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A California congressman known for edgy sarcasm mocked an opponent of illegal immigration during a town hall meeting last week, asking, "Who are you going to kill today?" before the constituent, a self-identified Minuteman, posed his question. Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., no stranger to controversy, mocked the idea that the borders are not secure when asked about the federal government's lack of activity on border security. "We can't get enough Minutemen armed. We'd like to get all the Minutemen armed so they can stop shooting people here," Stark said. Eventually, members of the audience urged Stark to offer a serious...

Rep. Pete Stark won't become interim chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Stark, D-Fremont, was the next-most-senior Democrat on the tax-writing committee after former Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., 79, who temporarily stepped aside Wednesday pending the conclusion of an Ethics Committee probe into his corporate-paid travel. House rules said Stark, 78, would automatically ascend to the chair unless he declined, or unless House Democrats voted to pass him over. But other Democrats on the committee reportedly were concerned about Stark's hot-tempered tendencies — which has included some eye-watering tirades and blunt speech on the House floor, in...

Before she became House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi promised that if Democrats won control of the House, she would "drain the swamp" in Washington. How is she doing? Last week, the House ethics committee scolded House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel for corporate-sponsored travel to the Caribbean. In that the panel had yet to resolve multiple charges involving Rangel's personal finances, rank-and-file Democrats joined GOP calls for his ouster as Ways and Means chairman, while Pelosi remained publicly silent. Wednesday, Rangel temporarily stepped aside as chairman. Now for the funny part: Next in line to chair the tax-writing committee is...

Rep. Pete Stark took the gavel of one of the House's most powerful committees today — at least temporarily. Stark, D-Fremont, will be interim chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, with jurisdiction over all taxation and other revenue-raising measures, as well as other programs such as Social Security; Medicare; unemployment benefits; foster care and adoption programs; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal welfare program; and child-support enforcement. The committee's second-most-senior Democrat, Stark has served as the Health Subcommittee's chairman. Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., temporarily gave up the committee's chair Wednesday, days after the House Ethics Committee publicly...

Rep. Pete Stark (D – CA) (Charlie Rangel's replacement) says that the more debt we have the wealthier we are. When questioned about it, he tells Jan Helfeld to “get the f**k out of here” and then threatens to throw him out the window. Nice choice, Nancy. Video here

Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., is taking over for Rep. Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., as the latter eases into a questionably voluntary leave of absence from the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee under a cloud of multiple scandals. What sort of chairman will Stark be? Try extremely thin-skinned and...to edit myself for charity, "volatile." That is not intended to be a slur -- it's just true. Don't take my word for it. Here's a video of Stark telling a constituent...well, you have to hear it for yourself, you really won't believe it if I write it out: In...

California Rep. Pete Stark — a controversial lawmaker who has a history of volatile comments about Republicans — is now chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, automatically moving up from the second slot after New York Democrat Charles Rangel relinquished his gavel Wednesday morning. It would take an affirmative action of the House to remove Stark and replace him with another member of the Ways and Means Committee, according to aides familiar with House operations. Stark, one of the chamber's most liberal, partisan and pugnacious members, has had his own recent run-in with the ethics committee, exhibiting bizarre behavior...

Embattled Democrat Pete Stark has just publicly apologized to "the president and his family." He took the floor after his fellow Democrats successfully killed a motion to censure him in the wake of his remarks last Thursday asserting that American troops were fighting in Iraq to have their "heads blown off for the president's amusement." "I want to apologize to my colleagues, many of whom I have offended," Stark began. He then apologized to "the president and his family" and "the troops." "I hope that with this apology, I return to being as insignificant as I should be," he concluded...

House Republican leaders have publicly called on Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) to apologize for his comments today regarding American troops in Iraq or resign from his position. Stark said the following today on the floor of the House (which can be viewed on video here): “I yield myself two minutes. Madam speaker, I, first of all, I’m just amazed that they can't figure out -- the Republicans are worried that they 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. Where are you going to...

Congressman: Bush amused by war dead Democrat says troops 'get their heads blown off for the president's amusement' Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., speaking to House today The House GOP leader is calling on Democratic Rep. Pete Stark of California to apologize for stating during debate today that President Bush derives amusement from sending young Americans to Iraq to kill innocent people and then "get their heads blown off." Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Stark should "retract his statement and apologize to the House, our commander-in-chief, and the families of our soldiers and commanders fighting terror overseas." During debate on the...

Washington -- Fremont Rep. Pete Stark made a little bit of congressional and high- tech history Friday by becoming the first member of Congress to post a video clip on his official Web site. His 3 1/2-minute blistering response to President Bush's State of the Union speech on Wednesday night is part of a new program devised by Democratic activists to let members of Congress communicate directly with their constituents by video. Republicans are expected to follow suit, and soon. The effort is headed by Advocacy Inc., a small Washington-based firm that has done work for MoveOn.org, the Berkeley-based organization...