Political Quotes

“What I find surprising is, we are taking up a package that, similar to last week's exercise, absolutely belongs to the Senate Democratic leadership; that is to say, we are not taking up a bipartisan package that I put together with my friend, Finance Committee Chairman Baucus. To be sure, some of the structure reflects the agreement I have with Senator Baucus, but this package is almost three times the size of the package we agreed upon. Virtually all the additional cost is due to proposals I would not have agreed to in representing the people of Iowa or the Republican conference. I was under the impression the Senate Democratic leadership was genuine in its desire to work on a bipartisan basis, but clearly I was mistaken. Although the Senate Democratic leadership was highly involved in the development of that original bipartisan bill, they arbitrarily decided to replace it with a bill that skews toward their liberal wing. So my first comment to my colleagues, also to the media and to the entire Nation, is: Don't let this package be mislabeled as the Baucus-Grassley package.”