www.csua.org/u/js0 -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/20/MNH9ST598.DTL
Pete Stark may be Congress' foremost expert on health care, but on Capitol Hill the Fremont Democrat is better known for his explosive remarks that drive his critics - and sometimes his allies - crazy. The 18-term lawmaker stirred the pot again Thursday when he attacked President Bush and congressional Republicans for backing hundreds of billions of dollars for the Iraq war, but blocking a $35 billion expansion of a children's health insurance program. "You're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement," Stark told Republicans on the floor of the House. The remarks during the debate over Bush's veto of the children's health bill drew howls of outrage from House Republicans and conservative commentators. His words were replayed endlessly on cable news and talk radio. By Friday, even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - who praised Stark for his leadership on the children's health bill a day earlier - was distancing herself from his comments. "While members of Congress are passionate about their views, what Congressman Stark said during the debate was inappropriate and distracted from the seriousness of the subject at hand - providing health care for America's children," Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said. What Pelosi also meant: Stark had handed Republicans an easy way to distract the public from what Democrats view as a winning stance on the popular children's health bill. "He doesn't believe that he is the story," said his spokesman, Yoni Cohen. "He believes the story is that 10 million children are being denied health insurance." On the eve of the Iraq war, he said Bush would be committing a "terrorist act" by bombing Baghdad. He provoked a committee showdown in 2003 by calling a GOP member a "little fruitcake." A closer look at Stark's comments Thursday - and how they were spun by Republicans - shows how his tart-tongued statement became headline news. He began: "First of all, I'm just amazed that the Republicans are worried that we can't pay for insuring an additional 10 million children. They sure don't care about finding $200 billion to fight the illegal war in Iraq. You are going to tell us lies like you're telling us today? "You don't have money to fund the war or children, but you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement." He went back to the same point moments later: "But President Bush's statements about children's health shouldn't be taken any more seriously than his lies about the war in Iraq. The truth is that Bush just likes to blow things up in Iraq, in the United States and in Congress." They were posted on the blog DailyKos, stirring applause from the site's anti-war, anti-Bush readers: "Wow, this guy kicks ass," wrote one blogger. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who followed Stark on the floor, said: "It is despicable to have a member of this Congress accuse this president, any president, of willfully blowing the heads, quote, blowing the heads off our young men and women over in Iraq and Afghanistan." House Republican Leader John Boehner's press aides alerted reporters to Stark's comments. The National Republican Campaign Committee issued a press release, titled: "Democrat Disgrace: Pete Stark Drags SCHIP Political Circus to All-Time Low." But Stark continued to taunt GOP members - clearly seeking to draw a reaction. "What are you going to do for that 200 or 300 billion bucks, folks, that you're spending to kill these kids when they grow up? Republicans tried unsuccessfully to have his words stricken from the official record. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said the remarks "were hateful and wrong, and should be labeled as such by the House Democrat leadership." While Pelosi, in her statement Friday, said Stark had gone too far, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, provided him a measured defense. "The Republicans are desperate to change the subject from the real issue at hand, which is an occupation that has cost us almost a half a trillion dollars, and there's no end in sight," she said. "That's the real issue here, and the Republicans, and the president, are desperate to avoid it."
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