Rep. Steve King at times is the king of wingnutopia. They'd like to erase the last 250 years. Aren't tea party politicians supposed to be constitutionalists?

Political Correction:

In a Judiciary Committee hearing on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) used his allotted time to daydream out loud about an era of American history when only male property owners were allowed to vote. King pondered whether we should go back to a similar system of allowing only people with "skin in the game" (i.e. people with jobs) to have that right.

Halfway through his remarks, King made the disclaimer that he was only making "a historical observation" about the era of property-owner-only voting, but the rest of his dialogue made it seem as though he thought the Founding Fathers might have been on to something.

KING: As I roll this thing back and I think of American history, there was a time in American history when you had to be a male property owner in order to vote. The reason for that was, because they wanted the people who voted — that set the public policy, that decided on the taxes and the spending — to have some skin in the game.

Now we have data out there that shows that 47 percent of American households don't pay taxes, 51 percent of American wage-earners don't have an income tax liability. And it's pretty clear that there are a lot of people who are not in the workforce at all. In fact, of our unemployment numbers — that run in the 13 or 14 million category — when you go to the Department of Labor Statistics and you look at that data, you can add up those that are simply not in the workforce of different age groups, but of working age, add that number to the number of those who are on unemployment and you come up with a number that was just a few months ago 80 million Americans. Just over a month ago that number went over 100 million Americans that aren't working.

Now I don't think they're paying taxes. But many of them are voting. And when they vote, they vote for more government benefits.

Back at home he probably takes out his snuff box and dreams about the time when plantations littered the south and women were chained to the kitchen. Um, Steve, the House of Representatives is supposed to represent the "people." It was called The People's House. Not the "Landowners House." That's one of the reasons we have the Senate.

Rep. Steve King is one of the most extreme of the extreme right in Congress, and he says some of the most dehumanizing, evil-spirited, and downright hateful things any member of Congress has ever spoken.

Political Correction:

Late last night on the House floor, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) spoke in support of a Republican amendment to the Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would exempt DHS construction projects from a law requiring federal contractors to pay laborers the prevailing wage and benefits for the area. That law, known as Davis-Bacon, serves to protect union laborers from being drastically underbid by non-union contractors. In effect, the law prevents a 'race to the bottom' in federal contracting bids, which in turn protects working-class wages in the building trades.

But not according to Steve King, who once again likened the law to anti-gay legislation decried by Democrats and argued that it is an unacceptable intrusion into the free market, where "labor is a commodity just like corn or beans or oil or gold, and the value of it needs to be determined by the competition, supply and demand in the workplace."

KING: If you wanna do as many Democrats have said on this floor, and that is that any relationship between two consenting adults the federal government shouldn't be involved in, well this is a relationship the federal government should not be involved in. For the federal government to tell me that I can't say to my own son, I'd like to climb in the seat of your excavator and sit there for $10 an hour, federal government says I can't, he's gotta pay me some $28 rate or whatever that is. But the government has no business interfering and no business driving up these costs. And we must go through this period of austerity. That requires that we not impose federal union scale on federal construction projects. [...] And I think the free market should set the wages. Labor is a commodity just like corn or beans or oil or gold, and the value of it needs to be determined by the competition, supply and demand in the workplace.

After King finished his remarks, Rep. Norman Dicks (D-WA) asked where King's family construction business is located. King explained, and then a live mic caught him saying, "Now he'll send the unions to organize [us]." Watch (transcript beginning at 1:52):

To King and Randian Conservatives like him, people aren't people, they are things who have no value except that which CEOs ascribe to them. It reminds me of the quote from the movie, Island of Lost Souls: Are we not men? To Rep. Steve King, we are not men or women or children, we are beans and corn.

Mushed reminded me of these quotes from King:

CLAIMED HIS WIFE "IS AT FAR GREATER RISK BEING A CIVILIAN IN DC THAN AN AVERAGE CIVILIAN IN IRAQ":

On June 12, on the House floor, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) downplayed the violence on the ground in Iraq, claiming his wife is taking a greater risk by living in Washington, D.C. King said: "27.51 Iraqis per 100,000 die a violent death on an annual basis. 27.51. Now what does that mean? To me, it really doesn't mean a lot until I compare it to people that I know or have a feel for the rhythm of this place. Well I by now have a feel for the rhythm of this place called Washington, D.C., and my wife lives here with me, and I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, she's at far greater risk being a civilian in Washington, D.C. than an average civilian in Iraq. 45 out of every 100,000 Washington, D.C. regular residents die a violent death on an annual basis. [Center for American Progress's Blog, Think Progress]

