charles grassley

Here’s Sen. Charles Grasssley (R-Iowa) in June, telling Fox News that requiring people to buy health insurance is a good idea, analogous to states requiring drivers to purchase car insurance:
There isn’t anything wrong with it, except some people look at it as an infringement upon individual freedom. But when it comes to states requiring it [...]

The Iowa Independent reports that Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) today echoed Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s comments that yesterday’s election results should not be viewed as a referendum on the Obama presidency. From The Iowa Independent:
“I don’t think it’s a referendum on Obama,” the Republican lawmaker said in a conference call with reporters. “I [...]

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider legislation designed to overhaul the nation’s criminal justice system by creating a commission to examine that system and make reform recommendations to Congress. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), is designed to confront the problem of the nation’s incarceration rates, which [...]

The Iowa Independent reports that earlier this week, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.), the co-sponsors of a sweeping climate bill that Boxer hopes to mark up in committee next week. In the letter, Grassley trots out a lot of the usual GOP talking points [...]

Democrats are in the uncomfortable position of claiming that an overhaul of the way doctors are paid under Medicare is somehow not part of health care reform.

The Democrats’ plans to overhaul the nation’s dysfunctional health care system took a giant step forward Tuesday when the Senate Finance Committee passed a $829 billion proposal designed to expand coverage to millions of uninsured Americans while reining in runaway health care costs.
The vote was 14 to 9, with Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) the only [...]

There’s a great deal of focus on Sen. Olympia Snowe this week as the Finance Committee inches its way closer to a vote on health reform legislation, but the Maine Republican gave no clues in this morning’s opening statement about whether she’ll support the proposal.
Instead, Snowe used her initial five minutes to voice concerns about [...]

Enacting a comprehensive set of medical malpractice reforms would reduce nationwide health care spending by 0.5* percent, according to a report released today by the Congressional Budget Office. Over 10 years, the changes would reduce federal deficits by $54 billion.
Roughly 0.2 percent of the savings would come as a result of the reduction in providers’ [...]

With all the focus on (and delays surrounding) the Senate Finance Committee’s health reform bill, the outcome of another Senate health care controversy has been put on hold.  In the past week, the finance panel has twice postponed hearings to examine two White House nominees for positions in the Health and Human Services Department.
The issue [...]

The Democrats pushing for comprehensive health care reform this year got a boost yesterday when the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Senate Finance Committee’s $829 billion proposal would save the government $81 billion over 10 years. But don’t tell Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) that’s good news. The finance panel’s senior Republican said yesterday [...]