House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, (D, Calif.), is telling House Speaker Paul Ryan to depose Steve King, (R, Iowa), of his chairmanship of the House Constitution Committee. Pelosi made her request in the aftermath of comments he made praising Geert Wilders for bigoted comments about making America a "homogenous" nation once again. Wilders, who is a Dutch leader with far right leanings, was commended by King when he stated that Wilders understands that "We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies," (The Huffington Post, 3/14/17).
Ryan 'encouraged' by loss of health care for millions
Ryan stated over the weekend that he is "encouraged" by the prospect of 24 million Americans being without health care under the new GOP health care plan devised to replace ObamaCare. Ryan stated that he is "excited" about the likelihood of lower premiums for the affluent, while the poor are facing the loss of their health care.
King refuses to apologize
When asked to apologize for his inflammatory comments, King refused to do so. In fact, King took advantage of the moment to expand upon his comments and stated that he would like to see an America "that is just so homogeneous that we look a lot the same," (The Huffington Post, 3/14/17). King's position is demonstrably similar to that of notorious White Supremacist organizations, such as the Klu Klux Klan, which has a long history of cross burnings and lynchings of African-Americans in the 19th and 20th Centuries, especially in America's Deep South.
King's hateful prediction
When discussing what he considers to be the inevitable overtaking of the "white population" by ethnic minorities, King predicted that "the Hispanics and the blacks will be fighting each other," (The Huffington Post, 3/14/17), before the "inevitable" overtaking. King did not state what would precipitate the fight, nor why the two ethnic groups suddenly would clamoring with each other.
However, his comments cause one to wonder if King has something in mind with which to initiate the racial conflict that he is predicting.
Pelosi 'doubling down'
Pelosi threw the hot potato back to King. The one-time House Speaker stated that King "doubled down" on his racist comments, and that she, in turn, is "doubling down" on her remarks.
Thus far, Ryan has not commented on Pelosi's request that he depose King of his committee chairmanship. However, Ryan's office did refer reporters to statements that he had made earlier that he "“clearly disagrees [with King] and believes America’s long history of inclusiveness is one its great strengths," (The Huffington Post, 3/14/17).
John Shimkus on paying for prenatal care
Meanwhile, GOP Congressman John Shimkus, (Ill.), asked a Congressional subcommittee why men "should have to pay" for prenatal care. Shimkus made his comment in response to questioning from members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee about his complaints regarding ObamaCare as it exists currently. Shimkus stated that he envisioned a medical plan in which the clients are able to pick and choose the parts they want in a sort of "a la carte" style.
