The rocky road for Obama’s health care journey
By CHARLES BABINGTON (AP) –
WASHINGTON — Harry Reid could hardly believe his ears.
The Senate majority leader was in Denver for a mid-August Democratic conference when he heard one of Congress’ pivotal negotiators on health care trashing a bill on that very subject.
“You have every right to fear,” Republican Sen. Charles Grassley told a raucous citizens’ forum in Iowa that day. “We should not have a government program that determines you’re going to pull the plug on Grandma.”
Grassley’s stunning comments made Reid second-guess a decision he and President Barack Obama had reluctantly made months earlier: to give six senators from small states, the so-called Gang of Six, the time and prominence to fashion a bipartisan bill on overhauling the health care system.
The Associated Press: The rocky road for Obama’s health care journey
