Grassley Whines Again

Wow. Chuck Grassley is either complete clueless or a shameless hypocrite. As always when talking about Republicans, one doesn't rule out the other.

The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:

Sen. Chuck Grassley's (R-Iowa) office fired back at the White House today, accusing senior adviser David Axelrod of "undermin[ing] bipartisan efforts" on healthcare reform "and driv[ing] Senators away from the table."

The rebuke comes in response to comments Axelrod made yesterday accusing Grassley and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), two members of the bipartisan "Group of Six," of negotiating in bad faith:

"If you're sitting at a table negotiating in good faith, then you probably don't send out mailers saying, 'Help me stop Obama-care.' That's just common sense," Mr. Axelrod said. The two senators' actions, he said, "suggested they don't want to participate" in bipartisan talks. "They're satisfied with the status quo. We are not," Mr. Axelrod said.

Grassley's spokesperson shot back today saying the so-called "Group of Six" senators would continue to work for a compromise despite his comments.

"Attacks by political operatives in the White House undermine bipartisan efforts and drive senators away from the table," said Grassley spokesperson Jill Kozen. "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."

Alternative plan? You know, we've been waiting quite a while for a GOP alternative. I guess it's hard to come up with one when your ideology supports the system that's failing so badly. And, make no mistake, Grassley is firmly within the GOP ideology, which in turn is all about defending the status quo.

But Grassley really has no business complaining that anyone's undermining bipartisan negotiations. Grassley has done everything he could to kill them. And every step of the way, he's done this -- whined that everyone else wasn't playing nice.

If I were Barack Obama, Chuck Grassley would be getting a dozen roses, a bottle of mouthwash, and a singing telegram informing him that he's been cordially invited to suck my balls.