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Federal health care reform talks have achieved critical mass, as the end of this week will be a key time to see whether reform moves forward. The U.S. House could vote on a measure Saturday, and today some local chapters of the American Association of Retired People are holding press conferences to talk about support for the House bill. That will happen in a few minutes in Des Moines with Iowa AARP talking about advocacy efforts.

On the flip side, at noon Republicans like Iowa 5th District Congressman Steve King and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann will follow through with a press event called a “house call” on the east steps of the Capitol in Washington to beat back reform. Two days ago King and other reform critics called on Americans to “fill the streets of Washington and opposed the (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi health care bill. ”

“For liberals, this legislation is the crown jewel of their socialist agenda,” King said, since it “will place bureaucrats between patients and doctors,” and raise taxes on small businesses. Bachmann pitched the “house call” with, “Nothing scares members of Congress like freedom-loving Americans.”

With equal conviction he’s right on the issue, on Tuesday a Storm Lake newspaperman gave testimony to the Senate Health, Education, Health and Pensions Committee hearing on health insurance, as invited by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Art Cullen of the Storm Lake Times spoke about how the newspaper has struggled to continue to provide health insurance to 12 employees as costs rise. He cited rates doubling (and then annually increasing by double digits) after an employee had a kidney transplant in 2005, and bemoaned an inability to change insurers because of employees with pre-existing conditions.

“The Storm Lake Times now pays nearly $50,000 per year for health insurance coverage. That’s almost as much as we pay for newsprint. Were it not for such high insurance costs we could add more employees and help to grow our local economy,” Cullen testified.

Cullen noted Buena Vista County families have an average household income of $36,000 and it costs about one-third of that amount to buy an annual private health care plan. Click here to see the 176-minute hearing, including the very last minute in which an incensed, arms-waving Cullen goes off prepared testimony to vent about  insurance companies “screwing” Americans.

I’ll never forget the first time I heard a person pitch Steve King for president in 2012. Mere weeks after the 2008 election in which Barack Obama was selected as president, we at The Journal took a look at what names Northwest Iowans might see in the ‘12 race. (Yes, some readers said, too much, too soon.) That involved asking  Republican Party chairpersons in many surrounding counties to list their top three picks for four years off. A county chairwoman was quick to put King’s name on her list.

With GOP people like Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney and others taking top mentions in early 2009, I forgot about King as a possible presidential candidate. The speculation was whether this would be the year King ran for governor, which he ultimately did not pursue.

Then last month, when interviewing Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann for a profile piece on King, I asked about her perceived interest in the presidency. Before saying she had no intention to pursue the presidency, Bachmann first brought up King’s name as getting mention on Capitol Hill.

And last night, Dave Price of WHO, the Des Moines NBC affiliate, aired an interview with King in which the four-term congressman won’t rule out running for president. And why should he? King is beloved by the conservative base of the Republican Party, which in many states has a big role in pushing candidates toward victories in primaries and caucuses. King loves having a national voice on issues of importance, which doesn’t hurt his profile with the base. (Yeah, sure, he riles up Democrats, that’s a given.)

Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, who King has noted is essentially his twin, ran for president in 2008. Why shouldn’t Steve King?

Had my first conversation with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., a political kindred spirit with Iowa 5th District Congressman Steve King. She’ll be part of an upcoming political feature, and Waterloo, Iowa, native Bachmann was fine with going off-topic for a few stray questions at the end of our chat.

I relayed the report this week showing U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley had the bountiful amount of $4 million in his 2010 senatorial campaign coffers, but was down for money raised in the third quarter, compared to when he ran for prior re-election six years ago. I was curious about whether federal officeseekers were typically having a tough time in fundraising.

“Members of Congress have to work even harder now in these recessionary times to raise money, than they did in the past. Also, Republicans are in the minority, and that makes it very difficult to raise money. When a member of Congress is in the majority (party), it is far easier to raise money,” she said.

Bachmann, as a committed conservative who riles Democrats, noted she needs to raise a lot of money, since “I’m one of the top targets for elimination by Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi. Because of that, I have to work that much harder on fundraising.”

Bachmann has already announced she’ll seek a third term in 2010, and she’s raised about $800K in this year and has about $600K on hand.

Additionally, I asked Bachmann if she is being prodded to seek the 2012 presidency, given her growing national profile. She said she has no doubts the GOP will produce a good crop of  presidential candidates, and threw out King as a name of interest.

“Steve King is mentioned as a potential nominee. I have a very high opinion of Steve King and his ability, so I would encourage him to consider any position for higher office,” Bachmann said.

As for herself, Bachmann said, “Goodness, I’ve only been in the House for three years, so, no, I’m not considering anything like that.”

Minutes before he’ll endorse the Divided We Fail effort at a Sioux City afternoon event, I’m looking at an unflattering list that mentions Iowa Congressman Steve King. The latest Esquire is out, the November issue with Halle Berry provocatively posed, and the 482 federal races are reviewed. Esquire picks preferences for each U.S. Senate and House race, and then lists “The 10 Worst” lawmakers in D.C., including three-termer King.

Here’s Esquire’s assessment: “King believes himself to be clever, and his list of idiot declarations is probably the longest in Washington. Now he toes the fine line between idiocy and bigotry when he argues that Barack Hussein Obama’s presence in the White House will aid Islamic terrorists. Iowa, please, we’re begging you.”

Esquire endorses five incumbents in the Iowa races, every incumbent but King. The mag picks Tom Harkin in the U.S. Senate race, and incumbents Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack (a native Sioux Cityan), Leonard Boswell and Tom Latham, who used to represent Northwest Iowa. That’s five Democrats, when factoring in King’s opponent Rob Hubler, and one Republican. In the 10 Worst List, Esquire lists five Republicans, four Democrats and one independent, Joe Lieberman.

The list also includes Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.,  and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. Jefferson’s the guy who had $90K cash in a freezer, while Esquire describes Bachmann from our neighboring state as “equal parts religious hack and party hack, she’s got spunk and not much else.”