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Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 8:45 p.m. EDT
Rep. Stark: The Most Liberal of Liberals
To the National Journal Rep. Fortney (Pete) Stark, D-Calif., is the left-most lawmaker in a country that's been sliding right for decades. To feisty columnist Michelle Malkin, he's simply a "raving lunatic." To Joel Mowbray author of "Dangerous Diplomacy: How the State Department Threatens America’s Security,” he's "Stark Raving Mad."
The Journal, labeled by the Los Angeles Times as "the policy bible and political field guide to Washington," ranks members of Congress on the basis of their votes on more than 100 foreign policy, economic and social issues. According to the Times, for the last two years Stark has finished "at the very top -- or bottom, depending -- as the left-most lawmaker on the left-right scale." The Times notes that Stark, a millionaire former banker, barely edged out Georgia's cop-bashing Democrat Rep. Cynthia McKinney for the dubious honor.
And while Malkin and other conservative critics see his position as the most left of leftists, Stark says he revels in the designation.
"I only won by 0.5 of a point," Stark told the Times about his latest first-place showing. "But it's nice." Actually, the Times notes it was more like 0.3 of a point.
No matter what the issue, Stark can be inevitably located way out there on the fringes. He's vehemently anti-war, favors gun control and opposes bans on gay marriage and late-term abortions, the Times notes.
He is also famed for having the most unrestrained mouth in politics, something Malkin zeroed in on in a June, 13, 2003, column when she called him "the foul-mouthed poster boy for Liberal Double Standards."
Mowbray recalls an incident when a Stark constituent, Daniel Dow faxed an intelligent, though strongly worded, letter to Stark expressing his outrage over Stark's refusal to vote for a resolution supporting the troops in Iraq, but also condemning the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and calling for a full investigation.
"Dow stepped out for some errands, and upon returning home, he listened to his voicemail," Mowbray wrote. It was Stark, and among the things he told Dow, an enlisted man, was: "You don't know what you’re talking about. So if you care about enlisted people, you wouldn’t have voted for that thing, either.”
He went on: "Probably somebody put you up to this, and I’m not sure who it was, but I doubt if you could spell half the words in the letter and somebody wrote it for you. So I don’t pay too much attention to it.” As Mowbray notes, "near the middle of his rambling message, the congressman promised Dow, 'But I’ll call you back later.'" Why? Stark explained, "[To] let you tell me why you think you’re such a great, goddamned hero.” (Stark did not call back.)"
Malkin recalled Stark ranting against fellow Ways and Means Committee member Scott McInnis, R-Colo., saying "Oh, you think you are big enough to take me, you little wimp? Come on. Come over here and make me.I dare you."
Wrote Malkin: "Further goading McInnis, a married Republican gentleman, Stark lashed out: 'You little fruitcake. You little fruitcake. I said you are a fruitcake.' According to Fox News Channel, witnesses say Stark then hurled a 10-letter homophobic insult at another member better suited for an anti-gay rap record than the Congressional Record. Stark's press office refused to answer my questions on the record about these remarks."
The Times reports some of his choicer remarks such as calling conservative Christians "witch-burners." "You'll get the death penalty soon for not saying the Lord's Prayer right," he told the Times.
The Times reports that Stark once called the American Medical Association a bunch of "greedy troglodytes," skewered one well-respected Republican colleague as "a whore for the insurance industry," another as a "fruitcake" and a third as a "fascist." He called House leaders President Bush's "Republican henchmen," and nearly provoked a fistfight on the House floor by accusing a GOP leader of fathering several children outside of marriage."
His stand on drugs is totally far left. According to ontheissues.org, Stark:
# Voted NO on military border patrols to battle drugs and terrorism. (Sept. 2001)
# Voted NO on prohibiting needle exchanges and medical marijuana in Washington, D.C. (Oct. 1999)
# Voted NO on subjecting federal employees to random drug tests. (Sept. 1998)
# Legalize medical marijuana. (July 2001)
# Rated A by VOTE-HEMP, indicating a pro-hemp voting record. (Dec. 2003)
On abortion he
# Voted YES on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005)
# Voted NO on restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions. (April 2005)
# Voted NO on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime. (Feb. 2004)
# Voted NO on banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother’s life. (Oct. 2003)
# Voted NO on forbidding human cloning for reproduction and medical research. (Feb. 2003)
# Voted NO on funding for health providers who don't provide abortion info. (Sept. 2002)
# Voted NO on banning Family Planning funding in US aid abroad. (May 2001)
# Voted NO on federal crime to harm fetus while committing other crimes. (April 2001)
# Voted NO on banning partial-birth abortions. (April 2000)
# Voted NO on barring transporting minors to get an abortion. (June 1999)
# Rated 100 percent by NARAL, indicating a pro-choice voting record. (Dec. 2003)
On energy issues;
# Voted NO on authorizing construction of new oil refineries. (Oct. 2005)
# Voted NO on passage of the Bush administration national energy policy. (June 2004)
# Voted NO on implementing Bush-Cheney national energy policy. (Nov. 2003)
# Voted YES on starting implementation of Kyoto Protocol. (June 2000)
# Regulate wholesale electricity & gas prices. (March 2001)
# Preserve Alaska's ANWR instead of drilling it. (Feb. 2001)
And finally, on issues involving families and children he veered far left:
# Voted NO on establishing nationwide AMBER Alert system for missing kids. (April 2003)
# Voted NO on reducing Marriage Tax by $399B over 10 years. (March 2001)
# Rated 7 percent by the Christian Coalition: an anti-family voting record. (Dec. 2003)
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 8:45 p.m. EDT
Rep. Stark: The Most Liberal of Liberals
To the National Journal Rep. Fortney (Pete) Stark, D-Calif., is the left-most lawmaker in a country that's been sliding right for decades. To feisty columnist Michelle Malkin, he's simply a "raving lunatic." To Joel Mowbray author of "Dangerous Diplomacy: How the State Department Threatens America’s Security,” he's "Stark Raving Mad."
