Grassley gets down to it with latest AIG comment

Now and then, it takes a good rural metaphor to drive home a point. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, a farmer and one of the more quotable members of Congress, delivered the goods today in a press conference in the Capitol about the bonuses being paid to insurance giant AIG. (Photo by Lauren Victoria Burke, wdcpix.com)

"It's irresponsible for corporations to give bonuses at this time, when they're so sucking the tit of the taxpayer," Grassley said. That may not be the sort of terminology you want on the Senate floor, but it pretty much captures the situation, and fits the growing populist air in the country, which transcends party lines. Grassley is a Republican, but not a reflexive one.

Grassley's remarks followed his widely reported advice that AIG executives “follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say ‘I’m sorry,’ and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide. And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide before they make any apology.” The next day, he said, “Of course I don’t want people to commit suicide, but I do want an attitude in corporate American that’s similar to what they have in corporate Japan.” For more from the Iowa Independent, click here.

Analogies, metaphors and politics aside, this item is an appreciation of Grassley. When I covered my first Republican National Convention, in 1992, I ran into him outside a fund-raiser and asked him a direct question about a largely unreported leadership race among his colleagues. He replied quickly and frankly, and made a good story for a convention rookie. Would that more public officials were like him.