Politics

Senator Offers Angry Tweet For Obama

By Stephanie Condon

June 8, 2009 / 12:47 PM EDT / CBS News

(CBS)

The top Republican on a committee in charge of health care reform is angry at President Obama's leadership on the issue -- and over the weekend, he used his Twitter account to tell the president how he feels. While the message came across loud and clear, the criticism, which was limited by the format's 140 character limit, looked more like a teenager's text message than a traditional political pronouncement.

"Pres Obama you got nerve while u sightseeing in Paris to tell us 'time to deliver' on health care. We still on skedul/even workinWKEND," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, declared on his Twitter account on Sunday morning.

Minutes later, he tweeted, "Pres Obama while u sightseeing in Paris u said 'time to delivr on healthcare' When you are a 'hammer' u think evrything is NAIL I'm no NAIL."

In his weekly address delivered on Saturday, President Obama said "it's time to deliver" health care reform. Over the weekend, he spent time seeing the sights in Paris following a trip to Europe and the Middle East.

Democrats and Republicans largely agree that health care should be reformed but have significant differences over how to achieve that reform. Mr. Obama's weekly address was one signal that the president intends to take a more active role in shaping the legislation.

The Finance Committee is one of two currently working on health care legislation and will have to answer the difficult question of how to pay for expanding coverage.