Dem lawmaker accuses Grassley of ‘treason’

It turns out Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) made more waves at the Netroots Nation conference on Saturday, accusing Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) of “treason” for saying that health reform would result in doctors “pulling the plug on grandma.”

“I mean what Grassley said the other day was an act of treason. I’m sorry. It’s not being called on,” the outspoken Democrat said to a group of liberal activists.

The Senate Finance Committee ranking member made his claims about the end-of-life provisions in the House healthcare bill last Wednesday, but retracted his claims later in the week.

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) also slammed Grassley for his comments last week, asking the Iowa Republican to stop spreading “myths” about “death panels.”

Grassley said on Thursday that the Finance Committee would drop the end-of-life clause from its version of the bill.

Massa also criticized limited-government conservatives in colorful terms.

“Throw your hand grenade, pull the pin out, toss it back, let it blow up in their hands,” he said at the event in Pittsburgh. “You think government’s bad? Great! Let’s stop all funding for NASA tomorrow.”

In the same conversation, Massa said that he was prepared to “vote against my district” on the healthcare reform bill and expressed support for single-payer health insurance. Massa hails from a conservative, upstate New York district.

Video (taken by The Washington Times):