Congressman Draws Fire for Sniping at Bush

Rep. Pete Stark introduced President Bush's foreign policy into yesterday's SCHIP debate, setting off a raging controversy. The California Democrat’s reference to "kids" going to war to "get their heads blown off for the president's amusement" enraged some and inspired others. House Republicans called the speech “an outrageous and delusional tantrum,” the Washington Post reports.

John Boehner demanded a retraction, but far from backing off, Stark released a statement criticizing "the chicken-hawks in Congress who vote to deny children health care," the Times reports. Republican Joe Barton failed to get Stark’s words stricken from the record, the Politico adds—decorum standards apply only to attacks on other congressmen. (More Pete Stark stories.)