For Immediate Release
January 15, 2009

  

     MODERATOR:  All right.  Anelia and Scott, Senator Grassley is in

the studio.  I'll read a short introduction and we'll go ahead and get

started.  OK?

 

     GRASSLEY:  Thanks, both of you, for being with us.

     MODERATOR:  The following in an unrehearsed interview with Iowa

Senator Chuck Grassley speaking to you live from Washington.

Participating in today's public affairs program are Scott Van Aartsen

with KIWA Radio in Sheldon and Anelia Dimitrova with the

Waverly Democrat in Waverly. 

 

     The first question will be from Scott Van Aartsen. 

 

     QUESTION:  Yes, good morning, Senator. 

 

     GRASSLEY:  Good morning. 

 

     QUESTION:  We don't have a whole lot of specific questions here,

but I guess just kind of generally with the new administration, what

can we expect in way of health care legislation this year?  We know

that the new administration is -- feels strongly in one way. 

 

     What can we expect this session? 

 

     GRASSLEY:  Well, in three areas I would suggest.  Two of them

pretty easy to predict because I think, for sure, they're going to

happen this year.  One is the children's health insurance program

when, within one hour, will be involved in the Finance Committee in

trying to get that bill out to the Senate floor. 

 

     And then sometime this summer, although it doesn't really have to

be done until December, but it's better earlier than later, and that's

our annual or sometimes biennial updates on Medicare a lot of the

payment programs to doctors, hospitals, et cetera, almost all of

health delivery sunsets and there would be a lot of cuts if we don't

reinstitute that after the sunset which is December 31st at the end of

this year. 

 

     Then the really big 900-pound gorilla is the whole issue of

health care reform.  And that involves a lot of things, but the main

issue is Americans that don't have health insurance making it possible

for people to be in a health insurance system.  And that's something

that, quite frankly, this week, two days ago, we were supposed to have

another bipartisan meeting between six of us senators, the chairman,

and ranking member.  That's one Republican and one Democrat each of

the Health Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Finance Committee.

And I serve on the finance committee so I'm a part of that. 

 

     But those issues are up.  Now, the health reform issue is a very

vital one, very important.  It needs to be done.  But it is a very

sweeping project that we're taking on.  And, in fact, the last time it

was taken on was in 1993 by, then, new President Clinton.  And it --

it got so bogged down, so bureaucratic and eventually even a lot of

Democrats not liking the approach.  So it was taken off the table in,

I guess, it was really the summer of '94 taken off the table.  And

everything done in health reform since then hasn't been done in a

reform comprehensive way but more piecemeal.  And how would you say

it?  Incremental as the children's health insurance program is just

one example of that. 

 

     So there isn't certainty you're going to have that.  But I think

there's more commitment and more of a consensus around the country

about the need for that. 

 

     Let's go to Amelia.  And let me say hello to Anelia because she

and I communicate quite a bit.

 

     QUESTION:  Good morning.  Good morning.  Hello.  My question is

about the stimulus package that Barack Obama is proposing and the very

specific ways in which will you think it will aid the economy of the

country and the state of Iowa. 

 

     GRASSLEY:  OK.  I guess I would say that there's three ways we're

trying to do what you want.  It seems like things we've done in the

past and things that have been done years ago during recessions may

not be entirely working the same way they did before.  So I'm very

apprehensive to answer your question that these will work.  

 

     But the listen to the best judgment of economists.  You can --

and we intend that they work.  But number one -- I guess it would fall

into three categories. 

 

     Number one would be some tax reduction by changing withholdings

so immediately people would have more money.  And that more money

would go to help the 70 percent of the economy that's consumer

oriented. 

 

     Number two would be some reductions in business taxes so that

business has incentives to invest because that sort of investment is

what creates jobs.  The difference between both of those would be kind

of considered intended to help the economy long term. 

 

     Then there's a third issue dealing with appropriations.  And most

of these things I just described to you till the appropriations come

out of the committee I serve on called the Finance Committee.  Then

you go to the Appropriations Committee and they're going to

appropriate X number of dollars.  And when I say "X number of

dollars," it could be $400 billion, $500 billion.  I doubt if it gets

up to $600 billion.  And that's over a two-year period of time to do

things like build highways, give money to state government, spend

money on unemployment compensation by extension, broadband for the

Internet particularly in rural areas where we don't have the high-

speed service.  And then maybe -- there's a lot of things I could

name.  I'll name one last one because this is fluid at this point

although it's got to be pretty concrete in a week or two. 

 

     For instance, money to make sure that we have medical records on

computer so that they're available, considering people's privacy,

nationwide wherever they might go to a doctor. 

 

     So those are the three approaches, but there's a lot of specifics

within those that I could go into.  But right now, if that answers

your question, we'll go back to Scott. 

