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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to President Obama's aid on health care legislation Wednesday, taking on an enraged liberal base that includes many House Democrats and former party chief Howard Dean. But on Afghanistan, the San Francisco Democrat parted ways with the president, saying she would not ask Democrats to fund Obama's request for more troops. Pelosi backed away from her yearlong crusade for a "public option" of government-provided insurance in health care legislation. "Whatever we have, it will be great," Pelosi said, dismissing the welter of compromises that Senate Democrats have acceded to in their struggle to get the...

While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scrambles to assemble 60 Democratic votes for health care legislation that, according to the Realclearpolitics.com average of recent polls, is opposed by a 53 percent to 38 percent margin, several Democratic members of the House are scrambling for the exits on what is starting to look like a sinking ship. You may have noticed that I avoided using the cliche "rats leaving the sinking ship," because the four Democratic House members who over the last three weeks announced their decisions to retire rather than run for re-election cannot fairly be characterized as rats. (snip)...

Nancy's not happy. Caption needed.

Pelosi surprised by Baird's decision to retireBy Charles Pope, The Oregonian December 16, 2009, 3:42PM WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she was surprised by Rep. Brian Baird's decision to retire but remains confident Democrats will maintain control of the House after the 2010 elections. "Brian Baird, he didn't give me 72 hours notice,'' Pelosi joked, referring to Baird's unsuccessful – and persistent -- efforts to provide lawmakers at least 72 hours to review and understand legislation before voting. Like others who follow politics in the Northwest and beyond, Pelosi said she was surprised by Baird's announcement. "He...

Congress punts problems to 2010 By: David Rogers December 15, 2009 10:42 PM EST Trying to save Christmas, Congress is setting itself up for one wild Groundhog Day of budget woes come February. The House, anxious to go home, is to begin voting Wednesday on four year-end bills, most of which share one thing in common: a two-month punt on every tough issue, from managing the federal debt to helping the nation’s growing ranks of long-term unemployed. Adding to the embarrassment is the fact that after a late night of phone calls Tuesday, Senate Democrats appear short of the votes...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made runner-up as Time Magazine's person of the year, losing out to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. In a glowing profile, Time says Pelosi has "consolidated more power than any other Speaker in modern history." In an interview with reporters in the Capitol today, Pelosi outlined what is in fact an astonishingly long list of accomplishments this year, from a hair-raising bank rescue to the largest fiscal stimulus in U.S. history, to a climate change bill to health care legislation and millions of acres of wilderness, food safety, labor legislation and other major bills that have gotten...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted Wednesday that job creation and deficit reduction will be the central Democratic themes for the coming year – and that public support for health care reform will rebound once a bill has been sent to President Barack Obama. On the divisive issue of Afghanistan, the California Democrat ducked the question of how she would vote on increased war funding: “Let’s see what they request,” she said. But she has urged her party, including old allies on the anti-war left, to listen and give some “room” to Obama, recognizing that the president had been “dealt a very...

The House is rushing to pass four major bills today -- a Defense Department appropriations bill, a debt-limit extension bill, a continuing resolution to keep the government going, and a new stimulus bill. New versions of all the bills were only introduced last night -- one of them, the stimulus, is an entirely new measure -- which means lawmakers are scurrying to learn what is in the bills before the accelerated schedule of voting. "They introduced a brand-new stimulus bill around 11-ish," says one House GOP source. "And we're voting on it today." There is little doubt that few lawmakers,...

I guess elections do have consequences. After the shellacking in Virginia and the surprising loss in New Jersey this year, the Dems are finally seeing the writing on the wall. Nancy Pelosi is either pulling controversial legislation or making the Senate pass something before the House takes a vote on it.

...‘We wondered; given this controversy about the circumstances of Mr. Obama’s birth, on what documentary basis did Ms. Pelosi ascertain he was a NBC...we wrote to Ms. Pelosi and asked her...she ignored us.’ A knowing sound of ‘ooooo’ filled the room. ‘What do you think that means?’ The students smiled. ‘That means, she’s busted; she didn’t check whether he is a NBC before she swore he was.’ ...’Could be. But people wanted to know...so they wrote to Alice Germond, the Secretary to the DNC Services Corporation, who had co-signed those Certifications. Again, they asked on what documentary basis she had...

