WASHINGTON (CNN) - Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, dismissed Democratic criticism Wednesday that it increasingly appears he doesn't want any health care deal at all - a key point Democrats have been making to justify the possibility of going it alone, without GOP votes.
"I've said all year that something as big and important as health care legislation should have broad-based support," Grassley told CNN. "So far, no one has developed that kind of support, either in Congress or at the White House. That doesn't mean we should quit. It means we should keep working until we can put something together that gets that widespread support."
Top Democrats close to the White House have told CNN the Obama administration is looking hard at pushing through a health-care reform bill without Republican backing.
UPDATE, 1 p.m.: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus released a statement Wednesday saying negotiations remained on track.
"Bipartisan progress continues," said Baucus. "The Finance Committee is on track to reach a bipartisan agreement on comprehensive health care reform that can pass the Senate. Our group will be meeting tomorrow and our staffs continue to meet as well. I am confident we will continue our steady progress toward health care reform that will lower costs and provide quality, affordable coverage to all Americans."
From CNN Politics
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Get rid of the Republicans and let's get this thing moving! May need to get rid of a few Democrats(Kent Conrad) as well. Sick of all the political stupidity. We have to have health care reform!
No public option = no reform
Have a nice day!
Stop peeing on my foot and telling me it's raining outside Grassley.
All you rethugs want to do is nothing at all. Stop lying about your intentions Grassley and just cash your check from big insurance.
what deal???idiots...pass this health care reform with public option....ok...don't be bribed by insurance thugs...GOP is went to dogs with sonia sotamayer appointment with Hispanic vote....if it is not passed this GOP goes to dogs totally even with all Americans...ok
Bipartisanship is the act of forcing Grassley to just accept the terms of whatever the Democrats throw at him. This discussion needs to go both directions and by all appearance it's the Democrats who are unwilling to negotiate. If a compromise can't be reached then both parties are at fault, not just Grassley.
Is there a public sighting of an actual Republican idea on health care reform, other than "The present system is fine/Obama's plan is bad"?
Put Grassley out to pasture
He's just a man in a position of power who wants to exercise that power. Enough of the pissing contests, do your job and represent the american people already! We want Health Care give us Health Care. You were voted into office to represent us, not to feed your sense of power!
He may not mean it, but he is absolutely right. Health care reform does need to have broad support from both parties to be done right and to have the best effect for all Americans. And, it needs to start with tort reform.
I am a registered democrat and have voted for Senator Grassley every time he has run for office – never again!! He is totally under control the of insurance and drug company lobbyists. He has taken huge amounts of money from them for his campaigns. He has demonstrated with his ridiculous comments and outright lies that he cares nothing about the people of Iowa or the United States who are without health insurance – for many reasons other than "they are too lazy to work" as the hate crowd likes to say. Just work in the human services field for awhile, and you people against health care reform would get a different picture of why so many are without good health insurance. Grassley needs to go!
You want to cut cost on health care, take on the lawyers and place monetary caps on malpractice suits to say $250K tops for starters. With the exception of a life and death situation, medical centers turn away all illegals and for any treatment given to an illegal, charge his/her embassy for payments and if they refuse to cough up, shut them down.
The republicans are too busy spreading lies and scaring people with mis-information (for one, the whole 'death panel' lies) to actually have any time to figure out how to be helpful. They're still bitter that they got whooped last election and are taking it out on the whole country as retribution. Are these really the kinds of people we want in our government? I certainly don't!
I just heard on Fox news that the healthcare plan will force our senior citizens to commit suicide. Then the evil kool-aid drinking Obamabots and ACORN will process them into chili and feed them to my grandbabies in their school lunches!!! Wise up people. This is socialism just like Canada!!! Have a nice day!
This guy wants a plan that will help him politically, as opposed to a plan that will actually help the American people.
Bull.
Why is there any effort to get this clown's support? The foot dragging is getting old, and people are dying.
What kind of fool does he think we are? He's got no ideas, he's just going along with other Republicans: obstruct, lie, and cheat the people out of an honest representative. Minority parties are there to represent the will of the minority, not to impede the will of the majority at all costs. What scum.
The GOP has already stated the system needs major reform. What this means is they will continue to not support anything period. Their hopes are to stall, kill this proposal until they have the majority. Any reform they do given their track record will result in the dissolving of medicare and they will let the insurance companies control it all and regulate themselves. America had better wake up quick. The Democratic reform may not be perfect but it's going to smell like roses compared to whats coming down the pipe from the Republicans
I'm sorry, but the GOP has had more than its fair share of chances to reform healthcare in this country (8 years of Bush and 12 years running Congress). It's time the Dems took charge and do what they set out to do.
Americans have gone to great lengths to share their opinion about the proposed Public Option. It is the wrong thing to do right now.
It does not solve the cost problem any more than the stimulus bill created jobs or the bailout billions kept GM or Chrysler from going bankrupt or saved any jobs in that industry. It adds to the cost and then just passes it along to already overwhelmed taxpayers. This is not a short or long term solution. Our economy is still on life support and unemployment is out of control.
How about taking the first easy steps for reducing health care costs?
Allow insurance companies to compete across state lines and reform the out of control medical legal issues.
Has anyone seen how well the USPS is run??? How many million are they in debt??? And you dopes want the feds to run healthcare???? Take a ticket and wait for your rationed care...
What's the word I'm looking for. Oh Yeah – It's Liar
The republicans are too busy spreading lies and scaring people with mis-information (for one, the whole 'death panel' book of lies) to actually have any time to figure out how to be helpful. They're still bitter that they got whooped last election and are taking it out on their constituants, and the rest of the country. Are these really the kinds of people we want in our government? I certainly don't! It really is concerning, though, how much people believe the lies that are being started. Why won't people listen to the facts, are they really that gullible?
Grassley stated the other day that he cannot support health care reform whatever it consists of because the republicans do not
want it to pass. Hmmm, a republican that speaks with a forked tongue, imagine that!
Grassley is going to make sure that his $2.6 MILLION in donations from health care entities is protected and will continue to support big business and the party of NO at the price of selling the American people down the river.
This man deserves no credit, respect or support. He, like most
republicans, will say whatever he thinks is required at the time.
Does not matter if it is the truth.
Tort reform, huh? It's already been tried in various states and led to no reduction in costs. Nice try though. Have a nice day!
The "public option" is necessary so that pharmaceutical companies can charge whatever they want. As it is, they have to argue with those pesky insurance companies.
Let’s all join hands and be the good Pharmaceutical Industry "tools" we know we can be.
And, when we've all been good citizens and done our part , as Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Obama's Special Advisor for Health Policy, describes our future: "services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia."
If we all join together, we can rid ourselves of the burden of old people.