Pelosi’s Real Legacy: A Looming Government Shutdown
In a Stunning Act of Vanity, Nancy Pelosi Skips Town in the Middle of a Crisis She Created in Order to Celebrate Her Own “Legacy”
As a potential government shutdown looms as large as ever and congressional leaders huddle in last-minute negotiations, one is mysteriously absent: Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi is in Boston, speaking at Tufts University today on her “legacy” as Speaker of the House for four years. It is a noteworthy topic, given that under her failed leadership Democrats deliberately did not do their job and failed to pass a budget this year, which created the current mess:
PELOSI SPEAKING AT TUFTS TODAY ON HER LEGACY AS SPEAKER: “Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is slated to reflect on her career during a scheduled speech at Tufts University. The current House minority leader is scheduled to speak Tuesday as part of the 10th anniversary celebration of the ‘Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service’ at Tufts.” (“Pelosi To Reflect on Career at Tufts Speech,” Associated Press, 4/3/2011)
Even some other Democrats are taking responsibility for their failure to pass a budget, with a few conceding that the looming government shutdown is a crisis of their own making:
REP. JASON ALTMIRE (D-PA): “I think that is accurate, yes. We should have passed a budget. We wouldn’t be in this predicament unless we let ourselves get here. It is self-inflicted. But the fact is that’s where we are.“(Remarks from Jason Altmire, Fox News’ “Your World With Cavuto”, 3/31/2011)
REP. NORM DICKS (D-WA): “And I will be the first to admit that it is because we, the Democrats, didn’t pass our bills last year that we are here working on this. … I, personally, feel we have some responsibility here.” (Floor Speech by Norm Dicks, YouTube, 3/1/2011)
DEMOCRATS FAILED TO PASS A BUDGET IN 2010: “House Democrats will not pass a budget blueprint in 2010, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will confirm in a speech on Tuesday.” (Jared Allen, “Dems Won’t Pass Budget in 2010,” The Hill, 5/22/2010)
ABC NEWS’ JAKE TAPPER: “REMARKABLE” THAT DEMOCRATS ARE NOT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY. “It is remarkable to hear Dems slam GOPers for not passing … last year’s budget when Dems ruled the roost.” (Tweet from ABC News’ Jake Tapper, 4/6/2011)
That reality hasn’t stopped Pelosi and other Democrats from using all kinds of inflammatory rhetoric and scare tactics to try to pin the blame on others despite the Democrats’ own irresponsibility in not passing a budget for this current year. This must be what passes for civility and adult conversation in Nancy Pelosi’s Democrat caucus:
NANCY PELOSI SAYS GOP FUNDING PLAN A “WAR ON WOMEN”: “There is ‘a war on women,’ House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says, and it’s being led by her own colleagues on the other side of the aisle in Congress.” (Jennifer Epstein, “Nancy Pelosi Calls GOP Budget ‘A War on Women,'” Politico, 4/8/2011)
MORE PELOSI: “6 MILLION SENIORS” WILL BE “DEPRIVED OF MEALS”: “In one of the bills before us, 6 million seniors are deprived of meals — homebound seniors are deprived of meals. People ask us to find our common ground, the middle ground. Is middle ground 3 million seniors not receiving meals? I don’t think so. We’ve got to take this conversation from a debate about numbers and dollar figures and finding middle ground there to the higher ground of national values. I don’t think the American people want any one of those 6 million people to lose their meals or the children who are being thrown off of Head Start and the rest of it.” (Glen Kessler, “Nancy Pelosi’s Absurd Math on Senior Citizens Losing their Meals,” The Washington Post, 4/7/2011)
FACT-CHECK: PELOSI’S FALSE CHARGE “RANKS HIGH ON THIS YEAR’S LIST OF BLOVIATED BLUSTER”: “In a city with overheated rhetoric, Pelosi’s statement ranks high on this year’s list of bloviated bluster. It’s bad enough that she repeatedly mixed up 6 million meals and 6 million people — and made no effort to correct the record after her statement was reported in the media. But the figure she used appears to have been invented itself, with little basis in fact.” (Glen Kessler, “Nancy Pelosi’s Absurd Math on Senior Citizens Losing their Meals,” The Washington Post, 4/7/2011)
