and belonging.” As for me, I am equally sure that many more folks here will live and let live--as this is first and foremost, the Iowa way.

Men's Club Continues: No Change in Iowa Delegation

As widely expected, all the Iowa Congressional seats remain in the hands of incumbents as Democrats Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, and Leonard Bowell, and Republicans Tom Latham, and Steve King handily won their district races. Also, Democrat Senator Tom Harkin dispensed unheralded Republican challenger Christopher Reed.

Iowa continues to be one of only two states that has never sent a qualified woman candidate of any party to Congress, as Marrianette Miller-Meeks, Wendy Barth, and Becky Greenwald were defeated.

Killjoy King Says House Won't Flip S-CHIP

I feel for the poor souls in Iowa's 5th District...From Radio Iowa

The only member of the Iowa congressional delegation to vote against an increase in funding for a children's health program says there are not enough votes in the House to override the President's veto of the bill. A vote is scheduled for Thursday.

Fifth District Congressman Steve King says the 35-billion-dollar increase in the S-CHIP program would allow more adults and illegal immigrants to reap health benefits from it, and that prompted him to rename the program.

"You know, people ask me what S-CHIP stands for, and that is the State Children's Health Insurance Program," King said in a call with reporters today, "but I think it also stands for Socialized Clinton-style Hillary-care for Illegals and their Parents." King says the health benefits from the program are not going to the children living in poverty for which they were intended.

"This has gotten so far out of proportion that, for example in Minnesota, 87 percent of those who are on S-CHIP are adults, not children," King said. "We need to reform this program, we don't need to grow it out of proportion and distort it. And we don't need to lay the cornerstone of socialized medicine."

How Hard are Iowa's Representatives Working in Congress?

Now it may be unfair to judge from my vantage point in Iowa City how our Congressional Reps. are doing, but remember, I do research for a living and, yes, numbers do tell a story.

So in the 110th Congress who has sponsored legislation, co-sponsored legislation, and who has had others support their legislation? Thomas Legislation tracking tells us one story

IA-1 (Braley)*
Sponsored = 3
Others Support = 3
Co-sponsored = 60

IA-2 (Loebsack) *
= 2
= 2
= 124

IA-3 (Boswell) *
= 5
= 4
= 97

IA-4 (Latham) *
= 7
= 5
= 39

IA-5 (King) *
= 11
= 7
= **

GovTrack tells a different story.

* Bruce Braley has sponsored 3 bills since Jan 4, 2007, of which 2 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 0 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). Braley has co-sponsored 128 bills during the same time period (Few, relative to peers).

* David Loebsack has sponsored 2 bills since Jan 4, 2007, of which 1 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 0 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). Loebsack has co-sponsored 120 bills during the same time period (Few, relative to peers).

* Leonard Boswell has sponsored 44 bills since Jan 7, 1997, of which 41 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 0 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). Boswell has co-sponsored 1205 bills during the same time period (Average, relative to peers).

* Thomas Latham has sponsored 35 bills since Jan 7, 1997, of which 26 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 1 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). Latham has co-sponsored 764 bills during the same time period (Average, relative to peers).

* Steve King has sponsored 35 bills since Jan 7, 2003, of which 34 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 0 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). King has co-sponsored 536 bills during the same time period (Average, relative to peers).


** Unable to determine via Thomas