Nancy Pelosi, my heroine

Despite all the drubbings Speaker Pelosi has received over the years from liberals, I've got nothing but respect for her, which grew as I watched how she shepherded the House health care reform bill to that 220-215 vote. Yes, I hate the Stupak amendment, but she handled even that with considerable political savvy by forcing Representatives to declare for or against it while America watched. But to get a flavor of who Nancy Pelosi really is, read what she said after last night's SOTU address about health care reform:

...we will go through the gate. If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we will parachute in. But we are going to get health care reform passed for the American people for their own personal health and economic security and for the important role that it will play in reducing the deficit.

Compare that to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's remarks:

"We are going to move forward on health care. We're going to do health care reform this year. The question at this stage is procedurally how do we need to get where we need to go."

Pelosi: We're gonna get this done if I have to snake it through the pipes myself.

Reid: Yeah, yeah, when we have the sun and moon aligned exactly right and the planets all bow to the God of 60, we'll see if we can't get something done.

I'm not one who thinks in terms of gender all the time, but Pelosi sounds like me, and my mom, and my grandma. She understands in very real terms what it means to be in need and not have time to sit around and wait. Reid, on the other hand, strikes me as someone who is so lackadaisical he'd invite the invaders to dinner before he figures out they're the enemy.

Of course, sources tell me that in the past week, Reid is still thinking he can find a 60th vote to pass a conference committee report rather than use reconciliation.  Yeah, that would be right after the unicorns take off from Ronald Reagan National Airport, right?

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Comments

[Daily Cup of Jo]

Big thanks for putting the spotlight on Pelosi. Even some Dems trash her and I believe it's simply because she brashly tries to get things done. Before assuming the role of Speaker, she often said out loud what I was feeling but could not express to anyone who could make a difference. She IS making a difference. I applaud her tenacity.