DNC STAFF PLAN EVENT TO “DUMP TRASH AT BOEHNER’S” HOME: “A Facebook event, entitled ‘If Boehner shuts down the government I am taking my trash to his house,’ has popped up and is gaining steam as the shutdown showdown ramps up on Capitol Hill. If the federal government shuts down, one of the District’s services that will stop is trash pickup. … Goodman is listed in the Democratic National Committee network. Treadway is the political and logistics director for the liberal group Netroots Nation.” (Ed Hornick, “Facebook Event: Let’s Dump Trash At Boehner’s Pad,” CNN, 4/7/2011)
REP. LOUISE SLAUGHTER (D-NY) COMPARES GOP TO NAZIS, SAYS “THEY’RE HERE TO KILL WOMEN”: “In ’94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now they’re here to kill women. … It’s sort of like an old German Nazi movie.” (Dan Joseph, “Rep. Louise Slaughter: GOP Freshmen Came to Washington ‘To Kill Women’,” CNS News, 4/7/2011)
DC DELEGATE ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON: REPUBLICANS “BOMBING INNOCENT CIVILIANS”: “‘We are absolutely outraged. This is the functional equivalent of bombing innocent civilians,’ she said.” (“Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton Upset Over Treatment of DC During Shutdown Resolution Talks,” My FOX DC, 4/8/2011)
These comments dovetail with efforts by Democrats to exploit a potential shutdown for political gain, as seen in fundraising appeals for the DCCC and the DSCC:
DSCC “FUNDRAISING OFF POTENTIAL SHUTDOWN”: “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee distributed a fundraising solicitation Thursday morning seeking help to stop Republicans and the tea party, whose intent, the committee said, is to shut down the government.” (Kyle Tyrgstad, “DSCC Fundraising Off Potential Shutdown,” Roll Call, 4/7/2011)
AFTER DCCC FUNDRAISED OFF THE SHUTDOWN WEDNESDAY: “A fundraising appeal from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee warns supporters that ‘Tea Party Republicans are threatening to shut down the government on Friday unless we surrender to their outrageous demands.'”(Shane D’Aprile, “Dems Fundraising Off Threat of Shutdown,” The Hill, 4/6/2011)
And let’s not forget, Democrats have been not-so-quietly “rooting” for a government shutdown for months. Will Nancy Pelosi admit to the failure that is her legacy in her speech today?:
POLITICO: “IF DEMOCRATS WANT TO AVOID A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, THEY HAVE A FUNNY WAY OF SHOWING IT.” “If Democrats want to avoid a government shutdown, they have a funny way of showing it. … More Democrats acknowledge privately they believe that they win either way — Republican leaders cut a deal or take the heat for a shutdown. … [I]t’s a hell of a gamble for Democrats to embrace a breakdown in governance. After all, they control the White House and the Senate, and budget-cutting Republicans just claimed Democratic-held seats in every corner of the country, from Washington to Florida and from New Hampshire to Arizona.” (Jonathan Allen and Meredith Shiner, “GOP Seizes on Dem Shutdown Talk,” Politico, 3/30/2011)
FMR DNC CHAIRMAN HOWARD DEAN: A SHUTDOWN “WOULD BE THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD”: “‘If I was head of DNC, I would be quietly rooting for it,’ said Dean, speaking on a National Journal Insider’s Conference panel Tuesday morning.” …
“‘From a partisan point of view, I think it would be the best thing in the world to have a shutdown,’ said Dean.” (Alex Roarty, “Howard Dean: Democrats Should be ‘Quietly Rooting’ for Shutdown,” National Journal, 3/29/2011)
CNN: DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN “EAGER TO TALK OF [A] GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN” FOR MONTHS. (Dana Bash, Ted Barrett, and Rachel Streitfeld, “Democrats Eager To Talk Of Government Shutdown,” CNN’s “Political Ticker” Blog, 2/3/11)