OFFERED LEGISLATION TO STRIKE DOWN THE REAUTHORIZATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT (VAWA) BECAUSE ACCORDING TO MR. KING VAWA GOT IN THE WAY OF MARRIAGE : Last year Rep. Steve King offered an amendment to H.R. 3402 - Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, which would struck down the reauthorization of violence against women section (VAWA) of the bill. He justified the amendment because in his words VAWA "demonstrated a certain hostility particularly against men, but also involves itself in the relationship of marriage that I think we should stay out of." [Transcripts, House Rules Committee, 109-1st, September 27, 2005]

And here are a few more from the Steve King Files:

Rep . Steve King 'empathizes' with the Austin Texas suicide attack on the IRS
Rep. Steve King says Rep. Grijalva's district has ceded to Mexico
Hey, Steve King! Exactly where SHOULD gays wear their sexuality?
Rep. Steve King smears Obama's name: "radical Islamists will be dancing in the streets'

Rep. Steve King is the epitome of the disgusting Bircher-Randian megalomaniacs that have overtaken the Republican party. Day after day, he says things so unseemly that I wonder if Congress might cause his health-hazardous remarks to be stricken from our ears. In his latest transgression, he uses babies born in trash cans to defend his positions on HCR repeal.

Testifying that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional before an emergency Rules Committee meeting on the GOP's repeal bill this morning, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) offered a very specific argument.

"There've always been," King said, "babies that were born, lived, and died within the jurisdictions of the individual states, who never cross a state line, access no health care, and therefore do not impact interstate commerce."

When Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) challenged King to "find the baby that was not born at a hospital or with a midwife, who did not receive inoculations," King upped the ante. "I hate to tell you, but they show up in garbage cans around this country, sir

This man is a shameless product of the conservative mind that has been radicalizing the GOP since the rise of Goldwater. That mind is destroying the political process in our country, not to mention helping create a zombie army of brainless idiots.

Speaking of default mechanisms, let's review Steve King's record.

• October, 2009: ...the hate crimes bill results in a "pedophile protection act," and is meant to create "thought crimes" and protect "sexual idiosyncrasies."
• February, 2010: "It’s sad the incident in Texas happened, but by the same token, it’s an agency that is unnecessary and when the day comes when that is over and we abolish the IRS, it’s going to be a happy day for America." (Referencing the attack on the Austin IRS office that killed one agent)
• March, 2010: King declared that a peaceful uprising, a la the successful overthrowing of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia on the streets of Prague in 1989 "would be fine with me."
• May, 2010: "Gay people should stop wearing their sexuality on their sleeve."
• May, 2010: "The ACLU, SEIU and the Muslim American Society are calling the shots at the Justice Department. The 'draft complaint' DOJ has prepared to challenge the Arizona law is a 'cut & paste' version of the class-action lawsuit the ACLU filed in United States District Court on May 17th. "

And here's a few more.

Rep . Steve King 'empathizes' with the Austin Texas suicide attack on the IRS
Rep. Steve King says Rep. Grijalva's district has ceded to Mexico
Hey, Steve King! Exactly where SHOULD gays wear their sexuality?
Rep. Steve King smears Obama's name: "radical Islamists will be dancing in the streets'

(above video of King is from March, 2008)

Many of you will remember this outrageous and hateful statement from Iowa Republican, Steve King in March of 2008:

"I'll just say this that when you think about the optics of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected President of the United States -- and I mean, what does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam?

"And I will tell you that, if he is elected president, then the, the radical Islamists, the, the al-Qaida, and the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11….

King is a standout, even among the numerous right wing crazies in the GOP. He's up to his old tricks, going flat out homophobic, and lying through his teeth about President Obama's Safe Schools Czar, Kevin Jennings:

“Kevin Jennings lacks the appropriate qualifications and ethical standards to serve in a presidential administration. Despite serving as the ‘safe schools’ czar, Jennings has demonstrated a willingness to look the other way on sexual abuse. His life’s work has been the promotion of homosexuality, even in elementary schools, and he has demonstrated no qualifications to make students safer in our schools. Jennings is committed to the ‘safety’ of only a narrow portion of American students, while expressing disdain for religion and traditional values. President Obama should fire Kevin Jennings immediately.”

It's now been widely reported that the allegations that Jennings failed to report a statutory rape were incorrect, but Rep. King would never let a little thing like facts get in the way of a good, right wing rant. Even Fox News was forced to post a correction on this story. Jennings has every right to sue Fox, and each one of their entertainers who have spread the lies about him, and King needs to take down his statement and apologize to Jennings -- and Nancy Pelosi needs to demand it.