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."

Grayson stands by criticism of Republican plan: ‘I would like to apologize to the dead.’

By Faiz Shakir

Yesterday(Tuesday night), Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) said the Republican health care plan is “don’t get sick,” and if you do get sick, “die quickly.” After offering those facetious and sadly accurate remarks, Grayson came under criticism from Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), who demanded that Grayson apologize on the House floor. Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Grayson said, “Yes, it was tongue-in-cheek. I’m surprised I have to explain that, but that’s the way it goes these days.” He added that he’s “not taking any of it back” and will “stand by what I said.” When asked if he would apologize, Grayson offered this response:

“I would like to apologize,” he said. “I would like to apologize to the dead.”

Citing a statistic that 44,789 Americans die each year because they don’t have health insurance, Grayson said, “That is more than ten times the number of Americans who died in the war in Iraq, it’s more than ten times the number of Americans who died on 9/11. …It happens every year.”

Grayson added in another apparent dig at the GOP, “We should care about people even after they are born.”

Grayson apologized one last time.

“I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven’t voted sooner,” he said.

“I don’t think the Democrats need to be on defense,” Grayson told reporters. “I think we should be on the offense and not the defense, and that’s where I plan to stay.”

Update This afternoon, Grayson appeared on CNN's The Situation Room, where he engaged in a fierce debate with the panel. He stood his ground, arguing, "I'm not the one who should apologize, they should apologize to America." He added, "Democrats have to have guts. And now we have to have the guts to take the majority that the American people gave to us and do something with it. And what we have to do is solve people's problems." Watch it: