MSNBC "Interview With Senator Charles Grassley" - Transcript

Interview

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MS. MITCHELL: And the Senate Finance Committee is trying to hammer out a way to fund proposed health care reform. Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, the key Republican player, the ranking Republican on that committee, joining us now live from Capitol Hill.

Senator, thanks so much. I know you've got a busy day. You had hearings today. You had a few visitors -- unexpected, perhaps unwanted. I guess unwanted because they were taken out. They say they are doctors and nurses. They were protesting. From what we understand, they are very fearful of some of the compromises that are already being considered. And this is early in the debate.

SEN. GRASSLEY, Well, listen, we're ready to listen to everybody. And I think Senator Baucus handled it just perfectly well. Three or four people protested. He says, "I'll personally meet with you. I'm willing to do that." What better way to have dialogue? We're going to have dialogue with everybody.

These industry groups that you just talked to Senator -- to Senator Daschle about is another example. Yesterday, Senator Baucus and I met with a coalition of business, union, small business, big business to get their points of view. They're called "Divided We Fail." They've been a coalition for two years. So I think it isn't a point of just listening to one group that wants what we call "single- payer." It's a -- we're a big country. We've got a lot of different interests, a lot of different people to serve. We ought to listen to all of those, and we've got a process to do that.

MS. MITCHELL: The Democratic leaders of five different committees have agreed that there has to be a public option. That is rare agreement on the Democratic side. Now, they may have the votes to shove things through now, especially with Arlen Specter having joined the Democrats, but is that something that you could sign onto? Is --

SEN. GRASSLEY: Well --

MS. MITCHELL: -- or is that a deal breaker for Republicans?

SEN. GRASSLEY: Well, at this point, nothing's a deal breaker unless you're talking about pure government-run program. That might be a deal breaker. But I think Senator Daschle pointed out that there's different ways of doing it.

But we haven't -- everything's on the table. And Senator Baucus has said everything's on the table. A lot of things that maybe he'd -- his party doesn't like that Republicans want on the table. We're trying to get a bipartisan agreement, and right now, we're headed in that direction. Maybe it won't happen. And a government-run program that you call a "public option" is one of those big factors that's got to be dealt with. It'd be better for me if we didn't have anything like that, and it's going to be very difficult for me to negotiate something.

But here's what you want to remember. When you talk about a government-run plan, you're talking about the think-tank Lewin saying 119 million people will crowd out into a government-run plan. Then you don't have the president keeping his promise that everybody left over -- because the people that are left over, 50 million, they are going to have premiums so high that the government's or the president's promise, "If you like what you have in private health insurance, you ought to be able to keep it," we won't be able to keep that promise. So we're -- we folks that have some questions about a government-run plan are conscious of the fact that we want the president to keep his promise because we believe in the promise that the president gave.

And then, on another thing, us senators have to think in terms of a government-run insurance plan. We just had to turn the Senate Dining Room over to a private enterprise because it was losing so much money when the Senate was running it. So you got to be careful about government-run programs.

MS. MITCHELL: That's because the prices were so cheap there, weren't they? But that's another whole story.

Let me ask you quickly about your meeting with the president because you met with him on health care last week. Did he indicate a willingness to compromise? What came out of that meeting?

SEN. GRASSLEY: Without a doubt. And I would like to say -- I'd like to quote the president directly, but let me put it in my words because I can't quote -- I don't want to quote a president directly in a private conversation. But he --

MS. MITCHELL: If you can characterize it, that's --

SEN. GRASSLEY: -- he would -- he would -- he would like to have a bipartisan compromise even if he doesn't get all that he wants as opposed to getting all he wants in a partisan vote.

MS. MITCHELL: All right. Now, I assume they still have the bean soup up there in the Senate Dining Room --

SEN. GRASSLEY: Since 1907.

MS. MITCHELL: -- Senator Grassley. Okay. Some things don't ever change.

Thank you very much for joining us today. Busy day for you up there on the Hill.

SEN. GRASSLEY: You bet.

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