By Glen Moberg, Wisconsin Public Radio

(WPR) Wisconsin's longest-serving Congressman is back in his district, and serving up some strong words about the GOP. 

Democrat Dave Obey is blaming Republicans for a lack of bipartisanship on health care and the economy.

Obey says the stimulus bill that he helped write in the House Appropriations Committee is getting a bad rap. This week, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) called the stimulus a failure because unemployment has risen to more than 8 percent. 

Obey says it’s not the first time Coryn has talked “absolute nonsense”.  Obey says he predicted the increase, and without the stimulus, the jobless figures would have been much worse.

Obey also blamed Republican-affiliated groups for the loud protests that have greeted lawmakers at health-care forums. Obey says the groups are deliberately trying to shut down dialogue and debate, and he called their actions “thuggery” and “disgraceful”. 

He says a tiny cadre of hardcore, right-wing activists are willing to destroy the process on a daily basis to get their way and embarrass the opposition.

The veteran Democrat says he thinks a health-care bill with a public insurance option will pass the House, but not the Senate because of Republican opposition. He says only in the United States Senate can you have a majority of votes and lose. 

Obey says he wants Democratic leaders in the Senate to use the reconciliation process to pass a bill even if it gets only fifty votes and no Republican support.