GOP Rep Steve King Defends K Street: 'Somebody Needs To Stand Up For The Lobby' (VIDEO)

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) took to the House floor on Friday afternoon to come to the defense of that beleaguered band of First-Amendment exercisers operating from their K Street redoubt.

"Yes, lobbyists do a very effective and useful job on this hill," King promised. "Somebody needs to stand up for the lobby. It is a matter of providing a lot of valuable information."

King qualified that if a lobbyist lied to him, he'd end the relationship. "If anyone gave me information that wasn't accurate or honest, if they found out about it, they would bring it back and correct it to me first. If I thought they were doing so intentionally, they would not come back to talk to me ever. There is a credibility there in that arena," he said.

WATCH:

Comments

[MarsAmbassador]

06:38 PM on 03/01/2010

It would be nice if some members of Congress and the Senate had the opinion that their job was to stand up for We The People...our system of government is broken because of people just like him.

[espresso4me]

01:58 PM on 03/01/2010

"Yes, lobbyists do a very effective and useful job on this hill," King promised. "Somebody needs to stand up for the lobby. It is a matter of providing a lot of valuable information"...

...and those unbiased. hardworking, dedicated lobbyists do everything to ensure that their voices are heard by people like me who believe in reciprocity and monetary infusion into my bank accounts, which, of course, is encouraging my ability to do what is best for me, er um, my constituents. Without that relationship, I could not find it in my heart to do anything differently. I do have principles, you know? If I did not believe in the principles of fair exchange, I would not be here today.

[plimsoul]

01:51 PM on 03/01/2010

If there is one industry that could do with a 50% unemployment rate...

[silverball]

12:47 PM on 03/01/2010

hmmmm....somehow i NEVER thought it was about whether they lie or not....isn't it about our reps doing the PEOPLE'S business???...you know WE, THE PEOPLE.....doing the best for the country, NOT the corporate interests.....sounds like he "appreciates" the "help" with writing and interpreting bills....how stoopid is this guy or his constituents???.....HELLOOOO IOWA...this guy IS NOT looking out for YOU.....

[beeswalking]

12:27 PM on 03/01/2010

Had they all told the truth Enron would have gone Belly Up sooner, so they lied in the hopes that they could turn it around.
It was not any different, in any way or form, than our government lying and trying to keep Freddie, Fannie and the banks in business now. Sure our President (Bush at the time) could have said in Sept. of 2008 that our nation and our banking system has gone bust. But telling the truth would not have helped anything, thus lying and pouring newly printed, ink still wet Monopoly Money into the banks was the better approach to use for now in the hopes that things will turn around later.
Telling the truth in some cases Does not help one bit. If our government said tomorrow "Our nation is bankrupt and we cannot not exist without all the Borrowed money would that help anything????
The Enron executives knew they had one and only one hope try to make things look better and hope investors will continue to lend us their money. Which is the same exact thing our government is doing hoping investors will continue to lend money to our government and just like any other Ponzi scheme our government borrows more today, to pay off what they borrowed yesterday. Our government's approach is not any different than Bernie Madoff in getting new investors to pay off the old investors. It is all a Ponzi scheme.

[blueken]

12:10 PM on 03/01/2010

You do know that corporations have only one objective. That is to make money. You know that right? And you do know that you have one job, that is to look out for the people of the United States. Right? Just checking.

[blueken]

12:09 PM on 03/01/2010

Wow......I.....He.....I don't know what to do with that! So now corporations have freedom of speech and access to the government, and it's a good thing, because they don't lie? Really.........Wow......

[Paintio]

11:42 AM on 03/01/2010

I...I don't think he's wrong. That's the process, corporate lobbies get all the attention, but most groups and causes have lobbies. Sure the information that they provide is biased. we as citizens (even), have to learn how to ferret through biased information in our daily lives... congressional staffs do too.

He didn't mention Be/ef, Booze and Bro/ads... that's the ev/il part.

[Paintio]

11:41 AM on 03/01/2010

I...I don't think he's wrong. That's the process, corporate lobbies get all the attention, but most groups and causes have lobbies. Sure the information that they provide is biased. we as citizens (even), have to learn how to ferret through biased information in our daily lives... congressional staffs do too.

He didn't mention Be/ef, Booze and Bro/ads... that's the evil part.

[dax49]

11:31 AM on 03/01/2010

I wonder what his paycheck for that announcement was?

[StopMakingSense2]

11:28 AM on 03/01/2010

He means bend over for them and take it like a man...

[rugby john]

10:57 AM on 03/01/2010

Can you say "warped sense of loyalty"?

[PeteBogs]

10:51 AM on 03/01/2010

Somebody needs to stand up for the average person. That's supposed to be YOUR job, Rep. King.

[Cryostatic]

10:19 AM on 03/01/2010

Cockroaches have a horribly bad reputation. Somebody's got to stand up for them.

Who? Another cockroach, that's who.

[Photon55]

09:24 AM on 03/01/2010

King is just looking out for his next job as a lobbyist. and courting the industry. This is the order of succession in DC for greed and profit.