GRASSLEY: I've got three points I'd like to make before you ask questions.
Yesterday, Senator Baucus and I sent a letter to Senate leaders about the need for prompt action in the new year to extend the biodiesel tax credit. That expires December 31st.
A noncontroversial extension of this tax credit was delayed because congressional leaders tied it to a controversial tax legislation.
I'm committed to doing whatever it takes to undo some of the damage done by the delay, which could cost as many as 23,000 jobs in 44 states where there's biodiesel production, including Iowa, where there are 15 facilities.
Jobs in biodiesel are green jobs; good for both the environment and the economy. The consequences of Congress not securing this extension before the House left for this year is likely to be very severe.
And I say that with confidence talking to people in the industry from Iowa. They're already making plans to shut down on about December 29th or December 30th, and you have to plan those things ahead of time, because they have long startup time, so they have a long stop time.
Second point, in January I'll be holding constituent meetings in 21 counties in Iowa to answer questions, listen to concerns, and to keep in touch.
I met with Iowans in every county, every year I've represented Iowa in the United States Senate. That's 2,871 town meetings besides the thousands of other meetings that you have beyond town meetings.
So I hope this shows that I'm committed to fostering the process of representative government, where I go to people to hear their views and they express their views to me or ask questions.
My January meetings will be in Benton, Cedar, Clinton, Davis, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine, Poweshiek, Scott, Tama, Van Buren and Washington Counties.
Thirteen of the meetings will be town meetings. The other ones -- eight, I guess -- would include tours and employee meetings at places like Greystone Logistics, Bettendorf; G.E. Industrial, West Burlington.
I'll have student meetings with North Cedar Middle School kids, Cedar Rapids Rotary, Grinnell Rotary, Davenport Kiwanis, Fairfield Rotary.
And I'll tour the Reach Out and Read site and speak with doctors and hospital staff at Van Buren County Hospital.
Finally, I wish all of you a merry Christmas, a happy new year. I appreciate your work and commitment to making our system of government work through transparency and accountability, with the news media being part of that process -- a very important part of that process.
And just so you don't think that I'm pandering when I say that last statement, I was speaking by video conference with a journalism class, University of Northern Iowa. Professor Anelia -- I can't pronounce her last name, very difficult to pronounce.
But anyway, one of the students asked me at the end the role of the media and what I thought of it. And I said it's very necessary to keep ethics and honesty in government; kind of like a policeman for the system.
Tom Beaumont?
QUESTION: Senator, there's talk as the bill -- the health care bill, you know, approaches the vote, of a legal challenge, you know, on constitutional grounds. Would you support a constitutional challenge to the health care bill if it passes?
GRASSLEY: Yeah, but I don't think that means much. Because Democrats are not going to admit that they didn't write a bill that's constitutional. And still -- I'm saying this as a non-lawyer -- even though I would vote -- I don't (inaudible) exactly how the votes going to be put, but I would vote to challenge it constitutionally, the courts are going to make that judgment.
And in this particular case, it's kind of a constitutional question the extent to which -- I think it's the interstate commerce clause -- would allow the federal government to mandate that you've got to buy something, and if you don't buy it you got to be taxed.
And I think there's some reference back to the Schechter case in the 1930s, which did declare the National Recovery Act of FDR's unconstitutional. And I think he was doing that under the interstate commerce clause.
But the New Deal still got their stuff eventually declared constitutional under the power of Congress to tax -- the taxing powers of the Congress as opposed to the interstate power -- interstate commerce clause.
So I don't -- you know, this is really getting into the weeds of the Constitution. And even though I studied constitutional law, I don't deal with it enough to say whether there's a good case for it.
But I had spoke to you about this yesterday -- you know, the extent to which -- maybe in May and June, talking among Republicans about the individual mandate, and -- and having Republicans looking at it favorably, and then these constitutional questions come up. And for that reason, and maybe a couple other reasons, I moved away from that and still hold that view.
And I do hope that this part of the law would be -- this part of the bill would be unconstitutional. Because I believe that if it would be constitutional it might open up the federal government to say you have to buy
a lot of other things, as well.
And maybe even to some extent the 10th Amendment is involved, because the states can make sure that you buy car insurance, presumably and constitutionally, and -- and the states have more residual power. The federal government has no residual power. It has only -- I forget what you call it, but let's just say designated power, limited power.
And so I don't know what (inaudible) coming from. But, here again, there's -- there's just a few times since I've been in the United States Senate where this constitutional issues come up. And it doesn't come up very often. And maybe the vote means something in the sense of -- of a majority of the Senate saying it might be constitutional. Would that have an impact on -- on the Supreme Court? I doubt it.
But anyway, you asked me how I was going to vote. And maybe I make it sound less consequential than it is.
But only say what I say because that's my study of the Constitution and how we determine constitutionality: more the courts than the -- than the Senate.
QUESTION: Thanks.
GRASSLEY: Let's see, Christinia Crippes?
QUESTION: Good morning, Senator.
I -- after, you know, several weeks of debate, I guess, I'm just kind of wondering where things are at in terms of how you feel about this bill. You mentioned that you didn't like the individual mandate. Where are you otherwise? Is the bill slowly getting better or are you still having major problems with it?
GRASSLEY: Oh, I think I have major problems with it, but -- and I probably only emphasize the individual mandate because that's the constitutional question; just a small part, albeit one of the controversial parts when I asked -- answered Tom's question.
So then I get to three or four things that are kind of core things that may make up only 20 percent of the bill, but it could be 50 percent of the controversy, or more than 50 percent of the controversy. And those four or five core things are it increases taxes, it increases premiums, it takes 460 billion or thereabouts dollars out of Medicare, and it does it at a time when Medicare's in trouble financially, and uses the money to set up a new entitlement program. That's a bad thing to be doing. And it doesn't do anything about the cost curve -- cost
curve, decreasing inflation in health care.
And that latter one is something, along with deficit neutrality, that Senator Baucus and I sought to accomplish when we first started out last January, when we still in a bipartisan mood, until about September the 15th, when the White House pulled the rug out from under the bipartisan approach.
And -- and this bill -- not my judgment, not the judgment of other senators, although some Democrat senators would say it does something about inflation -- we have the Congressional Budget Office, the Joint Committee on Taxation, several private sector studies that says it's going to increase the cost and the inflation of health care.
And even if it -- even if it doesn't increase it dramatically, I think the latest figure I've seen was
about continuing 8 percent increases in health care costs -- annual increases.
So, you know, if you were sitting in a coffee klatch in Burlington, and I walked into the restaurant and you asked -- and you were talking about health care reform -- and emphasis upon reform before I walk in, and you ask me to sit down with you, and you ask me about the bill, and I told you it increases taxes, increases premiums, cuts that much money out of Medicare, and it doesn't do anything about inflation, you'd say, "That doesn't sound like health care reform," with emphasis upon "reform," "to me." And you'd be absolutely right.
And I think that's the way the public's looking at it. And that's why I think it's lost so much ground in the polls.
And -- and -- and that's kind of -- those core issues are more than the specifics that I can talk about, to answer your question.
But I'd be glad to answer questions on any specifics, although I probably can't say more about individual mandate than I told Tom.
QUESTION: No, that's fine. Thank you very much.
GRASSLEY: OK.
Richard at WHO?
OK.
You three were the only ones we had on. So if you don't have any followups, I'm done.
OK. Thank you.
QUESTION: Happy holiday.
GRASSLEY: Yeah. Happy holidays to you, and a Harry (ph) Christmas to you.
QUESTION: Thanks.
END