Chuck Grassley: “I am happy to be able to have some time to comment on the fact the Senate is not bringing up the stimulus package. It is…”

“I am happy to be able to have some time to comment on the fact the Senate is not bringing up the stimulus package. It is to my chagrin, after all the hard work Senator Baucus and I have put into these negotiations. Albeit what we have in front of us is not a product of a conference committee, it is still a White House bipartisan compromise, a White House Centrist compromise, that would get a majority vote of the Senate if we had actually had an opportunity to vote on it. In normal circumstances, I would not be one to say we ought to pass a House bill. These are, however, not normal times and this is not a normal process. Some will say this is a House product that needs to be amended and debated. That assertion, while technically accurate, does not capture the essence of our situation today or right now that we are in a war on terrorism. The House bill is really the product of an agreement between the White House and Senate Centrists so I am going to call the House bill what it really is. It is a White House Centrist agreement, if you are looking for a bipartisan, bicameral product the President will sign. The President said he would sign this. This agreement is the only game in town. To anyone opposing this agreement, including the Democrat leadership, I ask them to show me where they are being bipartisan. All I have seen from the leadership throughout this process is an iron fist cloaked in a velvet glove.”