This health care battle is not to just defeat socialism, the destruction of the greatest health care system in the world, and to defend freedom at all costs. This battle is also about the United States Constitution, and whether we as a Nation will follow the words of freedom, small government, and Individualism. The United States Constitution is specific, it details the freedoms the government must protect at all costs, and leaves all other rights to the various states in the land, and the people of the United States, while at the same including the rules of governing for the...

Now with Feinstein telling us what is right and wrong, despot Pelosi lines up to tell us that if we don’t line up with her input on health care, we could go to jail.

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending "America's game." The Army Navy Football Game in Philadelphia. (Go Navy! Beat Army!) It is an experience unlike any other. Despite the cold, despite the fact that our seats were in the top row of the top section of Lincoln Field, despite the fact that the game wasn't particularly spectacular, the atmosphere was remarkable. Never have I experienced such enthusiastic camaraderie and jubilance. And at the end of the hard fought game, winner and loser stood shoulder to shoulder in the tradition of the closing ceremony. It was, in short, inspirational....

Beginning Monday, the "Today" will begin three days of "Person of the Year" coverage with Time magazine's announcement set for Wednesday's show. Time managing editor Richard Stengel will discuss this year's top candidates and the selection process. On Wednesday, Stengel will reveal the 2009 Person of the Year.

Speaker Pelosi named finalist for Time magazine 'Person of the Year' By Jordan Fabian - 12/14/09 05:21 PM ET House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is among the seven finalists chosen for Time magazine's annual "Person of the Year," according to media reports on Monday. Other finalists in the realm of politics include last year's winner President Barack Obama, Afghanistan commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. "Look, she's the first woman Speaker of the House. She's the strongest Speaker of the House in decades," Time managing editor Richard Stengel said of Pelosi on NBC's "Today" show. "She...

Anti-Obama sentiment brewing on internet as Tea party threatens boilover WHEN Stacy Mott, a stay-at-home mother of three children, started writing a blog after the election of President Barack Obama last year, she had no involvement in politics and simply wanted to vent her frustration at financial bailouts, healthcare reform and legislation to combat climate change. The former marketing executive at Toys R Us quickly found she was not alone. One year on, her blog, Smart Girl Politics, is an organisation with 23,000 members and co-ordinators in almost every state. "There are a huge amount of people out there...

One of the things that political pros often overestimate is how well known politicians are. Nancy Pelosi is one of the most visible elected politicians in the country and the first woman ever to serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Rasmussen Reports recently asked voters their opinion of “Nancy Pelosi” and the responses were mixed. Forty-six percent (46%) offered a favorable opinion and 50% an unfavorable view. Just half the nation’s voters voiced a strong opinion about Pelosi—14% Very Favorable and 36% Very Unfavorable. However, in a separate survey conducted the same night, Rasmussen Reports asked voters their...

It's a good thing the health care debate has moved on to the Senate, because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has completely lost her voice. Her vocal cords have shut down, her husband, Paul, told me when I ran into him at Ron Cowan's holiday party at Teatro ZinZanni the other night. Pelosi has been getting advice from everyone on how to fix it. President Obama told her, "hot water and lemon," at the recent Kennedy Center Honors gala.

Judge stops ACORN funding ban By Eric Zimmermann - 12/11/09 06:21 PM ET A federal judge today issued an injunction preventing the implementation of a congressional ban on funding for ACORN. Judge Nina Gershon concluded that the ban amounted to a "bill of attainder" that unfairly singled out ACORN. "[The plaintiffs] have been singled out by Congress for punishment that directly and immediately affects their ability to continue to obtain federal funding, in the absence of any judicial, or even administrative, process of adjudicating guilt," Gershon wrote in her decision. Gershon said ACORN had demonstrated "irreperable harm" from the ban,...

WASHINGTON — The federal government must continue to provide grant money to the national community organizing group Acorn, a federal court ruled Friday, saying that the House violated the Constitution when it passed a resolution barring the group from receiving federal dollars. A judge at the United States District Court in Brooklyn issued a preliminary injunction that nullifies the resolution and requires the government to honor existing contracts with the group and review its applications for new grants unless the Obama administration appeals the decision. The court ruled that the resolution amounted to a “bill of attainder,” a legislative determination...

