Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)–the Republicans point man on health care reform in the Senate–has flirted with the idea that requiring people to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. But he fully joined the “Tenther” fringe at today’s health care summit.
“The high cost of this bill comes from a non-constitutional mandate,” Grassley said in an exchange with President Obama.
It wasn’t too long ago that Grassley not only supported the mandate, but also claimed there was bipartisan agreement on the issue.
That time has clearly passed–moments later Grassley got back up from House Minority Leader John Boehner.
“This bill, this 2700 page bill will bankrupt our country,” Boehner said. “I think this right here is a dangerous experiment…. You’ve [got] the individual mandate in here which I think is unwise, and which I too believe is unconstitutional.”
President Obama swiftly dismissed Boehner for resorting to talking points. “We were supposed to be talking about the deficit,” Obama said.
