Fiegen calls for the 'real Chuck Grassley' to stand up on health care

By James Q. Lynch

By James Q. Lynch

The Gazette

Following news reports that Sen. Chuck Grassley recently said he wants to defeat “Obama-Care,” a Democratic challenger is calling for him to come clean with Iowans on his position on health-care reform.

“Will the real Chuck Grassley stand up?” Clarence attorney Tom Fiegen said.

Grassley has been sending mixed signals, telling Iowans he's working for a bipartisan consensus on health-care reforms, but saying in a fundraising letter he wants to defeat President Barack Obama's proposals. He reportedly made the same comment at a Miami fundraiser, too.

“What good are Mr. Grassley's town meetings in Iowa when he's telling Iowans one thing and telling something else to the big-money contributors from out of state?” Fiegen continued. “Whom does he work for? He needs to come clean with the people who sent him to Washington 30 years ago.”

Fiegen, a former Democratic state senator, is seeking the party's nomination to challenge Grassley in 2010.

“We know Iowans need reform real reform to make sure their families can get health care when they need it,” Fiegen said. “We also know that Grassley has given a lot of different signals to different audiences -- even to the president.”

Tuesday, Grassley said again he's looking for health-care reforms that can get “broad-based political support … the kind of legislation that might get 70 to 80 senators to vote for it.”

Fiegen called for health reform that “assures better access to health care for uninsured Americans and doesn't break the bank.”

“That's what the president wants, that's what Iowans want, and Sen. Grassley is blocking it,” he said.

So far, Grassley said, no plan – from the White House or Congress – has developed the broad, bipartisan support he is looking for before agreeing to support a piece of legislation, Grassley said.

“Remember -- I've said so many times -- health care is 17 percent of the economy and it impacts the quality of life of everybody, and that's why it ought to be done with a broad-based consensus,” Grassley said. “And this is something that Sen. Baucus and I have been pursuing since the first of the year, that sort of broad-based consensus.”

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, is the chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Grassley is the ranking Republican. Both are members of the Senate's so-called Gang of Six -- three Democrats and three Republicans -- negotiating a healthe-care reform plan.