Stark’s “Outbursts” Prevent Chairmanship of House Ways and Means?
Stark may find himself as the chair of the powerful Ways and Means.
Pete Stark, the nineteen-term congressman from California's 13th Congressional District, is second in line to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. The potential of a new chair pending the ethics investigation into Charlie Rangel's financial disclosures has the Los Angeles Times wondering if the infamous Stark outbursts will cost him a shot at the chairmanship.
That's what worries some Democrats in Washington who think replacing Rangel with Stark could mean swapping one public relations minefield for another. [...]
Party leaders are waiting for the inquiry to wrap up before deciding whether to oust Rangel. Meanwhile, Washington's eyes inevitably turn to the heir apparent and a long resume of rants. His fans cheer the tirades as courageously candid; his foes suggest he "take his medication." The targets are usually Republicans who, as he sees it, put the wealthy before the poor, send other people's children off to war or fail to practice what they preach.
