Charles Grassley

(CNSNews.com) – Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is asking Dr. Donald Berwick, who now heads the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to disclose any conflicts of interest arising between his new role and his old one as the CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

In a July 29 letter, Grassley -- the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee -- asked Berwick to honor promises he made to Grassley while his nomination was still pending in the Senate. Berwick was recess-appointed by President Obama on July 7 while Congress was on its July 4 break.)

Now that Berwick has been recess-appointed, Grassley wants the doctor – who defends health care rationing and has praised Britain’s government-run National Health Service – to keep his promise and allow the Senate to examine the books of IHI, as well as the list of donors it gave to the Internal Revenue Service...

With Congress gridlocked on an immigration bill, the Obama administration is considering using a back door to stop deporting many illegal immigrants - what a draft government memo said could be "a non-legislative version of amnesty."

The memo, addressed to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas and written by four agency staffers, lists tools it says the administration has to "reduce the threat of removal" for many illegal immigrants who have run afoul of immigration authorities.

"In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations, exercising discretion with regard to parole-in-place, deferred action and the issuance of Notices to Appear," the staffers wrote in the memo, which was obtained by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican....

A veteran Republican senator believes President Obama's "stimulus" package is continuing to destroy economic growth and private sector employment.

The Labor Department reported yesterday that the number of people who joined the unemployment lines went up again last week as the number of those applying for unemployment benefits rose by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 460,000.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) says the Obama administration's job-creation efforts are not working...

Senator Chuck Grassley believes Congress should start from scratch on healthcare reform because the current legislation being pushed by the majority party fails to take on rising healthcare costs and premiums, but instead gives $400 billion in direct payments to insurance companies.

Senator Grassley (R-Iowa) notes that even though healthcare costs are increasing at an unsustainable rate, especially for people buying insurance through an individual policy, the pending healthcare legislation that could be pushed through Congress in the next few weeks would make health insurance premiums go up even more than they already are.

"That's not according to Chuck Grassley, that's according to the Congressional Budget Office," the senator clarifies. "On top of that, the healthcare bills passed by the House and Senate, and now the president's version of those bills, would give $400 billion in direct payments to the insurance industry.  read more »

(CNSNews.com) – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admitted to the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday that the deficits the federal government will run in the foreseeable future are “alarmingly high,” but said the administration would still like to make some provisions of the stimulus bill permanent.

“There are limits to what the government can do now. Our deficits, as everybody says, are alarmingly high.  read more »

An organization affiliated with ACORN is still eligible for charitable donations through a federal program for government employees, despite complaints that the program violates recent legislation targeting the now-scandalized community group.

The affiliate organization, the ACORN Institute, will not be barred from participating in the Combined Federal Campaign, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management said. The program encourages federal employees to give to local charities.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, raised concerns earlier this month over the government's refusal to omit the ACORN Institute from the campaign. But Personnel Management Director John Berry said in a letter delivered to Grassley that the institute is legally eligible to receive donations through the program...

The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee says the healthcare legislation currently working its way through the Senate will dramatically drive up healthcare costs and further increase the strain on the budgets of American families.

Now that the Senate Finance Committee has passed its version of healthcare reform, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) is working to merge it with the HELP Committee bill and get a final package to the floor in two weeks.

The ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, warns that since the HELP Committee bill contains a public health insurance option, the merged bill will contain even more government involvement in healthcare than the final Finance Committee bill...

Nearing the finish line of the health care marathon in the Senate Finance Committee during the wee hours on Friday morning , Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.V.) sponsored the “wrap-up amendment” that stealthily gutted important Republican amendments to the “conceptual draft” of a bill that were agreed to or voted through in committee. This wrap-up amendment passed 13-10 on a straight party line vote, allowing Democrats to vote favorably on some high-profile issues, only to pull them back substantially under the cover of darkness in the wrap-up.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking Republican on the Finance Committee voiced strong concerns over this last-minute maneuvering to eviscerate protections for seniors, veterans and the shrinking number of folks who still have a job in the days of Obamanomics...

(Update: The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee says bipartisan cooperation on the latest Senate health care bill is over -- for now. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa blamed Democratic leaders for imposing a deadline to get the bill moving by mid September. Grassley said Democrats have put moving quickly over moving correctly. However, he didn't rule out going back to the bargaining table later on.)

Washington (AP) - Senators challenging the latest proposed health care overhaul already have won concessions that include reducing a penalty for Americans who don't buy insurance, and hundreds of other changes are up for debate as a powerful committee takes up President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

The Senate Finance Committee -- the last of five panels to have a say before the full Senate debates legislation -- will consider a 10-year, nearly $900 billion plan Tuesday by Chairman Max Baucus.  read more »

Des Moines, Iowa (AP) - Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley said Monday he remains hopeful a limited health care reform measure can be negotiated, but that a small bipartisan group of senators working on the issue agrees a government-run public option won't be part of the package.

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., meanwhile, said an overhaul measure will be presented this year with or without bipartisan support -- though he said a compromise would be far better than any bill pushed through solely by Democrats.

The senators are among a group of three Democrats and three Republicans on the pivotal Finance Committee who are negotiating a proposal to overhaul the nation's health care system. Both said Monday they were hopeful a bipartisan deal could be reached...