Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) dug in against a public option today, telling MSNBC this morning that “the government is a predator.”
“When you have the government running something, the government is not a fair competitor,” he said. “The government is a predator, not a competitor.”
Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and key Republican negotiator on the health care reform bill, said he wouldn’t vote for a plan without widespread Republican support.
“I’m negotiating for Republicans and if I can’t negotiate something that gets more than four Republicans, I’m not a good representative of my party,” he said. “It isn’t a good deal if i can’t sell my product to more Republicans.”
“It oughta be done … in a consensus sort of way, where it passes with an overwhelming vote in the United States Senate,” he added.
He also addressed the controversy over his comment that a government plan would “decide when to pull the plug on Grandma.”
Grassley said the idea of him validating the “death panel” idea is a “distortion from the far left.”
“It’s not the issue we need to be talking about,” he said.
Grassley added that he’s not worried about his legacy.
“Forget about my political career. It could be over tomorrow or it could last another term,” he said. “Good policy is good politics.”
