The Issues
Grassley, a lifelong farmer, is known for his strong support of the agriculture industry. He is one of the leading advocates for implementing caps on farm subsidies to large corporations. The 80-acre farm he inherited in 1960 has grown over the years to 710 acres. He prides himself on continuing to help his son run the farm.
He is also known for his presence on the Senate floor. The five-term senator hasn’t missed a roll call vote since 1993 and has led the Senate in consecutive roll call votes since 1997.
Grassley calls himself both a “conservative and independent thinker.”The American Conservative Union has awarded him a lifetime rating of 83.5 percent.He has received 100 percent ratings from conservative groups such as the Family Research Council and the National Right to Life.
But despite his conservative bona fides, Grassley has been known to buck his party to reach bipartisan agreements on hot-button issues, catching flak in the process. from fellow Republicans for voting with Democrats on children’s health insurance, energy and the 2008 economic stimulus package.
Grassley was the chief architect of the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Act, a 10-year, $395 billion expansion of Medicare that added prescription drug benefits.
He also worked with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to craft the 2006 “The “Family Opportunity Act,” which allows working parents with special-needs children to qualify for Medicare benefits.
Health-Care Reform
Health-care reform is at the top of the Obama administration's agenda for 2009, and Grassley is one of the most influential Republican voices on the issue.
As ranking member on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, Grassley pledged to work with his friend, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to draft a bipartisan health reform bill.
Though Democrats including Obama, Kennedy and Baucus favored giving Americans the option of choosing a publicly-run health insurance plan, Grassley disagreed. He had long said the country couldn't afford the medical entitlements it already offered under programs like Medicare. Grassley also argued that with the option to buy a government insurance plan,millions of Americans would give up their private health insurance, eventually destroying the private insurance industry and "put[ting] America on the path toward an entirely government-run health care system."
Kennedy, who chaired the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee until his death in August 2009, released a proposal in late May 2009 that included expansion of existing government programs such as Medicaid and a broad, government-run health-insurance plan.
Baucus and Grassley pushed ahead with plans for a bipartisan bill in their Finance Committee. To that end, Baucus created the "Gang of Six" in the spring of 2009. The six Finance Committee members from both sides of the aisle sat down together to hash out a health-reform compromise that would be palatable to both Democrats and Republicans. It was a very stiff challenge.
In addition to Grassley, Baucus invited Republicans Mike Enzi (Wyo.) and Olympia Snowe (Maine), who seemed she might be willing to cut a deal. They were joined by Democrats Jeff Bingaman (N.M) and Kent Conrad (S.D.), whose proposal to create non-profit health-insurance co-ops appealed to Republicans as a possible replacement for the public health-insurance option.
During the August 2009 congressional recess, however, the group's commitment to finding a bipartisan solution seemed to fray. Enzi angered the Democratic White House when he used the Republican's weekly radio-address to bash the high costs of health-reform. Grassley himself sent a fundraising letter in which he pledged to defeat "Obama-care," though he clarified that he meant only a public health-insurance option.
When Congress returned to work in September, Baucus, announced he would release a health-care bill that included non-profit health-insurance cooperatives instead of a public option, and courted Republican support. Democrats worried Grassley and Enzi could walk away from the compromise under pressure from fellow Republicans.
The Economy and Taxes
Grassley, who served as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in 2001 and again from 2003 to 2007, played a key role in rallying bipartisan support for the George W. Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. In 2003, he helped, secure key votes from Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe (Maine) and George Voinovich (Ohio) for the $350 billion tax cut.
The $1.35 trillion 2001 Bush tax cuts, which were extended and expanded in 2003, created a 10-percent marginal rate for the lowest-income workers, increased child tax credits and lowered the tax penalty for married couples.They also lowered the estate tax and created incentives for Americans to invest in retirement and education savings plans.
Grassley has backed attempts to repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), but opposes raising other taxes to offset the loss in revenue that would result from repealing the AMT and extending other tax cuts.
“In the case of taxes, it’s a difference between the philosophy of the two parties,” Grassley told Roll Call after coordinating Republican opposition to a 2008 tax bill that would have offset the extension of current tax laws with other hikes. “Democrats have PAYGO, and we think PAYGO is a tax-and-spend policy.”
Grassley was also instrumental in adding tax-free savings plans for college to the tax code. He has made closing loopholes for wealthy corporations, individuals and non-profit organizations in the tax code a key issue during his Senate career.
Grassley was also a chief sponsor of the bankruptcy bill that was signed into law by President George W. Bush in April 2005 One of his primary concerns in crafting that bill was ensuring farmers could renegotiate their debts without the consent of creditors.
Grassley voted against the Obama’s economic stimulus package approved by Congress in February 2009, calling the bill a “missed opportunity” fueled by excessive spending and long-term investments in entitlement programs.He also criticized the high levels of partisanship over the $787 stimulus package.
Despite disagreeing with President Obama’s approach to jump starting the economy, Grassley has said he believes Obama will be able to fulfill his pledge to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term.
The senator raised eyebrows in March 2009 when he said that AIG executives should either "resign, or go commit suicide" in the wake of receiving $165 billion in bonuses following a taxpayer bailout. Grassley and Baucus subsequently introduced a measure to tax those bonuses by 70 percent.
Oversight and Whistle-Blower Protection
As chairman or ranking member of the powerful Senate Finance panel, Grassley has made oversight and expanding protection for whistle-blowers a trademark issue.. His interest in the issue was sparked by the defense-spending scandal of the 1980s. As a senator , Grassley’s first major piece of legislation was a law that allowed people to sue the government for fraud. The Iowan cites that law, the 1986 “False Claims Act” as one of his proudest legislative accomplishments, saying it has recovered more than $20 billion in taxpayer dollars that would have otherwise been lost to fraud.
He has since taken on the FBI, Food and Drug Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the pharmaceutical industry.
Grassley also co -authored the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act, whichlegislation that extended whistle-blower protection to government workers. He has since secured whistleblower protection for, employees of publicly -traded companies and employees in the newly -created Homeland Security Department.
Farm Subsidies
Grassley supports reforming farm program subsidies to prevent large corporations from getting the majority of them. He believes that federal farm subsidies should be used to aid small farmers during times of financial turmoil due to natural disasters, economic hardship or war.
The native Iowan is a strong supporter of incentives for crops grown for the purpose of making corn-based ethanol, which comprises a large portion of Iowa’s agricultural crops. He used his position as Senate Finance Committee chairman in 1998 to extend ethanol tax credits to through 2007. In 2005, the senator proposed an amendment to a Caribbean trade agreement to limit imports of sugar-based ethanol produced in Brazil.