WASHINGTON - The House passed the most ambitious restructuring of federal financial regulations since the New Deal on Friday, aiming to head off any replay of last year's Wall Street failures that plunged the nation deep into recession. The sprawling legislation would give the government new powers to break up companies that threaten the economy, create a new agency to oversee consumer banking transactions and shine a light into shadow financial markets that have escaped the oversight of regulators. The vote was a party-line 223-202. No Republicans voted for the bill; 27 Democrats voted against it. While a victory for...

George Soros, the billionaire left-wing philanthropist and convicted inside trader, joined the caravan of elites at the international climate summit in Copenhagen this week. He used the opportunity to explain that he had a solution to financing the fight against global warming. It would require about $100 billion to pay for projects in the developing world. There was just one barrier: The U.S. Congress. "It is possible to substantially increase the amount available to fight global warming in the developing world,” he said. “All that is lacking is the political will. Unfortunately the political will will be difficult to gather...

Health Care Shocker: Special Democratic Voting Counties Would Get Protected Medicare Benefits http://www.breitbart.tv/healthcare-shocker-special-democratic-voting-counties-would-get-protected-medicare-benefits/

That protesters on both sides of the political spectrum equate America's leaders with dictators like Hitler isn't new. But critics were shocked when such a comparison was made by an elected official. Last Friday, a group rented a room at the Irvine Hilton to protest the Democratic Party of Orange County's 15th Annual Harry Truman Awards and headliner House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Joining the demonstration was Irvine Councilman and Assembly candidate Steven Choi. An OC Register photographer caught Choi roaming the Hilton lobby before Pelosi's address. Choi is seen in a suit, tie and a depiction of Pelosi as Joseph...

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed support Thursday for a Senate Democratic proposal to expand Medicare, raising prospects that the two chambers of Congress can work out differences on health-care legislation. The proposal would open Medicare to some people ages 55 to 64, and is a key feature of a deal among senior Senate Democrats that would abandon efforts to enact a big government-run health-insurance program. The deal would also empower the government's Office of Personnel Management to contract with private insurers to offer new low-cost insurance plans. The deal is a key difference between the Senate bill and...

When the Democrats reclaimed Congress in the 2006 midterm, then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi pledged to "drain the swamp" of Congressional ethics violations that allegedly went uninvestigated under Republican rule. On the evening of Nov. 26, 2008 -- Thanksgiving eve - Pelosi, now House Speaker, released a statement to the press regarding the ethics investigation of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), in which she stated, "I have been assured the report will be completed by the end of this session of Congress, which concludes on January 3, 2009. I look forward to reviewing the report at that time." Now, more than...

The anarchist libertarian socialist Noam Chomsky told Press TV on Wednesday that the nation of Israel is more like a military base for the United States. American linguist and author of such books as “What Uncle Sam Really Wants” and “Rethinking Camelot: JFK, the Vietnam War, and U.S. Political Culture,” Noam Chomsky, was interviewed on Wednesday by Press TV to explain the complicated relationship between Tel-Aviv and Washington. The American sociopolitical analyst said, “Israel is essentially a US military base, the US positions weapons there, that's a very close military and intelligence tie.” Commenting further on the weapons Israel received...

Zaarephath, N.J.—The line of patients usually forms long before the clinic doors are opened. This night is no different: Nearly 40 people are waiting for their turn with two volunteer doctors at a cottage turned clinic on the campus of a local church. Once inside one of two examining rooms at the Zarephath Health Center, the patients, many of them repeat customers, frequently utter the same two words: I'm miserable. There are Sabine, 51, who lost her job as manager of a craft store her first workday back from surgery, and Jessica, 22, who no longer can afford the $88...

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) called for an end to Washington’s unprecedented borrowing and spending binge during floor remarks today opposing Democrats’ 2,500-page omnibus spending bill. Noting that “America is broke,” Boehner challenged President Obama to go through the measure, which contains more than 5,000 earmarks, “line-by-line and page-by-page” as he promised the American people he would. Following are VIDEO and the full text of Boehner’s remarks...

