Free Republic

Rep. Pete Stark, 80, has seven children; three are minors, the product of his third marriage. He once told the Los Angeles Times that he calls the three youngest his "second litter." Lucky Stark. Thanks to a dated Social Security system, he enjoys a "second-litter" subsidy. As Carolyn Lochhead wrote in The Chronicle, Stark has reported a net worth as high as $27 million, and he earns $174,000 as a member of Congress. Nonetheless, Stark's three minor children are collecting benefits from Social Security. The Social Security Administration estimates that 4.4 million kids, mostly children of deceased or disabled parents,...

The campaign of Rep. Pete Stark, the East Bay Democrat in a contested re-election race against fellow Democrat Eric Swalwell of Dublin, confirmed to the Chronicle that Stark’s children do receive Social Security benefits as allowed under the law, and that he has stopped paying his dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Stark campaign consultant Michael Terris wrote in an email that Stark “fought his entire career to protect Social Security from those who would dismantle it. Congressman Stark has been paying into the system for many years. And yes, like all Americans, he and his family intend to...

Rep. Pete Stark has coasted to election in his East Bay district ever since Richard Nixon beat George McGovern, the U.S. bombed Hanoi and France performed its last official execution by guillotine. Along the way, Stark became California's longest-serving House member and a liberal totem in the Bay Area delegation. He left a big footprint on Medicare, the health care program for the elderly. He earned a reputation as a policymaker ahead of his time on universal health care, the Iraq War and carbon taxes. He aided thousands of constituents in dealing with federal agencies and brought billions of dollars...