Long Island Press Story

The weekly Long Island Press printed a story about Peter King, Social Security reform, Unions, constituents and King's reaction to them all.
The article "Kingly Fashion" by Elizabeth Cady Brown follows King from the Town Hall meeting sponsored by the In This Together Campaign that King didn't have the guts to show up to, to the Long Island Federation of Labor's annual congressional meeting where he did show up.


"Republican Peter King, the six-term U.S. congressman from Massapequa, is blunt-spoken, even rude, in a profession where taffy-sweet platitudes are the norm. He has gone so far as to call various voters "self-righteous," "ignorant," "wacko" and "morally wrong."
...
"I regret you don't know as much about Social Security as you pretend," he wrote to one business owner who has lived in the third district for 22 years. "Many thanks for your March 15th letter," he wrote to another constituent. "It is very reassuring to know that I am opposed by the likes of you."
...
"Groups such as [ITTC] have no regard for senior citizens or for their country," King said on March 24. "They are strictly partisan hit men and I don't want to have anything to do with them." On March 31, he called them "wacko malcontents."
...
"This muddled approach is risky. Bob Master, the legislative director for CWA District 1, calls Social Security a litmus-test issue for the union. "I think this will call into question our support for Congressman King," he says."
...
"We do take a little offense to being called liberal wackos," says Bonanza. "We aren't some left-wing conspiracy folks out to get Peter King. We are conservative trade unionists who have been supportive of him in all his elections."

Foreign lobbyist pays for King trip to Ireland?

From April 15-19, 1999 King and his wife went to Dublin and it seems this trip may have been paid for paid for by "Friends of Sinn Fein." This group and it's agents in the US are registered with the USDOJ in relation to FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act.)
The Times of London has an interesting story on this groups finances: "How murky finances keep Sinn Fein afloat."
Trips paid for by lobbyists are an ethical no-no.

On Veterans: Presented without Comment

Bill Number: HR 2116
Date: 09/21/1999
Sponsor: Motion to suspend the Rules introduced by Stump, R-AZ, Bill introduced by Stearns, R-FL
Roll Call Number: 0427
Motion to suspend the rules agreed to Full Member List
Representative Peter T. King voted NO.
Vote on motion to suspend the rules and pass a bill allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA] to expand long-term care for veterans.HR 2116: A bill to amend title 38, U.S. Code, to establish a program of extended care services for veterans and to make other improvements in health care programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs.Vote on motion to suspend the rules and pass a bill allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA] to expand long-term care services for veterans and also allow the VA to try and generate increased revenue to assist in paying for health care costs. Among other provisions the bill would also the time to be extended that the VA could lease facilities, space, or land to private companies from 35 to 75 years. [A motion to suspend the rules requires a 2/3rds majority of those present and voting [277 in this instance] for passage of the measure.]Motion to suspend the Rules introduced by Stump, R-AZ, Bill introduced by Stearns, R-FL(Motion to suspend the rules agreed to 369-46 on 9/21/99)
Bill Status: Bill Number: HR 2116 - 106th Congress (1999-2000)
House Passage Vote: 09/21/1999 - Outcome: Passed
Senate Passage Vote: 11/05/1999 - Outcome: Passed
House Conference Report Vote: 11/16/1999 - Outcome: Passed Senate Conference Report Vote: 11/19/1999 - Outcome: Passed
Presidential Action: Signed on 11/30/1999
Public Law Number: 106-117

King gets called out

FDR's grandson James Roosevelt jr. recorded a message for King's district.

"Hello, this is James Roosevelt, Jr. My grandfather, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created Social Security because he believed that every American deserves a secure and dignified retirement.
I'm shocked that Congressman Peter King is questioning the patriotism of those who are trying to protect Social Security. The truth: Nothing could be more American than protecting Social Security.
Congressman King, stand up for Social Security. Privatization isn't worth the gamble.
This is James Roosevelt, Jr.."

How did this happen? King doesn't like to be questioned and opposed (MUCH more on this coming up) and he said of those concerned about Social Security "groups such as this have no regard for senior citizens or for their country."
Hmm... So I don't have any regard for this country? How despicable can King get? Well he can get much more despicable. More to come later duirg the week of April 18th. MUCh more.