Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo Grassley derides those who spend all their money 'on booze or women or movies'

Sen. Chuck Grassley defended his party's tax plan this weekend by saying that plans to reduce or eliminate the estate tax mean that people will use their money more wisely.

"I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing,” Grassley (R-Iowa) told the Des Moines Register, “as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.”


Grassley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and is a previous chairman of the and current member of the Senate Finance Committee, an influential panel that played a major role in writing the chamber's plan. The seven-term senator was being interviewed for a Des Moines Register report on the impact of the estate tax.

Republicans have long attacked the estate tax, often referring to it as the "death tax," and their various tax plans would greatly scale it back or eliminate it. The tax is based on the transfer of property when someone dies, if an estate exceeds a certain amount. The Des Moines Register report determined that few family farmers or small business owners end up having to pay the estate tax and those who do pay are rarely forced to sell their land or quit farming.

The Senate's plan, which passed early Saturday morning, expands the individual exemption to $11 million per person, while the House plan would expand the exemption by the same amount but also eliminate the tax entirely in 2024. That is one difference in the bills that would have to be reconciled as the legislation moves forward.

The Iowa senator's comments were widely shared on social media and were criticized by a number of Democratic strategists for their harsh portrayal of how people spend money.

"Darn straight, Sen. Grassley. if we gave that money in middle class tax cuts, they'd just waste it on hookers and blow, right?," Jesse Ferguson, a former spokesman for Hillary Clinton, wrote on Twitter.

He later released a statement clarifying his position.

“My point regarding the estate tax, which has been taken out of context, is that the government shouldn’t seize the fruits of someone’s lifetime of labor after they die. The question is one of basic fairness, and working to create a tax code that doesn’t penalize frugality, saving and investment," he said in a statement. "That’s as true for family farmers who have to break up their operations to pay the IRS following the death of a loved one as it is for parents saving for their children’s college education or working families investing and saving for their retirement.”

