A True Patriot
- Monday, November 9, 2009, 4:30
- Iowa, National, News Center, Top Story
- 1,549 views
- 33 comments
For a November afternoon in Iowa, the weather was perfect. It was a sunny, seventy degrees, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The weekend weather was probably the best Iowans have experienced in months. For one Iowa couple, this perfect November day also just happened to be their wedding day.
There was just one problem. While most people would agree that the weather in Iowa is the most unpredictable variable when trying to plan a wedding, this couple had to deal with another uncontrollable force – the United States Congress.
Despite the unseasonably warm weather and the sunny blue skies, one thing was missing, the father of the groom. He wasn’t tied up in traffic. He wasn’t the type of father who didn’t have a good relationship with his children. What kept the father of the groom away from the wedding on Saturday was the oath he took to defend the Constitution of the United States and a promise he made to the people of Iowa’s fifth congressional district to represent them.
Congressman Steve King was absent when his son Mick married his fiancée Stephanie in Ida Grove because Speaker Nancy Pelosi scheduled the vote on the controversial healthcare bill for Saturday.
One might think that missing a wedding so that you can be present in the nation’s capitol might create some rift within the family. That was not the case in Ida Grove on Saturday. While the family would have preferred to have been whole, they understood and appreciated why Congressman King couldn’t be there. Both Congressman King and his family take his oath of office very seriously. When King raised his right hand and vowed to defend the United State’s Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, he meant it.
In an interview with TheIowaRepublican.com, Congressman King admitted that it was hard not being able to attend the wedding. King said, “Logistically, it is impossible for me to attend a two o’clock wedding in Iowa and be back in Washington to vote against the health care bill at five o’clock eastern time. Even if I had Air Force One, I couldn’t make that work.”
King then recalled a recent story about a soldier who was deployed in Iraq. King said, “I attended a family event recently in which one of the family members was unable to attend because he was serving his country in Iraq. A few months later when I visited Iraq, I brought with me some photos from that event. I gave them to Captain O’Brien and then wondered if I should have done that. I didn’t want to make him homesick, and I told him such. He then looked at me with the steely eye of a captain and said, ‘It’s manageable sir.’”
Congressman King has the same mindset about missing his son Mick’s wedding. King told TheIowaRepublican.com, “How can I ask a soldier to be deployed to Iraq, serve their country, and uphold the oath they take to defend our nation if I will not uphold the oath I take at the start of each session of Congress? How could I encourage thousands of people to gather at the Capitol to speak out against a healthcare bill that undermines the pillars of American exceptionalism, and then not be present to cast my vote?”
“Yes, it’s hard not being back home for my son’s wedding, but it’s manageable,” King added.
King believes that the healthcare bill is the crown jewel in President Obama’s and Speaker Pelosi’s leftward lurch towards socialism. King said, “We are at the tipping point; if the bill is passed and signed into law, it will corrode the fabric of our culture.” King predicts that passing the largest entitlement program in our nation’s history will be a disincentive for people, discouraging them from being productive, self-sufficient members of our society.
“Not being here to cast a vote against this healthcare bill was never an option. I couldn’t live with myself if the bill passed by just one vote, and I wasn’t present. The best gift I could give my son would be to cast a vote that allows him, and hopefully the blessings that come from his marriage, to enjoy the same freedoms that we currently have, while also trying to expand those liberties,” King added.
Congressman King deserves to be commended, not just for casting a vote against government run healthcare which passed last Saturday night by only five votes, but for taking his oath of office seriously. In the last year, some people have claimed that King has “gone Washington.” Well, that might be true. He did go to Washington to represent the people of Iowa’s fifth district. It’s tough to tell what other members of Congress would have done if faced with the decision between voting against a huge healthcare entitlement program or attending a son’s wedding.
While I’m sure that some will continue to criticize Congressman King, find me one member of Congress who is more in touch with his constituents and that you can always count on to do the right thing.
I think there are a lot of people who believe that, while King might not be the Congressman who represents their district, he is the Congressman who represents them. There are a lot of politicians who go around preaching that leaders should put the cause before themselves, but Congressman King has a record of actually doing that on a daily basis.
About the Author
Craig Robinson has written 503 stories on this site.
Craig Robinson serves as the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheIowaRepublican.com. Prior to founding Iowa's largest conservative news site, Robinson served as the Political Director of the Republican Party of Iowa during the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. In that capacity, Robinson planned and organized the largest political event in 2007, the Iowa Straw Poll, in Ames, Iowa. Robinson also organized the 2008 Republican caucuses in Iowa, and was later dispatched to Nevada to help with the caucuses there. Robinson cut his teeth in Iowa politics during the 2000 caucus campaign of businessman Steve Forbes and has been involved with most major campaigns in the state since then. His extensive political background and rolodex give him a unique perspective from which to monitor the political pulse of Iowa.
