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Grassley Greets a Civil Audience at Iowa Town Hall

WINTERSET, Iowa — Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) on Wednesday was greeted by about 300 constituents at a boisterous but mostly civil town-hall meeting that focused almost exclusively on health care.Judging by the response, the majority of attendees appeared to support the Republican Party’s opposition to President Barack Obama’s health care reform plans and enthusiastically applauded Grassley when he reiterated his stance against greater government involvement in the system. Although a few dissenting views were heard, most participants urged Grassley to block a so-called government take over of health care.“Our Constitution doesn’t provide for national health care— one attendee shouted out.Another participant, in phrasing his question, said Democratic plans for health care reform “scare the heck out of him.—Grassley, the ranking member on the Finance Committee who is up for re-election next year, assured attendees that he will not support a public insurance option as part of a health care overhaul. “I’m not going to vote for a bill that has a government-run plan in it because it will end up being the only plan,— Grassley said as part of the answer to another question.Despite the hot, sunny weather, the forum’s participants waited patiently, with hands raised, to ask Grassley questions. The one-hour event was held in front of the public library in this small farming community in Madison County, about 45 minutes southwest of Des Moines.Many participants came prepared with handwritten questions, with one referring to a mock organizational chart for a federal health care bureaucracy put out by House Republicans.“As a person in my 60s, I’m getting very concerned about the health care I might be able to have if this bill passes,— a female attendee said.

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