Grassley conducts SE Iowa telemeeting

Offcial Photo - Chuck Grassley

Last night for just about an hour Chuck Grassley (R) held a Tele- Town Hall meeting with the people of south east Iowa. He answered 21 questions in all during this time. Callers from SE Iowa, including Bloomfield, Ottumwa, and Oskaloosa. I will include 2 of the questions by Oskaloosa residents.

Kevin in Oskaloosa asked ” Can you tell us a few things, how do you regard the tea party movement and especially as it relates to socialism and has that movement affected you and the way that you do your job?”

Grassley responds: “Well, I hope I was doing my job, so that it didn’t affect it cause I think most of the motives behind the tea party movement are that you govern according to the Constitution. That’s what I hear more from tea party people than anybody else. If we were on a video phone I could hold up pocket book that I carry around in my suit pocket of the Constitution as example and remind of the things I do. Need to follow the Constitution, and I think one of the big parts of the tea party movement is that they feel Congress has been doing un-constitutional things and they want people to follow the Constitution. They want judges that are going to interpret the law instead of make law. Their going to want the President not to usurp powers of the Congress. The don’t want the Congress to give  the President powers that only the legislative branch of government ought to exercise and that is the impact I think of the tea party movement, but I feel that I have been that kind of a conservative Senator anyway dong things in a Constitutional way. But I welcome the tea party movement very much. But I would say this, even if there were people that normally  weren’t part of the political process like evidently tea party people haven’t been until lately. If there were people of an opposite persuasion that were coming into the political system, I think the more people we get voting and talking politics and getting involved in a political movement the stronger democracy is and that we ought to welcome more people into the political process to strengthen our democracy”

Next up was Diana, a nurse, also from Oskaloosa. Before her question  “I am very worried about elderly and the disabled. Afraid that their care will be less, that their diagnosis and treatment will be less, chemo’s that are very extensive will not be allowed if you are a certain age.”

Senator Grassley responded: “Diana I think you have good reason to be very concerned, and not because Senator Grassley says so. But there’s a professional person that make an analysis of this health care reform bill, he’s what you call the Chief Actuary for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the department. He’s not a political person, and he has put out some reports of his analysis of the of this health care bill recently and it’s very scary, and he basically says, when we get in this beyond 2014, when it really starts, that there’s every indication that there’s going to be a lessening of the capability of delivering health care. Not just disabled and elderly as your concerned about, but basically everybody and that’s his statement not mine, and I think it’s something Congress in the future has to take into consideration and give review of this legislation so that those things that st…., that are bad for health care delivery actually don’t happen.”