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“The best gift I could give my son would be to cast a vote that allows him, and hopefully the blessings that come from his marriage, to enjoy the same freedoms that we currently have, while also trying to expand those liberties,” King added.”
Wow, just wow!!!
This man is a true inspiration. I know that I will be calling his office to thank him for his sacrifice.
Indeed. The fact that Pelosi and the Dems pulled the stunts they did this weekend is disgusting enough….
Thank You Congressman King. Your sacrifice has not gone unnoticed.
I got to see Steve King introduce the man the party should have, IMHO, selected to run against the embarrassment known as Barack Obama, Fred Thompson, at the Webster County Republican HQ in 2008. Didn’t know who he was at that point, but although his comments were, appropriately enough, primarily focused on Thompson’s strengths, listening to him earnestly (and without a teleprompter or notes) extoll the virtues of conservatism, I was instantly in his camp. I would have very much liked for him to enter the gubernatorial fray this year, but regardless, I think bigger things, perhaps much bigger, are possible for him. This is exactly the type of true conservative that the Moderations of the world denounce b/c he isn’t afraid to tell them to their face that he won’t ever believe what they do, and isn’t about to compromise his core values. God bless King for giving me some hope that the Republican party still has some individuals who aren’t just trying to be liked in Washington by their peers and the press!
Steve King is fearless. He is the one who took on the commissioner of football over their hypocritical approach to not allowing Rush Limbaugh to become a part owner of the St. Louis Rams.
It was another of those moments when you knew you were witnessing something great.
Rush Limbaugh was humbled by the fact that Steve King came to his defense.
Reaganesque is correct. It would be wonderful to see King attain much bigger things but he has already left a legacy for himself.
How dramatic! Yes, a true patriot defends our freedom to be screwed by insurance companies versus tyring to add competitiion to the industry so the behavior will stop. Its so much nicer to be screwed by corporate millionaires than government millionaires.
I give King mucho credit for being independent and tough about his views, its really just too bad his views are so wrong. Not enough tea in that bag.
You are truly clueless, rob.
Rob…
That really makes me laugh…. Let’s break down your foolishness..
“Trying to add competition to the industry” Hmm..seems to me that if Obama and the Dems wanted to increase competition..they’d allow people to purchase insurance across state lines….they’d allow people to take their insurance with them if they switch jobs….they’d allow small businesses to pool together to increase their buying power.
Instead..the House passed “reform” that included the so called “government run option”. Tell me, Rob..how is it competitive…when the government gets to set its own prices..but then tells all the other competitors how they can run their business?
Rob..you need to put down the Obama kool aid and realize what this is: a giant move towards single payer, government run health care. Obama has stated very clearly that he is a proponent of single payer health care. Barney Frank has stated PUBLICLY that the House bill is the first step towards an “eventual single payer system”.
It has NOTHING to do with competition…but instead has everything to do with more government control over more of our economy.
2% profits, robpo. 2%. Here is what proponents of this plan don’t seem to want to acknowledge. Those greedy, horrible insurance companies? THEY PAY DOCTORS. If our brightest minds can’t make the money they need to pay off the ridiculous cost of college that is spiralling at least as high as insurance costs (but don’t expect the lib media to bemoan that), and if they can be sued into oblivion frivolously (thank you, trial lawyers, who I have heard in chambers demean Steve King, to get back to the topic), they won’t go into medicine. That is why the dem proposal as it now stands will hurt everyone. It ain’t just about taxing the rich, my brother. We’re all going to pay for this in ways you can’t imagine if anything like the 2000 page bill the House was blackmailed by Pelosi/Obama to pass comes to fruition.
Credit to you Hawk, you actually make good points, even as I disagree on some. You make Peggy look like a preschooler.
“they’d allow people to purchase insurance across state lines” – Agreed. But its not federal policy that stops this. Its policy of each state. States have this power, but I agree its time the feds override it and make it a national playing field.
“they’d allow people to take their insurance with them if they switch jobs” – again I agree. That is real refom, to remove the link between employment and insurance. Its a big can of worms, but without real competition in the industry it wouldn’t work, premiums would still be too high, maybe even higher without employer negotiated contracts for rates.
“they’d allow small businesses to pool together to increase their buying power.” – I agree with this one too, but its a drop in the bucket, may even provide no benefit.. Big companies with that buying power are still getting screwed by insurance companies, so small business pooled together would be no different. It may help on a small scale, so I would still support it, but it wouldn’t affect the big picture at all.
Single-payer… you know what, I’m fine with single-payer. Health care is something that maybe shouldn’t be left to the vagaries of private enterprise. We all need it.
In all honesty, I think the bill they pass won’t be enough of a reform. I’d start with the ideas you posited, create co-ops and tax incetives for non-profits to get in the industry. Create more private opportunity with government incentives. And see how all that works before I’d go for a public option.
