Harkin, Grassley disagree on who's to blame for lack of bipartisanship

By James Q. Lynch

The Gazette

Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin agree there's little hope of bipartisan backing of health-care reform and have assigned blame for the failure -- or inability -- to reach consensus along party lines.

Grassley rued an early Friday morning vote by the Finance Committee he said stripped provisions protecting seniors, veterans and working people.

The Iowa Republican laid some blame for the lack of bipartisanship on President Barack Obama, who told majority Democrats to walk away from the negotiating table.

“We won't have a bipartisan bill because the White House stepped in here two weeks ago and demanded that Baucus break off his talks with the Republicans,” Grassley told Iowa reporters, referring to Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana. “I don't think Sen. Baucus wanted to do that.”

The biggest sticking point has been a public option – a government-run insurance program. Despite two bipartisan votes in the Finance Committee to defeat a public option, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it will be part of health-care legislation debated by the full Senate.

“And I wouldn't want to say that it's going to pass in the Senate, but if it would pass in the Senate, that'd be the death knell for any hope of getting a bipartisan bill,” Grassley said.

Harkin, the chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee that has reported out a plan including a public option, says the responsibility for bipartisanship lies with Republicans. So far, however, they are intent on voting against any health-care legislation – even after majority Democrats have accepted their amendments.

“How many Republicans does it take to be bipartisan?” the Iowa Democrat wondered in a conference call with reporters earlier in the week. “You have to define what bipartisan means. What process do you have to go through?”

His committee debated 220 Republican amendments and accepted 161, Harkin said.

“So I thought it was a very fair, very open process,” he said. “No one was denied the opportunity to offer an amendment, to debate it and vote on it.”

Still, all the Republicans on the committee voted against the bill.

“So what do you have to do?” he said. “So why go through the process? Why let them offer amendments? Why have amendments if they are always going to vote against it anyway?”

Grassley's committee finished work on the health-care bill after 2 a.m. Friday. The committee is expected to vote on the plan sometime next week after the Congressional Budget Office has determined the cost of the legislation. The Senate is expected to begin debate later this month.

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