Grassley gets 'tough, but respectful questions' at Town Halls, repeats euthanasia claims

Even Republican officials got angst — albeit slightly more muted than at Democratic town halls — at forums on health care reform Wednesday. Sen. Chuck Grassley faced big crowds in his home state of Iowa, The Associated Press reports.

"The questions were tough but respectful, and there was little of the shouting that has dominated similar meetings in other parts of the country. 'It seems to me that people are expressing, not just on health care, but people are just very scared about the direction the country is taking,' said Grassley, who emphasized that he hasn't signed off on anything. As the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Grassley's been negotiating a compromise plan that could get some Republican votes. He made it clear there are portions of the current measure he can't swallow" (Glover, 8/12).

Politico: "Grassley, one of a handful of Republicans working with Democrats to draft a health care proposal, stressed that he would oppose any bill with a government-run plan in it, describing the government as a 'predator.' 'Maybe you think, well, Chuck Grassley is up with that too,' he said. 'So let me tell you right out I would not vote for the Kennedy bill [and] I would not vote for the Pelosi bill'" (Lerer, 8/12).

Meanwhile, Iowa Independent reports on the 'euthanasia' false claim: "Promising not to sell out his core values in crafting health care reform legislation, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) brandished his conservative credentials at a town hall forum Wednesday afternoon. After explaining the legislative process and his own efforts as a key Republican negotiator on health care reform, the discussion ultimately returned to the false claim, which Grassley also made earlier in the day, that a provision in a House health care bill could lead to forced euthanasia of the nation's elderly population." At a town hall meeting in Winterset, Grassley also brought up the issue (Hancock, 8/12).