Many Republicans in Congress are calling for repeal of the new health insurance reform law. They know that won’t happen, but it’s good political posturing, because the GOP base is fired up and ready to go against “socialist” Obamacare.

Senator Chuck Grassley is taking a more nuanced approach. As the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, he played a prominent role in crafting the bill. Now he is taking credit for a few aspects of the new law while drawing attention to a populist-sounding provision left out by Democrats.

After the House passed the Senate’s heath insurance reform on Sunday, most Iowa Republicans condemned the effort in broad terms. In contrast, Grassley released an oddly specific statement about an amendment he planned to offer to the bill containing “fixes” to health insurance reform. Grassley called for the president, White House staff and senior Congressional staff to be covered under the new health insurance system. As expected, Senate Democrats voted against all Republican amendments to the reconciliation bill, hoping to avoid another House vote on the legislation. That prompted this press release from Grassley’s office: “Senate approves unfair double standard by rejecting Grassley amendment to apply health care reforms to White House and all of Congress.” (Not every failed amendment offered by Grassley leads to a press release. I don’t recall his office drawing attention to one he offered in October, which would have cut benefits for poor people and legal immigrants in order to save private health insurers $7 billion a year.)

Grassley got some media play this week for his “double standard” framing, but a different statement from his office attracted far more attention. That release noted, “The health care legislation signed into law yesterday includes provisions Grassley co-authored to impose standards for the tax exemption of charitable hospitals for the first time.”

Anyone following this issue knows that Grassley delayed the Senate Finance Committee’s work on the health reform bill for several months, pretending to seek compromise while fundraising on a promise to defeat Obamacare and spreading false claims about what the bill would permit. Grassley then voted against the bill in the Senate Finance Committee and on the Senate floor.

Political blogs quickly publicized Grassley’s effort to brag about good things in a bill he tried to stop. The senator was even featured in a segment on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC program: “Republicans farcically flustered by health reform’s passage”. Two of the Iowa Democrats running for U.S. Senate seized on Grassley’s hypocrisy as well. I posted a press release from Tom Fiegen and a memo from Roxanne Conlin’s campaign after the jump.

Grassley’s balancing act on health reform makes some political sense. He doesn’t need to play to the crowd that despises Obamacare, because the filing deadline for federal candidates in Iowa passed earlier this month. It’s too late for a conservative to mount a primary challenge against the five-term incumbent.

Meanwhile, the news media have reported many details about the new law this week, and some of the provisions are likely to be quite popular. Why should Grassley loudly condemn a law that gives tax credits to small businesses, closes the Medicare “donut hole” and lets young adults be covered on their parents’ insurance policies? If he’s trying to impress swing voters, he’s better off railing against the “double standard” of Washington elitists.  

On the other hand, swing voters might be repelled to see Grassley claim credit for reforms after he tried to “pull the plug” on health insurance reform. The senator defended himself as follows:

“So overall even though it’s got a lot of good things in it, even a lot of things that I wrote, even a lot of things that I thought up myself to help health care delivery, the bad outweighs the good, it’s just that simple.”

When the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee slammed Grassley’s posturing, Grassley’s office responded that DSCC Chairman Bob Menendez has also taken credit for provisions in bills he voted against. We’ve heard similar “two wrongs make a right” arguments from Grassley before. It doesn’t sound statesmanlike to me.

What do you think, Bleeding Heartland readers?

March 26 press release from Tom Fiegen’s campaign:

Fiegen: Grassley health bill claim cynical, hypocritical, inaccurate

CLARENCE, Iowa – Democratic Senate candidate Tom Fiegen today said Senator Chuck Grassley’s flip-flops on health care reached new heights with his statement claiming credit for a provision in the bill.

“Chuck Grassley’s part of history is that he worked the wrong side of it. Given every opportunity to be part of the health care reform bill, he sided with big insurance companies and against Iowans,” Fiegen said.

“The President and Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus bent over backwards to accommodate Chuck Grassley. He responded by bragging publicly on MSNBC last September that he was doing everything in his power to stall and ultimately kill the bill.

Fiegen said he couldn’t believe it Wednesday when he saw a Grassley news release taking credit for including accountability provisions for non-profit hospitals in the bill.

“Chuck Grassley has rapidly become a laughing stock. He’s already a punchline for the late night comedy shows. If he is elected again, the joke is on us,” Fiegen said.

“We need a U.S. Senator who gathers the facts, listens to all sides and then makes a good decision and sticks to it,” said Fiegen. “I will be that kind of Senator, not an incumbent flip flopper who claims that he was for a bill, before he was against it, now that he wants credit for it.”

Fiegen said the timing of Grassley’s release added to its absurdity, coming right before President Obama’s visit to Iowa City.

“It was a pleasure for Iowans to welcome President Obama back to the state yesterday.   Iowans helped the President launch health reform as a candidate, and we had a big part in getting him to the White House to make it happen. It was a great day for Iowans.”

Fiegen is a former state senator from Cedar County and a bankruptcy attorney in Cedar Rapids. He is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2010 election.

March 24 memo to media from Roxanne Conlin’s campaign:

IMPORTANT MEMO

To: Members of the Media

Fr: Mark Daley, Campaign Manager, Roxanne for Iowa

Da: March 24, 2010

Re: THIS IS NOT A JOKE!

I could not make this up if I tried. Senator Grassley voted no on health insurance reform. He famously walked away from negotiations on the bill, declared “war on Obama-Care” and shamefully told Iowans we should fear the government may “pull the plug on grandma” and NOW HE IS TAKING CREDIT FOR THE BILL.

In a memo released to media his staff claims, “The provisions enacted in the new health care law are the result of Grassley’s leadership on tax-exempt organizations’ accountability and transparency, including hospitals.”

Chuck Grassley has done more to derail this bill than any other person in America. He has flip-flopped on health care. This bill will close the donut hole he created in 2003, cover 32 million Americans including 302,000 Iowans and reduce our debt by $1.2 trillion.

After 50 years in politics, Grassley is a career politician who will even take credit for things he voted against. This is pure hypocrisy. Stay tuned, by this time next week Grassley will have been a part of the moon landing.

Grassley memo link:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo…

This message was sent by: Roxanne For Iowa, 319 7th St. suite 320, Des Moines, Ia 50309