Grassley aide disputes White House complaints, says finance talks will continue

An aide to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, responded Wednesday to a complaint by White House adviser David Axelrod that Grassley and Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo, two Finance Committee members involved in bipartisan negotiations on health care reform, were not acting in good faith.

The Associated Press reported: "Jill Kozeny, a spokeswoman for Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, said the accusations were unjustified. She said Mr. Grassley and five other Senate Finance Committee members -- half Republicans, half Democrats -- will hold their scheduled conference call Friday to try again to reach common ground on a far-reaching health-care bill that could win broad support in the full Senate."

She also said: "Attacks by political operatives in the White House undermine bipartisan efforts and drive senators away from the table. Anyone who's working on an alternative plan -- one that would actually drive down costs and not drive up the deficit -- knows how difficult the issues are."

The AP also reports that President Barack Obama will give a speech in Ohio on Monday to address what Congress should include in a health bill (Babington, 9/2).