Patient Pelosi
Just two days removed from electing “change” into the White House, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi urged people to be patient, saying that change will not happen immediately.
“The country must be governed from the middle,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday. Repeating themes from election night, she said she plans to emphasize “civility” and “fiscal responsibility.”
Does anyone remember Pelosi’s acceptance speech in 2006. Where she promised that this congress would be the most ethical and would bring back “civility” and “integrity” to Washington. You can refresh your memories here.
In any event, does anyone take this woman seriously? She was part of the majority that lead the congress to its lowest approval rating ever. And now she turns around and promises the same stuff that she didn’t deliver on in two years.
And don’t even get me started with “fiscal responsibility.” It wasn’t more than a few weeks ago that Barney Frank (D-MA) said that we need not worry about deficits, and that we need an immediate increase in spending and higher taxes down the road. Not even democrats believe they are the party of fiscal responsibility. Hell, currently the republicans aren’t the party of fiscal responsibility either.
Her comments emphasized that after an election consistently referred to as “historic,” Democrats face the daunting task of dealing with the plunging economy and two wars.
Yet, they face massive expectations for change and deep-seated fears of overreaching. But senior aides say they’ve learned from the mistakes of the past. Nearly every member of the current Democratic leadership in the House served through the 1992 election, when Bill Clinton was elected president. Two years later, the GOP gained control of Congress.
They may not have been paying close enough attention during that lesson, or any others for that matter.
They’ve already planned a new $300 billion stimulus package, despite the failing of the first one, and all the other instances when government has intervened in this crisis. Not to mention spending $300 billion when you just spent over $1.7 trillion on the economy, and carry a deficit of $450 billion, isn’t very fiscally responsible.
“There is a wave of hope that swept the country … not a mandate for any hope or ideology, but a mandate to get things done,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday morning on National Public Radio.
Isn’t being elected as a senator or representative a “mandate to get things done?” Did you really need the election of Obama to receive that mandate? Remember, democrats have held the majority in the house and senate for two years; and have gotten nothing done.
So here’s my idea to bridge the partisan divide in Washington. It’s not much, and without the cooperation of politicians it most likely won’t do anything, but I think it would bode well for our country.
The position of Speaker of the House is very much so a national position. They determine legislation that is voted on (remember when Pelosi refused to bring up the vote on drilling), they are second in line for the presidency (behind the vice president) and often times they travel the world singularly representing our country.
Instead of the majority party voting on the Speaker of the House, the position should be voted on in a national election, side-by-side with the President of the United States. The person doesn’t have to be in the majority party, the only rule to run is that they must not be seeking reelection that year. I think that would put pressure on the position holder to be more bipartisan and truly legislate from the center.
–jb
