U.S. Rep. Steve King described unprecedented federal debt and criticized the Iowa Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage during a stop in Carroll on Wednesday.
Stimuli, corporate and banking bailouts, and associated spending will top $2 trillion, King told an audience of about 50 at the Carroll depot.
The fourth-term Republican from Kiron, whose 5th Congressional District includes Carroll County, has been holding town hall meetings throughout the 32-county district during Congress' Easter break.
Barack Obama's plans for fixing the U.S. economy will likely cost several times that $2 trillion figure, as the president has described his approach as a multi-legged stool, King said.
Obama's plan would create a $9.3 trillion federal deficit, doubling the present gap in five years, tripling it in 10.
"This is unprecedented debt for a nation to go into," King remarked in a crowded Harold J. Bierl Community Room.
King said he's had his staff studying ways to balance the budget and reported it would require a cut of one-third this fiscal year.
Stimulus and bailout packages might show results in the short term, but in the long run they do nothing but extend the economic recovery period, King said, adding, "We're talking trillions of dollars, debt beyond the eye can see, and there's no prospect of paying it off."
With no economic rebound in sight, Obama and Congress will likely "print a lot of money and pay (the deficit) off with inflated dollars," King said.
He did have some praise for the president, giving him credit for visiting U.S. troops in Iraq while coming home from a weeklong diplomatic trip in the Islamic world.
King also commented at length about the gay-marriage ruling, ripping the justices as arrogant for saying they're better-suited to deal with marriage issues than the Legislature and saying the court has ESP for claiming to protect the rights of individuals even when the rights are unimagined.
"They took the process from the people. ... This court ripped it from the Code of Iowa and said 'We know better,'" King remarked.
King, who opposes same-sex marriage, said he opposes judicial activism more.
By allowing gays and lesbians to marry, Iowa will be propagating the spread of gay marriage nationwide, because couples who wed here will return to their home states and sue to have their marriages recognized there, King said.
He called on the state to set a residency requirement for marriage "so we don't become the Mecca for same-sex marriage."
King also gave a vivid description of a junket to Cuba three weeks ago that included a tour of the Guantanamo Bay prison where the U.S. is holding suspected terrorists. He described inmates being provided special meals, flatscreen TVs, air conditioning and specially delivered copies of the Koran.
Sixty-three released inmates have been recaptured on battlefields in the War on Terror. Guards at "Gitmo," as the base is known, are assaulted an average of 20 times per day, yet the worst punishment is a limit on outdoor exercise time, King said.
With the base slated to close in January 2010, some of the 240 suspected terrorists will be taken to the U.S. to be tried, but with none facing the death penalty or even life in prison, they'll eventually be released.
"Innocent people around the world will die because of this decision (to close the base)," King said, "and some of them will be Americans."
When asked the prospects of reopening trade with Cuba, King said he's not ready to support that.
"I don't want to trade until the Cubans are free," he said, "otherwise, you're just enriching the Castro regime."
King was asked about published reports he's considering a run for governor in 2010. Earlier this week he said the gay-marriage ruling might hasten his decision.
"It's far from clear," King replied.
He said he prefers working in Congress, where he can positively affect 300 million U.S. citizens, than being governor where he could help 3 million Iowans.
"I enjoy what I do and think it's important. I'm doing my job the best I can and letting the chips fall where they may," King added.
