Grassley Goes Grassroots – Hits His Constituents on Opinion Pages
Last Wednesday, Blog for Iowa posted an item entitled, Grassley Goes After Constituent on Opinion Page of Cedar Rapids Gazette. The constituent's letter and Grassley's response to it can be found here. BFIA commented in the post:
criticism in the papers lately about how he behaved during the health
care reform fight. He has personally responded to a Des Moines Register
thistle, but even weirder, he attacked a constituent who wrote a
critical letter to the editor about him, published in the Cedar Rapids
Gazette. Grassley answered with a letter to the editor, accusing his
own constituent of making a false statement. It appears to us that it
is Grassley who is making false statements.
Coincidentally, last week on April 5, a letter I had submitted to the Des Moines Register, critical of Senator Grassley, was published. And on Monday, April 12, a letter in response to my letter was published in the Des Moines Register by none other than Chuck Grassley. Grassley did not accuse me of “making false statements,” as he did his constituent in the Gazette, but merely said that I “missed the facts.” (I think he meant to say that I missed the point).
Also coincidentally, this particular letter that I submitted, generated a phone call from an individual whose name, address, and phone number is known to me – via caller ID, then a google search – but which I won't reveal here. I plan to post the caller's strange message in a separate post later, along with my speculation about it. Have you heard the RW talking point, “Obama is torpedoing the country” yet?
Here is my letter about Grassley's claims about President Obama's recess appointments, then Grassley's response.
Barack
Obama, after Senate Republicans blocked his
nominations for months, finally took the bull by the horns with the
announcement of 15 recess
appointments over the last weekend in March,
resulting in another specious argument by Sen. Chuck Grassley.
Grassley
claims that “these individuals will take their jobs without the public
knowing whether they have experience that bears negatively (or
positively) on their ability to serve the taxpayers.” Really?
nominated a full seven months
ago to become commissioner
for the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, is an Oxford Rhodes
scholar, Yale Law School graduate, U.S. attorney in California, Justice
Department unit head for U.S.-Mexico border affairs, head
of San Diego
school system, secretary
of education for California and assistant
secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
Grassley,
ranking member of Senate Finance, the vetting committee, certainly had
possession of Bersin’s curriculum vitae. He knew Bersin’s job
qualifications. So why the seven-month holdup? Politics as usual, it
seems.
Obama, after giving ample opportunity for debate, is
rightfully moving forward with the nation’s business.— Trish
Nelson ~
On Monday, April 12, the Des Moines Register published the following letter by Senator Grassley in response:
Trish Nelson's April 8 letter misses the facts about the issues
involved when the president circumvented the constitutional
advise-and-consent role of the Senate with a nomination to a top
government position.
In the case of Alan Bersin, the problem
wasn't his resume, which Nelson touts. In fact, on a bipartisan basis,
there were unresolved questions about inconsistent information and
documentation of various household employees.
The issue was
relevant because the commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection
oversees the enforcement of immigration laws.
It was a matter of accountability that was left unresolved.
–
Sen. Chuck Grassley,
Washington, D.C.
To which I replied the following, but I do not expect to see this published:
Senator Grassley responded to my letter to the editor of April 5, saying I “missed the facts” about Obama appointment Alan Bersin. Grassley wrote that the problem was not Mr. Bersin's resume, but “In fact, on a bipartisan basis, there were unresolved questions about inconsistent information and documentation of various household employees…” and “It was a matter of accountability that was left unresolved.”
Fair enough, Mr. Grassley. So while you have taken steps to point out the information I missed, please fill us in. What are these facts of which you speak that are unresolved on a bipartisan basis? Why do they remain unresolved seven months later? As the ranking member of the vetting committee, how have you been working to resolve these questions? – Trish Nelson
BFIA ACTION ALERT: See if you too can win a one-on-one conversation with your U.S. Senator! Write a letter to the editor of your local paper or the Des Moines Register letters@dmreg.com or both. Call out Senator Grassley on his unaccountability – an issue that remains unresolved at this time, but hopefully, will be resolved this coming November.
P.S. Let us know if you write a letter and Grassley responds. Email us at: blog3@democracyforiowa.com
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