Reaganesque, 2%, so where is the money going? Premiums have gone up 131% in the last 10 years. Where is the money going? That 2% figure is only part of the story, I want to know where the money is going if its not going to profits. I don’t think its going to doctors, I’d be halfway ok with it if it were.
Taxes don’t scare me either. We’ve had a free ride on the backs of military families for 6 years. We all SHOULD be paying higher taxes right now to pay for our wars in the Middle East. Military families are the only ones who have sacrificed for OUR wars, the general public has made no sacrifice.
I’m fine with tort reform too. It would have a paltry 2% affect and its a misdianosis, but I support ending frivolous lawsuits and ridiculous awards. We’d be better off changing our culture of not taking responsibility for ourselves and blaming everyone else for everything.
And, college tuition is spiraling, but not as bad as health insurance premiums. We need to lower demand, send less kids to college, and tuittion prices would stabilize.
I think we can all agree that “health care reform” is a misnomer. It’s a hostile takeover of the insurance industry by the Democrat-controlled U.S. government, nothing less.
Robpo..
Congress can make cross-state line purchases of insurance a reality very quickly…..if the whole purpose as you stated, is to increase competition…that could be done ridiculously easy. The Democrats wont touch it.
Allowing people to purchase their own insurance AND take it with them when they switch jobs…actually begins to ALLOW the free market to work when it comes to health insurance.
You want “real competition” in the industry? Then great…tell the Democrats and liberals to actually allow it to start happening, Rob…
The insurance industry is one of the most heavily regulated businesses out there, Rob. Wouldnt you think that if insurance companies were actively engaging in “screwing their customers”..that regulators would come down upon them?
You say you’re fine with single payer….So..you’re ok with government taking over the means of production when it comes to health care? When is the last time that the government ever ran ANY program or service more efficiently, at a cheaper price than private enterprise did?
I think you’d be hard pressed to find any example….
HawkCR1,
Cross-state line purchases should be the first step to take to increase competition. I’m not convinced it would work, but its worth trying. Its just as likely it would lead to consolidation, we’d end up with 5 major players and right back where we’re starting. Why won’t the Democrats touch it? I don’t get that, unless its just that they’re already owned by the insurance lobby, but then why do a public option that would hurt the lobby even worse…
Insurance companies aren’t doing anything illegal, so no reason for regulators to come down on them. Pols are coming down on them, thats almost the same thing. A business screwing their customers is nothing new, it doesn’t happen every time by every business, but we’d be naive to think it doesn’t happen or a business can’t get away with it.
I think the ideal is a single payer private system. The government should just make the rules, designed in a way the insurance provider is beholden to US. It should be a non-profit company so not corruptable by Wall Street. I don’t want the government running it, but really, I don’t see how we can do something as disruptive as is needed to truly reform the system, without the government heavily involved. Bottom line: I just want it to work, whether the gov is involved 0%, 50%, or 100%, I don’t care, it just better work.
Social Security is going broke. Medicare and Medicaid are going broke. The government has never successfully run anything and yet we’re going to put all our healthcare into their hands? I don’t think so.
Yeah, our military sucks, we have no law and order, fires never get extinguished, our schools are the worst in the world, our interstate system is worthless, no one responds to natural disasters…
The military was good at one time until now it is paralyzed by PC. They’re infiltrated by radical Muslims and they’re not allowed to talk about it, yet alone protect our soldiers.
Granted, law protection has been good but now they’re being hindered by PC and such things as being told not to enforce laws (like immigration laws) that libs don’t like. There is also chaos among fire depts because of unions, etc.
Do you really want to talk about education? That is a prime example big government failure. Public education in this country stinks. It’s extremely expensive and we’re getting squat for our money.
Roads and the means to finance them are also at crisis stage. We pay huge gas taxes and yet we’re told it isn’t enough to provide adequate roads. Send more money, don’t ask questions.
Government is woefully inefficient. We keep throwing more money at it and services continue to decline. Graft and corruption are commonplace among big government and their employees. Chicago, New Orleans, Detroit, and other major metropolitan areas are cesspools with no hope for improvement. Wherever there is liberalism, there is societal decay.
Let govt provide a judiciary, roads, and military, law enforcement and get out of all the rest.
You don’t really think big government has done a good job with SS, Medicare and Medicaid, do you?
We have layer upon layer upon layer of government bureaucracy and this boondoggle of a “health care” plan creates something like 100 new governments layers.
I don’t want it. We can’t afford it. Just go away and leave us alone.
Rob: You were correct about one thing–our schools are the worst in the world. The public school system has become nothing more than an expensive place to provide employment for Democrat members of the teachers’ unions which funds election campaign coffers for Democrats while they send the bill to those who don’t want this.
