Rep. Steve King tells Newsmax that a recent judicial ruling restoring federal funding for ACORN contains “outrageous claims,” and says a “junkyard dog attorney” will seek to play down links between ACORN and President Obama.
The Iowa Republican also declares that a “diabolical” new financial overhaul bill reminds him of legislation that might be passed in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela.
See Video: Rep. Steve King: ACORN’s tracks lead to Obama - Click Here Now
Newsmax.TV’s Kathleen Walter asked King — an outspoken critic of ACORN (Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now) and a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary — about Federal Judge Nina Gershon’s ruling that Congress’ move to cut off federal funding of ACORN is unconstitutional.
Special: Get Sarah Palin’s New Book – Incredible FREE Offer -- Click Here Now.
King said his first reaction to the ruling was “it sounds outrageous but I better read the case, so I immediately downloaded it. It came out at the close of business on a Friday. If you want to hide something in the news media, that’s how to do it.”
ACORN claimed in its lawsuit that Congress' decision to cut off its funding was unconstitutional because it punitively targeted an organization.
“I read the decision and there were just outrageous claims, such as the government failed to prove that there was a nonpunitive reason to cut off funding for ACORN,” said King.
“Well, how about we just don’t believe in them anymore? That was enough.
“Also, Judge Gershon found that ACORN has a right to future contracts that might be awarded to someone because in the past they have received some contracts.
“This is judge-made law, blazing a new trail that the constitution never imagined . . .
“I do not believe that this administration aggressively defended the government’s position. This decision is weak, but it stands now until such time as we can take an appeal to the Supreme Court.”
Following the ruling, King added, ACORN could qualify for part of the $10 billion being made available to similar organizations.
Asked if the Justice Department will appeal the judge’s ruling, King said: “Who knows? They will take their directions from the White House. They are not an apolitical Justice Department.
“This is single party rule here in the United States capital. The White House is controlled by the most liberal president in history who has deep, deep ties with ACORN.”
Walter noted that Obama recently named Bob Bauer as White House counsel. Bauer in 2008 argued in a letter to the attorney general that the Department of Justice should not investigate election-related fraud allegations against ACORN.
“I put out a press release saying that Bauer was likely hired to scrub the tracks between ACORN and President Obama,” King said.
“He would be the ideal, most perfectly positioned person to do that. He’s a junkyard dog attorney.”
Not only did Bauer argue against a probe of ACORN, King pointed out, but he also argued that “the Justice Department under Bush should investigate the Bush administration and the McCain-Palin campaign for alleging that there were corrupting influences on the part of ACORN . . .
“Bob Bauer has deep ties with ACORN. Now he’s inside the White House protecting [Obama from], I think, any investigation that leads to the president himself.”
The House recently passed a financial overhaul bill without a single Republican vote. The bill would grant the government new powers to split up companies that threaten the economy, create a new agency to oversee consumer banking transactions, and shine a light into financial markets that have escaped federal oversight.
Opponents argue that the broad legislation overreaches and would institutionalize bailouts for the financial industry.
Walter asked if this bill makes bailouts by taxpayers the permanent solution for dealing with irresponsible financial institutions.
“I don’t think it’s a solution, I think it compounds the problem,” King responded.
“It sets up a permanent fund which allows for that. It sets the government up to decide which financial institutions have the right amount of capital and the business model that would be approved by the administration. It also continues the payroll czar’s influence.
“This is the kind of legislation that would be passed in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela. I walked out of the House when that legislation passed on Friday night just sick to my heart, sick in my stomach that something like this could happen in a country that’s built upon the land of the free and the home of the brave.
“This is socialized finances and Chavezian economics, and it’s diabolical in the way it’s been brought forward. This bill was dropped on us on a Tuesday in the middle of this whole scramble and it came to the floor for a vote without anybody reading it, including [Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee] Barney Frank.”
Turning to the illegal immigration issue, King predicted that there will be “one tremendous fight” in the House if Democrats try to bring a comprehensive amnesty bill, and declared that there are now 8 million jobs occupied by people who should be deported.
“American people are not going to put up with it,” said King, the ranking Republican on the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and Investment Law.
“There are 20 million looking for work. They want some of those jobs that are held by people who are here illegally.”
On healthcare, King called for “all the help we can get to kill this socialized medicine bill.”
If Democrats do succeed in passing a socialized medicine bill, and “you add that on top of” cap and trade, pulling the missiles out of Poland, the financial services bill, he said, “I think the American people will rise up and say enough, we’re going to grab our country back, we’re going to preserve our constitution, our liberty and our fiscal sanity, and I think they’ll throw a lot of Democrats out of office in November of 2010.”
See Video: Rep. Steve King: ACORN’s tracks lead to Obama - Click Here Now
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.