{"id":5609,"date":"2011-08-14T23:39:48","date_gmt":"2011-08-15T06:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=5609"},"modified":"2011-08-14T23:39:48","modified_gmt":"2011-08-15T06:39:48","slug":"does-grassley-need-stronger-glasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/08\/14\/does-grassley-need-stronger-glasses\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Grassley Need Stronger Glasses?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and I have something in common.  We\u2019ve both been sounding off about the significance of the S&P report, but there is one critical difference.  How is it that I correctly pegged Republican intransigence<\/a>, while Grassley did not.  Does Grassley need stronger glasses?  Maybe, but the difference is a lot more basic than that.  At least I READ the damn report!<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"14GrassleyHat\"After one of the three credit ratings agencies, S&P, downgraded the United States\u2019 creditworthiness from AAA to AA+ in large part because of extreme GOP intransigence<\/a> on raising revenue, Republicans were quick to try to deflect blame<\/a> onto the Democrats. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney singled out the White House, saying<\/a> \u201cStandard & Poor\u2019s rating downgrade is a deeply troubling indicator of our country\u2019s decline under President Obama.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) piled on<\/a> the following day, calling S&P\u2019s move a \u201cwake-up call for Congress and the President to take meaningful action to reduce deficit spending and the resulting debt<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

ThinkProgress spoke with Grassley at the Iowa State Fair on Thursday to get his further thoughts on S&P\u2019s criticism of Republican stubbornness. However, before we were able to ask the Iowa senator about S&P\u2019s recommendations regarding our nation\u2019s fiscal dilemma, Grassley made a startling revelation: he has not even read the report<\/strong>… <\/p>\n

…The report is five pages long<\/a>. It was released a full week ago. And despite Grassley\u2019s assertion that he was \u201cout here [in Iowa] so I don\u2019t have a copy of the report,\u201d it\u2019s available free on the Internet for anyone to read, Iowans included\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Think Progress<\/a>><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the video:<\/font><\/p>\n