Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on TwitterBe a Facebook FanTumble us!

07 Dec 2011 17:51

tags

Politics: Gingrich and Pelosi, reachin’ across the aisle

  • 418 bills co-sponsored by Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich source
  • » Bipartisan support: For twelve years, Pelosi and Gingrich served together in the House of Representatives, and supported a total of 418 bills together. That’s an average of 34.83 pieces of legislation per year that enjoyed Pelosi/Gingrich support (at least, that’s what our team of math experts tells us; we didn’t have time to check their work). One such bill was the Global Warming Prevention act of 1989, the memory of which probably won’t do Gingrich any favors in the Republican primary (relatedly, neither will this). It should be noted, however, that much of this was non-contentious legislation, such as one honoring the 50th anniversary of the National Heart, Lung and Blood instituted.

05 Dec 2011 14:29

tags

Politics: Pelosi claims to have “a thousand pages” of dirt on Gingrich

  • I know a lot about [Newt Gingrich]. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff.
  • Nancy Pelosi • Giddy at the prospect of Gingrich being the Republican nominee for president. She said she’ll give more details “when the time’s right” which, we can only assume, means “if Gingrich wins the nomination.” source

16 Aug 2011 22:26

tags

U.S.: John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi both very unpopular

  • -24 net approval of Speaker John Boehner
  • -24 net approval of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi source
  • » The moral of the story? Don’t become Speaker of the House. Boehner’s approval ratings have fallen thirty-one points (!) since he assumed the Speaker’s chair; Pelosi, meanwhile, is just as hated as when she handed over the gavel. These numbers comport with surveys showing Congressional disapproval ratings at their highest levels in thirty years.

26 Jul 2011 10:30

tags

Politics: Nancy Pelosi stuck defending trip to Detroit Auto Show

  • $35,000 to see the shiny new cars source
  • » That’s taxpayer money, by the way: While it’s a drop in the bucket, it’s understandable why Pelosi might get guff for this — because the Detroit Auto Show is a gaudy showcase event if there ever was one, and she used taxpayer money to send a dozen congressmen to the event back in 2010, when she was speaker. Pelosi’s spokesperson, Drew Hammill, defended her actions: “Congress made an historic commitment to the auto industry to drive innovation and modernization, and to save hundreds of thousands of jobs,” he said. “It was critical that taxpayer dollars received proper oversight, and the bipartisan visit was critical to that process.”

27 Jun 2011 23:22

tags

World: House Democrats stand to gain from failed debt ceiling talks

  • We’ve all said we would vote for the full faith and credit of the United States to be honored by voting for this increase in the debt ceiling. If they don’t want to do taxes, maybe they don’t want to do anything.
  • House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi • Pointing her finger at Republicans — emphasizing that if nothing’s done about the debt ceiling situation (because they aren’t willing to raise taxes), it will greatly hurt them. The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait suggests that this is a power play on Pelosi’s part; if the Republicans can’t make a deal with Obama, it’s likely to damage the economy in such a way that a) it will hurt Republicans and b) it will hurt Obama. One group it won’t hurt, however, is House Democrats — meaning that they’d get some much-needed leverage in 2012 and Pelosi will no longer be an afterthought. This is what we call game theory.  source

16 Jun 2011 16:30

tags

Politics: Media outlets cut away from Pelosi’s job talk

  • ‘Less jobs, more Weiner,’ media pleads: This is the sort of thing that, after what’s already been a very overblown frenzy over the scandal (and today’s resignation) of Anthony Weiner, serves as an instant representation of what’s frustrating us right now. What makes this even worse is that Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly and stridently called for Weiner’s resignation. As the Democratic Leader, that condemnation is part of what Weiner seemed to feel forced his hand. Is there really even anything left to ask her about this? source

02 Apr 2011 21:52

tags

Politics: Americans woefully misinformed, part two

  • 19% of Americans think Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House source
  • » Even more discouraging: That number was at 13% after Republicans won the House in November. That means the percentage of people who incorrectly believe that Pelosi is still Speaker has increased since she handed to gavel over to John Boehner (who, by the way, is only correctly identified as Speaker of the House by 43% of Americans). Sigh.
 

06 Jan 2011 22:43

tags

Politics: After reciting Constitution aloud, House Republicans violate it

  • first After reciting the Constitution on the floor of the House, Republicans got to work attempting to repeal health care reform.
  • but Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), however, missed the official swearing in ceremony (a violation of the Constitution).
  • so That means he’s not technically a Congressman, and all of his votes over the last two days have been invalid. Whoops!
  • nowJohn Boehner has to ask Nancy Pelosi for unanimous consent to retroactively validate Sessions’ votes.
  • We’re having a little fun here. This isn’t actually that big of a deal; it was an honest mistake on the part of Sessions (and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, who also missed the swearing in), it will likely be rectified by tomorrow, and Sessions and Fitzpatrick have already been officially sworn in. Still, it’s amusing and slightly ironic that, after making a big show of reading the Constitution aloud on the House floor, two Republicans inadvertently violated it whilst on the House floor. source

04 Jan 2011 21:23

tags

Politics: From Pelosi to Boehner: The changing of the Twitter guard

  • I’m now @NancyPelosi – 2 characters shorter than @SpeakerPelosi. RTers rejoice!
  • A tweet from @NancyPelosi • Regarding Pelosi’s change from Speaker to mere House Majority Leader. In case you’re wondering, John Boehner can be found at @SpeakerBoehner. And the ceremonial change of the Twitter guard commences. Hey, @SpeakerGingrich is open! So is @SpeakerHastert! And @SpeakerNewt! Anyone wanna make a parody account? (thanks pantlessprogressive for the tip) source

17 Nov 2010 21:33

tags

Politics: Nancy Pelosi House Minority Leader, but Heath Shuler gave her fits

  • It wasn’t about winning or losing this race. It was about truly making a difference within our caucus, to ensure that the moderates were heard.
  • Rep. Heath Shuler • Explaining why his loss in the race against Nancy Pelosi for House Minority Leader was still a bit of a victory. The caucus may have voted for Pelosi, but they gave Shuler 43 votes, which is more than a fifth of the 193 Democrats still left. There’s dissent within her own party, which will be hard for her to get past. As for Shuler, a Blue Dog Democrat, he gets to go back to North Carolina and tell his constituents that he took on Nancy Pelosi. This is why Shuler is still here and other Blue Dogs are not. source