Rep. Steve King Channels Stephen King: Health Insurance Reform Is Scary

In a new interview with Right Wing News, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) ratcheted up the fear-mongering about Democratic plans for health insurance reform. 

After repeating the false claim that the House bill would cover "5.6 million illegals," King touched on almost every anti-reform talking point, from abortion to euthanasia.  Some of the highlights:

On Small Businesses: "Well I don't know if it would crush them all at once like stepping on a bug, but I think it would be a slow and painful death for lots of them."

On Rationing: "If you're going to ration care or delay care then some people will die in line. I am convinced of that and I don't think it's arguable."

On End-Of-Life Counseling: "I can just say generally that when you see a bill that funds counseling to help counsel people with end of life decisions, what would be the reason for that if it isn't to tell people, 'why don't you just go peacefully into the night rather than take this surgery that could potentially be lifesaving?'"

"I think we should be very, very concerned about a government that would be so much of a Big Brother that they would send out college educated people to counsel you about how to end your life in an economic fashion."

But as Media Matters Action Network has noted, King's scary stories aren't supported by the facts. The House health care bill would have little effect on small businesses; health care is already rationed every day by greedy insurance companies; and the bill would provide OPTIONAL counseling "to provide seniors with information about drafting a living will or the options surround end of life care, information Americans have been asking for."  Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, sponsored a similar initiative in the spring.