Is Grassley Working on Two Plans at Once?

That certainly seems to be the promise of an article in The Hill entitled “Grassley plots backup healthcare plan.”  The interview with the Republican ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee suggests that not only is Grassley hard at work on crafting the bipartisan legislation of that committee, but he’s doing double-duty and also crafting the Republican alternative to that ultimate legislation.

It’s a juicy bit of gossip.  You know what would make it more convincing?  If there actually seemed to be an alternative plan, and not just an empty threat.

Because this really isn’t an interview about alternatives at all – there’s no there there.  Instead, it reads like “A Lament for the Backstabbing Maneuver of Budget Reconciliation” by Chuck Grassley.  Mind you, it’s a compelling and dramatic story.  Bipartisanship is hailed like one of Marcus Aurelius’s Fourteen Virtues, a golden ideal that is worth the eight separate mentions in this one interview alone.  We’re told that health care reform could and of a right ought to pass with an amazing 80 votes in the Senate.  It’s a lofty goal – some would say a highly unreasonable goal, since the recent SCHIP reauthorization only had 66 yea votes and Medicare Part D had 54.  But Grassley dares to dream.  “I believe, if we have an opportunity to negotiate as we have been doing for months and continue that for another six weeks, we can get a bipartisan agreement,” he says, once again confirming his belief that health care can be done by the summer.

But there’s a snake in the garden.  “Budget reconciliation changed everything,” the article tells us, referring to the procedural rules adopted as part of the budget that would prevent health care legislation from being subject to the filibuster in the Senate if a bill has not already passed by October 15.   In Grassley’s view, “By choosing to provide themselves a tool to enable health reform to pass the Senate with a simple majority, the Democratic leadership threatened to prevent a bipartisan alliance emerging.”  The fact that Democrats can run out the clock means that no matter how much Grassley trusts Senate Finance Chair and object of his bromance Max Baucus, those shifty Democrats – Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Rahm Emmanuel – will betray President Obama, will betray Max Baucus and will betray the Republicans by pushing through a cursed, cursed reform.  It is entirely out of self-defense that Grassley must negotiate with his fellow Republicans on an alternative plan just in case they need to stop a Democratic steamroller.  “If I hadn’t had the knife of reconciliation at our back, I wouldn’t be saying that,” he said.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

As compelling a hero narrative as it is – Republicans as defenders of virtue and Democrats as backstabbing weasels – it just doesn’t make any sense.  Not that the senator and his staff aren’t capable of working on two variants of the same bill, but the “light vs. darkness” framing is spurious.  First, given that Grassley has been involved every step of the way, and his mark is already being felt in the “policy options” documents being released by the Senate Finance Committee, and further given that Sen. Baucus’ views are already well-documented and well aligned with the other Democrats – Sen. Kennedy, the president and the three House Committee Chairs – the bill that Democrats would use reconciliation on will be the bill Grassley has himself worked on.  It would be one thing if Pelosi, Reid and Rahm used reconciliation to completely cast aside the work of their committees and shove through HR 676 or something, but there's zero chance of that happening.  Second, even if Grassley is truly crafting a GOP Plan B… um, so what?  He’s pretty much said that he would use that alternative plan in the face of reconciliation.  But reconciliation means the Democrats will get what they want regardless.

And then there’s the problem that the Republicans have yet to articulate a plan for health care reform since John McCain’s campaign plan got thoroughly drubbed and rejected in the last election, if exit polls are to be believed.

Look, I understand the need to go on a bipartisan bender and darkly warn, “You’ll be sorry if you run over us.”  I do.  The Republican Party is in a bit of a fix in this one.  If they resist health care too strongly now, they’ll be labeled enemies of reform and blamed for the collapse.  If they resist too late, it won’t make a difference and Democrats will pass a bill without them.  It’s a tough spot to be in.  But being the boy who cried “alternative plan” isn’t going to solve anything.

(Photo credit:  IowaPolitics.com on Flickr.)