Talk about nerve.The top Republican in the “gang of six” health talks in the Senate Finance Committee says he “absolutely” would not support legislation that draws just three or four GOP votes, throwing into doubt whether the negotiations can yield any kind of bipartisan pact.
Charles E. Grassley of Iowa — in an interview Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Meeting With Dylan Ratigan” — laid out in explicit terms just how far he will go as he works with three Democratic and two Republican senators.
The group has been meeting behind closed doors for months, saying the complexity of the health overhaul demands time and patience.
“I’m negotiating for Republicans,” said Grassley, who is the Finance panel’s ranking member. “If I can’t negotiate something that gets more than four Republicans, I’m not a very good representative of my party.”
Grassley, like most Republicans, has been strongly opposed to any kind of “public option” in the bill.
Grassley was pressed as to whether he would vote against a bill he considered a good deal. Grassley replied: “It isn’t a good deal unless I can sell my product to more Republicans.”
He said he has told President Obama and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus , D-Mont., during the past several months that he is negotiating on behalf of all Republicans.
A true bipartisan overhaul, he said, “ought to be done in a consensus sort of way, where it passes with an overwhelming vote in the United States Senate.”
Grassley’s highly publicized role as a negotiator has brought him criticism from conservative Republicans back home in Iowa, where he is running for re-election next year.
In town hall meetings during the recess, he has stressed his Republican roots and said he has to stay at the table negotiating or Democrats will push through a partisan bill.
“Talking is where you find common ground,” he said in Afton, Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register.
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