Fantastic:

Stark is next in line for the post in seniority, but his maverick personality had led some to question whether he would get the gavel even on a temporary basis.
The 19-term Democrat has a penchant for making controversial remarks. In 2003, Stark challenged then Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) to a fight during a Ways and Means Committee hearing, calling him “a fruitcake.” He also said in 2007 that President George W. Bush was amused by the heads of U.S. soldiers getting blown off. Pelosi condemned the remarks and Stark subsequently apologized on the House floor.
Last summer, Stark called Blue Dog Democrats “brain dead.”
Picking Stark, an atheist, is “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.

UPDATE: An omen? According to Michael Barone’s Almanac of American Politics:

[Stark’s] major achievement was the Catastrophic Health Care Act of 1988, which created a new benefit for Medicare recipients, but then was repealed by an overwhelming vote in 1989 after an outpouring of public protest: the problem was that its tax on the high-income elderly was very unpopular while benefits seemed puny.

The Catastrophic Health Care Act is a good example of how even new entitlements can be undone if they are unpopular enough.