The Journal, labeled by the Los Angeles Times as "the policy bible and political field guide to Washington," ranks members of Congress on the basis of their votes on more than 100 foreign policy, economic and social issues. According to the Times, for the last two years Stark has finished "at the very top -- or bottom, depending -- as the left-most lawmaker on the left-right scale." The Times notes that Stark, a millionaire former banker, barely edged out Georgia's cop-bashing Democrat Rep. Cynthia McKinney for the dubious honor.
And while Malkin and other conservative critics see his position as the most left of leftists, Stark says he revels in the designation.
"I only won by 0.5 of a point," Stark told the Times about his latest first-place showing. "But it's nice." Actually, the Times notes it was more like 0.3 of a point.
No matter what the issue, Stark can be inevitably located way out there on the fringes. He's vehemently anti-war, favors gun control and opposes bans on gay marriage and late-term abortions, the Times notes.
He is also famed for having the most unrestrained mouth in politics, something Malkin zeroed in on in a June, 13, 2003, column when she called him "the foul-mouthed poster boy for Liberal Double Standards."
Mowbray recalls an incident when a Stark constituent, Daniel Dow faxed an intelligent, though strongly worded, letter to Stark expressing his outrage over Stark's refusal to vote for a resolution supporting the troops in Iraq, but also condemning the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and calling for a full investigation.
"Dow stepped out for some errands, and upon returning home, he listened to his voicemail," Mowbray wrote. It was Stark, and among the things he told Dow, an enlisted man, was: "You don't know what you’re talking about. So if you care about enlisted people, you wouldn’t have voted for that thing, either.”
He went on: "Probably somebody put you up to this, and I’m not sure who it was, but I doubt if you could spell half the words in the letter and somebody wrote it for you. So I don’t pay too much attention to it.” As Mowbray notes, "near the middle of his rambling message, the congressman promised Dow, 'But I’ll call you back later.'" Why? Stark explained, "[To] let you tell me why you think you’re such a great, goddamned hero.” (Stark did not call back.)"
Malkin recalled Stark ranting against fellow Ways and Means Committee member Scott McInnis, R-Colo., saying "Oh, you think you are big enough to take me, you little wimp? Come on. Come over here and make me.I dare you."
Wrote Malkin: "Further goading McInnis, a married Republican gentleman, Stark lashed out: 'You little fruitcake. You little fruitcake. I said you are a fruitcake.' According to Fox News Channel, witnesses say Stark then hurled a 10-letter homophobic insult at another member better suited for an anti-gay rap record than the Congressional Record. Stark's press office refused to answer my questions on the record about these remarks."
The Times reports some of his choicer remarks such as calling conservative Christians "witch-burners." "You'll get the death penalty soon for not saying the Lord's Prayer right," he told the Times.
The Times reports that Stark once called the American Medical Association a bunch of "greedy troglodytes," skewered one well-respected Republican colleague as "a whore for the insurance industry," another as a "fruitcake" and a third as a "fascist." He called House leaders President Bush's "Republican henchmen," and nearly provoked a fistfight on the House floor by accusing a GOP leader of fathering several children outside of marriage."
His stand on drugs is totally far left. According to ontheissues.org, Stark:
# Voted NO on military border patrols to battle drugs and terrorism. (Sept. 2001)
# Voted NO on prohibiting needle exchanges and medical marijuana in Washington, D.C. (Oct. 1999)
# Voted NO on subjecting federal employees to random drug tests. (Sept. 1998)
# Legalize medical marijuana. (July 2001)
# Rated A by VOTE-HEMP, indicating a pro-hemp voting record. (Dec. 2003)
On abortion he
# Voted YES on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005)
# Voted NO on restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions. (April 2005)
# Voted NO on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime. (Feb. 2004)
# Voted NO on banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother’s life. (Oct. 2003)
# Voted NO on forbidding human cloning for reproduction and medical research. (Feb. 2003)
# Voted NO on funding for health providers who don't provide abortion info. (Sept. 2002)
# Voted NO on banning Family Planning funding in US aid abroad. (May 2001)
# Voted NO on federal crime to harm fetus while committing other crimes. (April 2001)
# Voted NO on banning partial-birth abortions. (April 2000)
# Voted NO on barring transporting minors to get an abortion. (June 1999)
# Rated 100 percent by NARAL, indicating a pro-choice voting record. (Dec. 2003)
On energy issues;
# Voted NO on authorizing construction of new oil refineries. (Oct. 2005)
# Voted NO on passage of the Bush administration national energy policy. (June 2004)
# Voted NO on implementing Bush-Cheney national energy policy. (Nov. 2003)
# Voted YES on starting implementation of Kyoto Protocol. (June 2000)
# Regulate wholesale electricity & gas prices. (March 2001)
# Preserve Alaska's ANWR instead of drilling it. (Feb. 2001)
And finally, on issues involving families and children he veered far left:
# Voted NO on establishing nationwide AMBER Alert system for missing kids. (April 2003)
# Voted NO on reducing Marriage Tax by $399B over 10 years. (March 2001)
# Rated 7 percent by the Christian Coalition: an anti-family voting record. (Dec. 2003)