Speaker Pelosi: We would do 'almost anything' to pass healthcare this yearBy Mike Soraghan - 12/10/09 12:00 PM ET House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) laid out a scenario Thursday in which the massive overhaul of the nation's health system could pass by the end of the year. If the Senate were to pass a bill by next Thursday, Dec. 17, she said, the House and Senate could conduct a conference committee during the next weekend and pass it before New Year's Day. “I think we would do almost anything if it meant we would pass healthcare for all Americans before...

Cracking jokes about Congressional thievery is something of a national past-time. But the results of the newest Gallup poll will likely startle even the cynical news dorks that have read enough of these polls to know that the American people don’t think highly of their government. For the first time since Gallup began conducting its annual “Honesty and Ethics of Professions” poll, a majority (55%) of Americans responded that they believe the honesty and ethical standards of “members of Congress” are “low” or “very low.” The American people don’t think senators are particularly upstanding citizens either: 49% said Senators have...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) still sees a slight chance that the Democratic-controlled Congress can wrap up work on a landmark health care bill by Christmas - all while insisting the House wants a full say in the final version. "We would do almost anything if it meant we would pass health care for all Americans (by) the Christmas holidays," Pelosi told reporters Thursday. "Maybe we can't," she said, in which case Congress could deliver "a New Year's present for the American people." But "anything" doesn't mean she's willing to just accept the Senate bill. "We would like to see...

Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters nationwide say they’re at least somewhat angry about the current policies of the federal government. That figure includes 46% who are Very Angry. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 27% are not angry about the government's policies, including 10% who are Not at All Angry........ The data suggests that the level of anger is growing. The 71% who are angry at federal government policies today is up five percentage points since September. Even more stunning, the 46% who are Very Angry is up 10 percentage points from September.

On October 23rd, a reporter asked Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): “Madam Speaker, where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?” Speaker Pelosi shook her head and before moving on to another question replied: “Are you serious? Are you serious??” Pressed for a more substantive response later, Pelosi’s press spokesman admonished the reporter: “You can put this on the record. That is not a serious question. That is not a serious question.” The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) disagrees. In 1994, the CBO said of an individual mandate to buy health insurance: A mandate...

From the woman we love to hate: In this short clip socialist Pelosi says "Everybody is paying the price for uncompensated health care....we all have to do our part and that is he point of the bill"! The rest of her thoughts are disjointed and incoherant. Tina Fay where are you when we need you?

Being a member of Congress rates as the least ethical and honest professions – faring worse than car salesmen by 4 percent – according to a new Gallup poll out Wednesday.

A series of events over the past few months have made me consider the logic of third world politics. I am not talking about killing people or imprisoning detractors. That is what happens in places like Cuba, China and Iran. What I am thinking about is the prosecution of the prior ruling party by the new ruling party.

Harry Reid likens Healthcare protesters to people who supported slavery December 7, 5:31 PMBaltimore Conservative ExaminerAl Ritter Reid with partner in crime Sen. Mikulski AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais This has to be not only the most contentious comment ever made in the Senate, but also the most false. I’m not exactly sure what Harry Reid wanted to accomplish with this falsehood, but his knowledge of history is sorely lacking. I can’t help but to liken his comment to someone who would make the very comparison of the Tea Party participants to followers of Hitler. Yes Nancy Pelosi, I am talking...

Amazing...and frightening.

With a wary eye toward the 2010 elections, Democrats are starting to craft another stimulus package. This would seem incompatible with the administration’s reluctance to add to the deficit, but a rally in the stock market has enabled some banks to repay the money they took under TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program). The plan, as articulated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is to use these funds to pay for a new “jobs bill,” which would look suspiciously like the $787 billion stimulus bill enacted just last February. This morning at the Brookings Institution, President Obama is scheduled to lay out some...

