Grassley: 'I Don't Think' Coburn's Right To Say Seniors Will 'Die Sooner'

There is, at long last, some disagreement within the GOP over whether Democratic-authored health care reform will expedite the death of senior citizens.

Days after Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okl.) declared that the cuts to Medicare being proposed in the Senate's health care package would cause the elderly to "die sooner," his colleague, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), disagreed.

"I don't think so," the Iowa Republican said in a little-reported-on conference call with local reporters on Wednesday.

The pushback contained a qualifier, however, with Grassley sanctioning Coburn's remark because, as he put it, Democrats were fabricating charges as well.

"I think it's OK for him to make that statement because on the other side of the aisle, people are making statements that people don't have health insurance," the Senator said. "Or, they're making statements that there's 14,000 people every day losing health insurance. And you multiply that between now and 2014, when this bill goes in effect, and you've got more people than even live in the United States losing their health insurance."

Except those statements by Democrats appear to be correct. PolitiFact.com looked into the matter, and concluded that research done by Urban Institute health care scholar John Holahan looked sound. Holahan actually pegged the number of individuals losing their employment-based insurance from November 2008 to June 2009 at roughly 15,200 per day. So, although Politifact noted that the extension of COBRA coverage under the president's stimulus package might reduce those numbers, the Democrats could actually be underestimating the severity of the problem.

Comments

[afgail]

08:06 AM on 12/04/2009

Mr. Grassley is looking like a very sick man. Why do these old senators hang on like grim death? Could it be that Washington DC is really their home? OMG Grassley hates Iowa and hates farming. He can't go back.

[Nussbaum13]

01:03 AM on 12/04/2009

"I think it's OK for him to make that statement because on the other side of the aisle, people are making statements that people don't have health insurance," the Senator said.

Is Grassley saying everyone has insurance? That is news to me. I thought I didn't have any.

[CrustAlmighty]

11:13 AM on 12/04/2009

It's OK for people to make wild conjecture because people with opposing views make reasonable and factually undeniable claims.

[drricklippin]

10:50 PM on 12/03/2009

Doctor Coburn ought to step down because as a physician he should know better than to speak these untruths for political gain.

Never before in our nation's history have the unlikely stars of both moral and economic imperatives aligned on long overdue- US Health Care Reform

We really have no choice now as a nation

Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com

[treetracker]

02:41 AM on 12/04/2009

Coburn's license should be revoked in my opinion as he obviously no longer practices his oath. As a physician he also has a fiduciary obligation to "do no harm."

[rf dude]

10:28 PM on 12/03/2009

'
Senator, you can stop at " I don' t think "...

[goodpyr]

10:23 PM on 12/03/2009

Patriotallday: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service

[isis]

10:13 PM on 12/03/2009

How do you feel about Coburn calling Rachel Carson a murderer, Chuck? Environmentalists wanted to have her image on a stamp for her 100th birthday and that is what Coburn said about it.

[Arleen1]

09:39 PM on 12/03/2009

Grassley, that is what you say today. What will you say tomorrow? Nothing you say can be trusted.

[tangelan]

07:58 PM on 12/03/2009

Didn't he say the same thing earlier? You can't unring the bell, Grassley. Why aren't these guys advised to retire like seniors in the private sector? Grassley can actually afford to retire.

[lagumbo]

05:59 PM on 12/03/2009

This clown Grassley told seniors at his town hall mettings that the health reform bill had death panels. What's the difference?

[dredeize]

05:49 PM on 12/03/2009

Why is the press interviewing this clown as if he is relevant in any way?

[pxgabriel]

05:45 PM on 12/03/2009

Chuck Grassley is part of "The Family" the C street crowd.

[gconners]

05:43 PM on 12/03/2009

As Ronald Reagan said: "Facts are stupid things."

[HawkeyeD]

04:56 PM on 12/03/2009

As a kid in school (learnin' on the government tit, Senator?), I learned to multiply 14,000 by 365 days in a year over five years.

14,000 x 365 x 5 = 25,550,000 (Okay, with a leap day 25,564,000)

Now, the population of United States has probably grown since the Senator first ran for office in 1958, but even then it was about 175,000,000. The United States first topped 25 million between 1850 and 1860. We have added states since those times too, Senator. Actually, Hawaii and Alaska since you first ran for office. (But before the President was born!)

[Jahbundance]

05:09 PM on 12/03/2009

well, why don't your fellow hawkeyes hold Grassely to this standard of accuracy?

[goodpyr]

09:27 PM on 12/03/2009

HawkeyeD: almost 308,000,000 people right now.

[JohnLorenzo]

04:45 PM on 12/03/2009

Grassley and the other political goons like him should never be put into an office where they are allowed to make decisions affecting the well-being of Americans. People who vote for individuals like Grassley probably shouldn't be allowed to vote (if only).

A monkey would be a better politician than Grassley. At least the monkey would be entertaining!

[Jahbundance]

05:02 PM on 12/03/2009

If America was a true representation-by-population democracy, Grassley and the other antiquated geezers in both parties from small population states would have minimum impact on the majority of Americans. The system fails us.

[goodpyr]

10:47 PM on 12/03/2009

Jahbundance: the House of Representaives at least reflects the population of
The Country.The Senate and the Electoral College vote should be done away with.
Sen.Nelson D Neb. represents approx. 1.8 million in the whole state.
The Seattle Metroplex has 3.7 million in an area about 70 mi.long and 25 mi.wide
That's not fair representation of the majority.The rules of the senate are antiquated
and worthless.

[1murillo]

08:29 AM on 12/04/2009

If both houses are determined by population then we might as well have a unicameral Congress. The system is set for a compromise between the high and low population states. It has never been argued nor expected that America is a true representation-by-population democracy.

[springsm]

06:49 PM on 12/03/2009

More pleasant to the eye too.

[LittleMittens]

04:30 PM on 12/03/2009

somebody put him on public health care - remove his Cadillac gov't coverage

[treetracker]

02:48 AM on 12/04/2009

He is on Medicare. But it's not good enough for the rest of us.