The only avowed atheist in Congress is Rep. Pete Stark of California. He’s known for making intemperate remarks like this:

He later apologized for that one. But he’s got a record.

He once called the American Medical Assn. a bunch of “greedy troglodytes.” He assailed one Republican colleague as “a whore for the insurance industry,” called another a “fascist” and a third a “fruitcake.” Recently, when a pesky journalist asked the same question too many times, Stark threatened to throw him out the window.

I’m all for candor, and the Republicans don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to calls for comity. But it’s fair to say that Stark has a way of making enemies, which is the main reason that the Democratic Caucus only reluctantly handed Charlie Rangel’s Ways & Means gavel to him.

Picking Stark, an atheist, was “not without problems” for leaders and potentially for the caucus, according to a Democratic leadership aide.

But every scenario that involved anything other than a direct passing of the gavel to Stark — in accordance with standing House rules — would have brought the Steering and Policy Committee and very likely the full caucus into the mix, potentially for votes for and against certain members. This was exactly the situation that House leaders wanted to avoid heading into Wednesday, aides indicated.

The House Ways & Means Committee has jurisdiction over all “taxation, tariffs and other revenue-raising measures,” and also deals with entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. It’s the worst committee to sit on if you don’t pay your taxes. But it’s a great committee to sit on if you want business lobbyists to shower you with cash. It goes without saying that the business community isn’t going to be happy to deal with a chairman who calls business-friendly representatives ‘whores.’ And an unhappy business community means a lot more money for Republicans, even in the minority, so it makes Democrats nervous.