IRVINE - Councilman Steven Choi is taking heat from county political watchers for wearing a rendering of Nancy Pelosi as Stalin on his back at a keynote address the House Speaker gave at a recent Democratic Party of Orange County dinner. Choi, who is also in the midst of an Assembly run, says he was not invited to Pelosi's speech at the Irvine Hilton, but chose to join several hundred protesters at the Harry S Truman Awards Dinner, a fundraiser that reportedly raised more than $125,000 for the local Democratic Party. Choi was photographed from behind, but not identified, by...

When the Democrats retook Congress in 2006, incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi promised the "to restore integrity and honesty in Washington, D.C., and the Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history." So how's that promise working out? Let's start with four developments from the last week: » Over the weekend, it was revealed that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., had nominated his girlfriend to be a U.S. attorney in his home state. Baucus is a driving force behind the drive to adopt Obamacare in the Senate. » On...

From Naval Aviator, Commander Jerry Wilson We lived in California during the winters of 2007 and 2008. We became addicted to Fox News and watched O’Reilly and Hannity and Colmes every night. When we got back home, we upgraded our cable to get Fox. I watched the Presidential campaign very closely. Initially, because I thought the Democrats would nominate Hillary Clinton and then in astonishment when they chose an even more hard-left candidate. All of last year I told everyone I could that Obama was not a Democrat, he is a Marxist. He is far to the left of any...

Pelosi: As Copenhagen Begins, EPA Finding Underscores Need for American Clean Energy and Security Act Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on the EPA’s announcement today that greenhouse gases threaten public health and the environment: “The EPA has thoroughly reviewed the scientific literature on climate change, which spans decades of research across a breadth of disciplines and across the globe. The science is clear: global warming is real, its impacts are being felt around the world, and carbon emissions present a danger to public health and the economy worldwide. “As the United Nations Climate Change Conference...

(CNSNews.com) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed the idea of a “global” tax on stock trades and other financial transactions, saying the estimated $150 billion in annual revenue from such a tax could be used to help fund more stimulus spending. At her weekly press briefing on Thursday, Pelosi said the financial transactions tax (HR4191) currently before Congress would have to be made “global” to keep U.S. investors from taking their business overseas and out of taxable reach. The House speaker said that a transaction tax could be imposed in conjunction with congressional efforts to divert funds from the...

San Francisco health officials reported an alarming increase in new syphilis cases last year after years of declines. New syphilis cases rose 55.8 percent in 2008 over the previous year, San Francisco public health officials reported. The increase was significantly lower than the dramatic spikes reported early in the decade, when new infections increased 167 percent from 2001 to 2002. But last year's rise would seem to indicate an increase in unsafe sexual practices, which could lead to a rise in HIV infection rates.

Hundreds protest Pelosi as she speaks at the Democratic Party of Orange County Friday night at the Irvine Hilton...

At a hearing in late March, the nation's credit card companies faced the threat of expensive new rules from an unlikely regulator: the House Committee on Homeland Security, chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). The committee had never before dealt with credit card issues, but Thompson warned Visa, MasterCard and others that Congress might need to impose tighter security standards costing millions of dollars to protect customers from identity theft. Behind the scenes, some of Thompson's staffers sensed a different motive -- an attempt to pressure the companies into making political donations to the chairman, according to several former committee...

By Kelly L. Goodridge and Oscar De Los Santos It’s official: If the massive government takeover of health care goes through, Medicare spending will shrink. The Democrats are busy building a 60-vote consensus for government-run health care and on Thursday (Dec. 3), the Senate voted to pass its projected $400 billion-dollar cut to Medicare. Yep. Sarah Palin was right. They’re planning “Death Panels” for senior citizens and those who plan to benefit from Medicare in the future. Mark Levin calls the bill a “runaway train” and challenged Republicans to stop making amendments to the bill, especially when they don’t like...

Nancy Pelosi was a friend a and supporter of pedophile and gay rights activist, Harry Hay. She even marched in a Gay Pride Parade with him. (excerpt) "When Nancy Met Harry" By Jeffrey Lord on 10.5.06 @ 12:08AM The Pride Parade. That's what it's called in San Francisco when the community gathers for a parade during the annual San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Celebration. It is, by all accounts, a wingding of a celebration, too. As the San Francisco Chronicle, the media sponsor of the Pride Parade, put it in their special section devoted to the celebration in...