Speaker Pelosi: I am not partisan
by Bob Cusack 03/13/09
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is denying Republican claims that she is partisan, saying she has been open to GOP ideas.
In an interview with Charlie Rose on Friday, Pelosi was asked what is the most unfair and misleading impression of her. Pelosi initially said she doesn’t think about it, but when pressed, the Speaker took on her Republican critics.
“There seems to -- some people think there seems to be a market for saying that I am very partisan, and that I don't give the Republicans their opportunity. That simply is not true. They know in this recovery package that we had, we ask them what they wanted. They wanted certain things in there.”
Many Republicans in the House maintain that Pelosi is one of the most partisan figures in the lower chamber. One GOP lawmaker who requested anonymity told The Hill on Thursday that working with Pelosi on legislation is nearly impossible.
“She’s an ideologue,” the Republican lawmaker said.
Pelosi suggested that Republicans are playing political games: “If you can't win on policy, then you go to process. If you can't win on process, then you go to personality. And that's how they have decided they would make up stories about me and the rest…but you know what? I'm in the arena. We have big issues. I can't be bothered about what they say about me. All I'm interested in is getting the job done. And I really want to get it done in a bipartisan way.”
In late January, Pelosi said she didn’t come to Washington to be “bipartisan,” one day after moving an $819 economic stimulus bill through the House without a single Republican vote.
“I didn’t come here to be partisan, I didn’t come here to be bipartisan,” Pelosi said at the time. “I came here, as did my colleagues, to be nonpartisan, to work for the American people, to do what is in their interest.”
Some economists have recently indicated that the stimulus will not create or save 3.5 million jobs as initially forecast, suggesting the final number could be closer to 2.5 million jobs.
Pelosi is not lowering her expectations, saying, “I'm still committed to 3 million plus.”
During the hour-long interview with Rose, Pelosi said that Republicans were not acting politically by rejecting the stimulus bill: “I believe that the Republicans are sincere in their vote against the bill. They do not believe in these investments in energy, health, educations, infrastructure, and the rest. They don't believe in that. I don't think they voted politically. I think they voted what they believed and President Obama and the Democrats had a different idea.”
The Speaker also revisited her concerns about Obama’s plan to keep 50,000 troops in Iraq next year and beyond.
While acknowledging the Obama administration has used the 50,000 figure, Pelosi said she is “hoping it’s closer to 35 [thousand]. And what I have said is the good news is the war is ending. Troops are leaving Iraq.”
In an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow late last month – before Obama had officially announced the 50,000 figure -- Pelosi said 15,000 or 20,000 troops would be a more prudent figure.
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http://mobile.thehill.com/leading-the-news/speaker-pelosi-i-am-not-partisan-2009-03-13.html
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My Thoughts
NP-"I am not partisan"
And the Mickey isn't a mouse.
NP-“There seems to -- some people think there seems to be a market for saying that I am very partisan, and that I don't give the Republicans their opportunity. That simply is not true. They know in this recovery package that we had, we ask them what they wanted. They wanted certain things in there.”
Sure, you asked, and they told you what they wanted. However, did you actually use some of their suggestions, or did you ignore them?
NP-"All I'm interested in is getting the job done. And I really want to get it done in a bipartisan way.”
Is that why yoau had the joint committee meeting behind closed doors with not one Republican in the room?
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