Gregg: No bill unless Obama supports Baucus-Grassley deal

Posted Aug 18, 2009, 3:36 PM PT by Jed Lewison • First broadcast: Aug 18, 2009

Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire on Morning Meeting early Tuesday:

Transcript:

Well, I think the real question is — if there is a bipartisan bill that comes out of the Senate, and there may well be, because the Baucus-Grassley group is working hard, you’ve got the Wyden-Bennett bill as you mentioned, which is bipartisan — how do you preserve the bipartisan elements of that bill when you go to conference with the House and you’ve got people like Speaker Pelosi who are absolutely committed to having the government take over the system? And that I think is the great, is the big hurdle here.

In other words, why would people sign onto a bill in the Senate if they know that the Speaker of the House and the President’s people are going to torpedo that bill and move towards the government plan when it gets into conference?

So unless the President comes out and says he’s for the bipartisan bill as it leaves the Senate, and he’s going to stand by that bill as it goes to conference, I don’t think you’re going to get a bill here.