Grayson: The GOP is a "lie factory"

By Tony Romm

The now-infamous Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) unleashed another verbal tirade against Republicans on Thursday, calling the party a "lie factory" that hoped only to stall the healthcare debate.

Grayson also dismissed calls that he apologize for his remark earlier this week that Republicans' healthcare plan was to "die quickly" -- an allegation that has since invoked the ire of the entire GOP.

"America is sick of you, Republican Party; you're a lie factory, that's all you do," he told MSNBC on Thursday. "Why don't you work together with the Democrats to solve America's problems instead of making stuff up?"

Grayson then called the party a bunch of "no-mongers," and he chided GOP lawmakers for failing to come up with their own healthcare plan in the 48 hours since he first attacked their strategy.

"The people who should be apologizing are the Republicans, they're the ones who should apologize for dragging us all through the mud here while we're just trying to improve healthcare in America," he said. "That's all we're trying to do."

The GOP has since dismissed Grayson's remarks as partisan hackery, and some party members are now calling for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to sanction the congressman for his comments -- much as Democrats rebuked Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for interrupting the president during his address to Congress. But Democrats have grumbled at that suggestion, claiming it is little more than a distraction from the more important debates confronting Congress.

Grayson said Thursday he agreed with that perspective, but he also offered some tough words for his own party, which he said needed to work together to overcome Republicans' stall tactics.

"We've got to get past this point where everything is stalled; where the Republicans are winning just through inertia," he said. "We have a majority, we have to use it."