 

     QUESTION:  Thank you. 

 

     GRASSLEY:  Scott? 

 

     QUESTION:  OK.  Very good.  Thank you, Senator. 

     Kind of dovetailing with that, talking about unemployment and

unemployment compensation.  What is being done to stem the root of the

problem of unemployment?  Are there any stimulus packages or anything

in the works to kind of help the root of the problem? 

 

     GRASSLEY:  Well, the root of the problem is the credit crunch.

And everything we've been doing since September, either through the

Fed or through powers that the secretary of treasury has or the rescue

packages that we passed in October, have all been trying to deal with

the credit crunch, which is the genesis of it.  But, quite frankly,

not very effectively because housing is at the base of it. 

 

     And they were going to buy up bad mortgages, take them off the

market, then they got into that and decided to go a different

direction liquefying the credit market or the credit industry through

investing taxpayer's money in banks for preferred stock.  And that's

where they've done.  And so nothing's really taken hold. 

 

     But we're going to -- that's an ongoing process as evidenced by

this morning Bank of America being in trouble as an example.  So then

what I described to Anelia is the other efforts of what we're trying

to do to stop unemployment by encouraging consumer spending, by

reducing business taxes to encourage investment to create jobs, and

then the money for infrastructure that I described -- the

appropriations for infrastructure like building highways. 

 

     Right now, for instance, a lot of highway construction is not

going on because people are driving less and paying less gas tax.  The

states don't have the money to spend on the highways.  They've got a

lot of projects on the shelf.  And these would come off the shelf and

people would start working on highways, as an example. 

 

     Now back to Anelia.

 

     QUESTION:  I just cannot afford to not ask you this question on

the stimulus part and the consumer spending.  Does it mean that you're

buying a new car? 

 

     GRASSLEY:  I'm not buying a new car because you know me well

enough that I,

 

     QUESTION:  I know. 

 

     GRASSLEY:  I want to tell you the last time a bought a new car

was 1977 when I bought a new Impala and a new Chevette.  And I haven't

bought a new car since '77.  I bought a lot of used cars since '77. 

 

     QUESTION:  So the stimulus package -- you're not spending that

money on a vehicle?  No? 

 

     GRASSLEY:  Hey, listen, you know Barbara well enough that I don't

have to make up -- I don't have to spend much money and the Grassleys

are contributing to the economy. 

 

     QUESTION:  OK.  I have another question that's a serious question

as well. 

     It is about Bernie Madoff's $50 billion tax and fraud.  And I

know that in the past you've been critical of the (inaudible)

enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission laws

enforcement.  And so what I really want to know is how can we use this

tragedy -- people's ruined lives and lost investments -- how can we

use this tragedy to rewrite law governing U.S. financial markets? 

 

 

     GRASSLEY:  Well, of course, the Madoff thing is a perfect example

of what I've said about the SEC.  Just as an example, in his

particular case, I think over a period of a decade and a half, eight

opportunities that they took to look at it and found nothing wrong.

Now, why?  We don't know yet.  It's not public at least why. 

 

     But, you know, you would think that one out of eight times, they

would have uncovered this, but they didn't.  And so that's an effort

of, you know -- I don't know what it's -- of judgment, lack of

resources.  Who knows what? 

 

     But let me answer your question a little more broadly because I

think it can be answered better broadly than just referring to Madoff.

Even without Madoff coming along, we are going to have a very

comprehensive rewrite of supervision of banks and supervision of Wall

Street. 

 

     Banks through, you know, the FDIC and the controller of the

currency in the Federal Reserve, they'll probably be put into one big

super regulatory agency.  And I don't know exactly what will be done

with the SEC, but one thing that needs to be done -- and I introduced

a bill on this a year and a half ago and everybody just laughed when I

introduced the bill to have hedge fund registered. 

 

     Well nobody's laughing now.  So at least get hedge fund

registered so we -- not to -- not to tell them how to do their

business, but just to know who they are and how much they've got

because we don't even know that today. 

 

     QUESTION:  Is there any -- do you have any evidence -- do you

have any information?  Has anyone contacted your office to talk about

how Iowans may have been impacted?  I read quite a few stories about

other states and other, you know...

 

     GRASSLEY:  No, I have -- I don't recall any correspondence to

this point.  But maybe I'm a week or -- always a week or two behind on

correspondence.  So what I need to say there is I hope -- I think

Iowans are a little more cautious and maybe not enough Iowans filthy

rich to get involved with Madoff because it seems to me not just

wealthy people but very, very wealthy people were his clients. 

 

     Thank you, Scott and Anelia, participating in today's public

affairs program.  This has been Senator Chuck Grassley reporting to

the people of Iowa.