Who Are We?

The Progressive Democracy Corps is a group of private citizens who live in western Iowa's Fith Congressional District.

We chose to work anonymously, just as the writers of "The Federalist Papers" (now known to be James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay) did after Revolutionary War times. How can you trust us when we choose to remain anonymous? Just look at the facts we present: often there is a direct link to the source. Judge us by the truth of our message and the quality of the research behind it.

We are an informal group from a variety of backgrounds (including a journalist, an educator, a businessperson, a tradesman, and others) who have come together to create this website to highlight the many, many terrible things that Steve King says and does in our name. Not everyone in Iowa agrees with Steve King.

We are profoundly embarrassed that Steve King is our representative in congress, and we apologize to everyone for the member of congress our district elected.

We must do better in 2008.

Why would anyone publish anonymously?

In 1960, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black gave us all a much-needed history lesson in Talley v. California:

"Anonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and even books have played an important role in the progress of mankind. Persecuted groups and sects from time to time throughout history have been able to criticize oppressive practices and laws either anonymously or not at all. The obnoxious press licensing law of England, which was also enforced on the Colonies was due in part to the knowledge that exposure of the names of printers, writers and distributors would lessen the circulation of literature critical of the government. The old seditious libel cases in England show the lengths to which government had to go to find out who was responsible for books that were obnoxious to the rulers. John Lilburne was whipped, pilloried and fined for refusing to answer questions designed to get evidence to convict him or someone else for the secret distribution of books in England. Two Puritan Ministers, John Penry and John Udal, were sentenced to death on charges that they were responsible for writing, printing or publishing books. Before the Revolutionary War colonial patriots frequently had to conceal their authorship or distribution of literature that easily could have brought down on them prosecutions by English-controlled courts. Along about that time the Letters of Junius were written and the identity of their author is unknown to this day. Even the Federalist Papers, written in favor of the adoption of our Constitution, were published under fictitious names. It is plain that anonymity has sometimes been assumed for the most constructive purposes."