Rep. Steve King is not helping IOWA, but why is Iowa re-electing him?

JUSTICE

Wolverines! — Iowa Rep. Steve King Claims Gun Laws

Must Be Blocked To Prevent Invasion Of America

By Ian Millhiser on Oct 5, 2012 at 1:10 pm

The 1984 film Red Dawn is a classic in the genre of paranoid Cold War guns fantasy, where a group of armed high school students fend off an invading Soviet army and eventually “g[i]ve up their lives… so that this nation shall not perish from the earth.”

Rep. Steve King (R-IA), however, seems to believe it is a manual for federal firearms policy:

King said during a debate last week in Orange City that the original purpose of the Second Amendment was not to assure hunting rights or allow people to provide for self-protection. The purpose was “to guard against tyranny because our Founding Fathers understood that if we did not have an armed populace, an armed tyrant could take over America,” King said.

When asked whether such a threat was legitimate in 2012, he said, “We don’t have that threat now because we have an armed populace, and we don’t have to worry about that because of an armed populace.” . . .

When asked if the “armed tyrant” was an outside threat or even the U.S. government, King said, “I don’t see it as our own federal government. I wouldn’t rule it out down the line in a generation or two. I wouldn’t say that’s not part of it. I don’t see it today, and I don’t anticipate that that’s the case.”

Setting aside King’s suggestion that invading armies have thus far steered clear of American soil because they fear reprisal from a ragtag band of civilian Wolverines, there are potentially serious policy implications to King’s interpretation of the Second Amendment.

A foreign army would certainly deploy the tools of modern warfare if it chose to capture American soil, so a misfit band of patriotic teenagers would need to arm themselves with similar weapons in order to provide a meaningful deterrent to such forces.

Needless to say, this is not what the Second Amendment provides. As conservative Justice Scalia explained in District of Columbia v. Heller, “dangerous and unusual weapons” are not protected by the Constitution. More recently, a federal appeals court explained in an opinion by a George W. Bush-appointed judge that “[s]hort of bombs, missiles, and biochemical agents, we can conceive of few weapons that are more dangerous than machine guns,” and thus all of these weapons can be banned under the Second Amendment.

ELECTION

Humane Society Runs Ads Highlighting Rep. King’s

Defense Of Dogfighting

By Scott Keyes on Oct 1, 2012 at 10:04 am

 

Rep. Steve King (R-IA)

In July, ThinkProgress reported about Rep. Steve King (R-IA) defending dogfighting during a town hall with constituents. The ensuing uproar forced King to respond in a video for constituents and post pictures of his family’s dogs on Facebook in an attempt to soften his image. [ Cruelty to animals!!!! This is awful!!! Iowa will be bullfighting soon at this rate if it will make a profit for somebody who then gives to Steve King’s re-election campaigns… How could Iowans allow this kind of cruelty??? However, the fact that the dog’s welfare isn’t of concern indicates a complete lack of empathy…. How pervasive is this lack of empathy toward the suffering of others in IOWA so that Steve King must pander to this form of Narcissism?]

Now, the Humane Society Legislative Fund has launched a new TV adfocusing on King’s opposition to criminalizing dogfighting.

The ad highlights his votes against strengthening penalties for interstate dogfighting and his opposition to a ban on bringing children to dogfights.

The Humane Society had released a separate ad last month that, according to the group, was “rejected by Iowa TV stations after King complained and pressured the stations not to show it.” However, the Humane Society notes that the Des Moines Register called the ad “accurate,” saying that the TV stations’ rejection was “puzzling.”

King is locked in a tight re-election battle in Iowa’s 4th congressional district with Christie Vilsack, wife of Agriculture Secretary and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D).

[How Steve King was able to win this election astonishes me. IOWA needs to step up to the plate. What is wrong with IOWA that they are unable to show empathy for the most vulnerable people and animals?]

 

HEALTH

USDA Encourages Healthy Snacks To Curb Complaints

About New School Lunch Guidelines

By Rebecca Leber on Sep 29, 2012 at 10:30 am

Through federal guidelines set in the Health Hunger-Free Kids Act, the National School Lunch Program is doubling fruits and vegetables, increases whole grains and cuts sodium in school lunches…

…Studies find that better nutrition, including more fruits and vegetables, actually make people feel fuller.

But conservative critics like Rep. Steve King (R-IA) — who calls the new lunch guidelines “the perfect example of what is wrong with government” — misportray these standards as creating a “scant diet,” even though they are actually in compliance with Institute of Medicine recommendations.

King’s alternative proposal for limitless calories in school lunches contradicts both the science on good nutrition and reality of high childhood obesity and overweight levels.

Americans are facing a real health crisis. Our American children are getting type II Diabetes at a very young age. Their quality of health and life will suffer as a result. Many children, especially those who live in poverty, will not have adequate health care coverage. Their form of health care has been to go to emergency rooms; this is very expensive for the local community. We cannot afford to be so self-centered and self-righteous that we fail the young, who will be the future of America. Steve King encourages a form of paranoia. Iowa needs to change their own mindset that permits them to allow Steve King to be elected, and that allows METABANK to provide an abusive form of product because they have no empathy for others.

Iowans are you paying attention to what is really going on in your state? Please step up to become more responsible.