Amen to that DVFO. That is one thing that we can agree on.
DVFO,
I agree government is woefully inefficient. And you suck for making me defend it against your irrational perspective. I agree with you on principle, I just don’t have the same fear of liberalism as you. PC is riduculous though, fa’shizzle, but the context you use it applies to the right wing nearly as much as the left. Anyway..
SS is a pretty good program. The one problem is the government steals the money. Its otherwise an excellent, guaranteed cushion for retirement. No one should depend on it solely for retirement income. Medicare is a good program also, try asking any senior on it what they think. Fear of losing it is what is driving the seniors crazy over health care reform. Medicare is going bankrupt because the Boomers are coming around and our disgusting culture of thoughtless eating, fast food and poor nutrition causes more disease and thus higher medical expenses. Medicaid can be dropped in my opinion.
You’re wrong our schools are the worst in the world. They have significant problems, but America has a crisis of parenting more damaging than public schools. You obviously know nothing about it if all you do is whine about teacher unions and democrats, etc. W worked with the dems to create the abhorrent NCLB, and then didn’t fund it properly to boot, so we got little to bitch about on that front, unless we were smart enough, informed enough, to not vote for that dunderhead. We were over a barrel in 2000, Gore or Bush… you gotta be kidding thats the best America can do.
You sound like you have a few brain cells left. That is a good thing but you need to recognize the destruction liberalism is bringing to this country.
I don’t see any members of the “right wing” trying to gloss over the threat of radical Islam to this country. I have really bad news for you, and every other Dimocrat who wants to defend these Muzzie lovers in this country. These radicals want to kill you just as much as they want to kill me. It is your Dimocrat party who is protecting them.
So SS is a good program? Do you know the history of SS? When it was first implemented, the tax rate was 1% of the first three thousand dollars earned and there were 16 workers for each SS recipient. Now there are 3.3 workers for each recipient and the tax rate is around 13%. This is the simplified version. In reality, it is much more complicated than this.
The bad news is that by 2030 there will only be 2 workers for each recipient.
Medicare is just as badly mismanaged. You can’t possibly think this is a good plan, do you?
I don’t know your age, but at these rates, young people cannot possibly work fast enough and long enough to sustain this ponzi scheme.
Sorry, you need to take a good look at our government school system. Have you ever read the resolutions from the NEA? I have and they’re obsessed with two things–protecting their turf and the promotion of homosexuality. The finished product reflects their goals.
Don’t talk about NCLB to me. I’d get rid of the whole darned Dept. of Ed. It’s only cover for more bureaucracy and states would be better off keeping those funds at home rather than running them throuh Wash. DC and letting them keep most of what we send them. Besides, Teddy Kennedy was a prinicpal author of NCLB and it also reflects the teachers’ union desire to not be held accountable for anything substantive regarding education. Bush’s biggest mistake here was his desire to show that he wants to work with the other party. Appeasement never works.
DVF ol bud, a thinker you’re not!
Tell me one good thing about liberalism.
Its mere existance is a constant irritation to the serious adherents of the right.
So you have to admit that liberalism has no positive redeeming qualities. It is bankrupt as an economic system and their social issues lead to death, dependence and despair.
Heard in the background: J S Bach’s Tocatta and Fugue in D’ (at least IIRC it’s D’).
I wish King was my congressman. I feel bad that he missed his son’s wedding though.
I think his wife must be a very gracious lady.
That she is, Ilfam9. He has three great boys, too.
DVFO,
I’m curious where you got the idea to focus on PC and muslim infiltration? Where, specifically? I thought your references to PC in the post from ‘Deace voted for Obama wrote on 9 November, 2009, 16:47′ was kind of strange, it seemed out of place, but I just moved past it at the time. But now, I saw O’Reilly talking about it last night, Malkin had an interview on Fox where she was all about PC and infiltration. You got it on Fox didn’t you? Thats too rich. Are you a useful idiot DVFO? I think so. Vast majority of neocons are. You watch Fox News and then go around repeating whatever you hear. You know, that makes you almost as embarrassing as Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. You go in the same bucket. I’m so disappointed. You may as well be a liberal, you’re comments are just as whacked out. And then to learn you’re just a Fox News parrot. bleh
It is great to have congressmen like Mr. King. Too bad we don’t have more, which gives me a line of thoughts.
In a course on criminology several years ago we were taught that approximately 3 percent of the population were criminally inclined. Now, that makes me think of our congress. Which side of that fence are they on? My thoughts? They are reversed in the 97/3 percent categories. The good ones are in the 3% category and the ‘only me’ ones, who are there for themselves and their sponsors (lobbyists and foreign givers).
Which gives another thought. Why is congress allowed to receive money from anyone, or any company, except from those who are in the district, or state, they are going to represent?