With a seemingly endless stream of misinformation, we take a more in-depth look at the 52nd & 55th (same person) Speaker of The House, Nancy Pelosi.
In case my views on Nancy Pelosi, the Once and Future Speaker, have not been made PAINFULLY clear, in the wake of Five White Guys trying to wrest the Speakership from her and give it a person to be named later, let's talk about Nancy Pelosi...one more time.
Nancy Pelosi is the most effective legislator in the past 50 years (since the Johnson Administration). Pelosi, the first time she was Speaker, reined in the Bush Administration and her only compromise legislation was a good bill that needed to be passed. Then in 2008, Barack Obama came in with unified government. Obama inherited 2 costly and unpopular wars and the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression. What Pelosi did - especially with a relative neophyte President - over the next legislative term will go down in history as one of the most positive and productive Congressional terms in the history of American government. Keep in mind - before getting around to *actual* priorities, Pelosi had to FIX THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. So she passed the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, which injected liquidity into markets and stopped the Recession from getting any worse. She also passed the Dodd-Frank Wall St Reform and Consumer Protection Act to try and put guardrails on the economy to prevent a repeat of 2008. Then she turned to *actual* Democratic priorities, starting with the Affordable Care Act. Anyone who tells you the ACA wasn't "progressive" legislation doesn't know what they're talking about. ACA - or a version of it - was the single minded goal of liberal legislators since the Great Society (see above re Johnson). It expanded healthcare coverage to 20+ million people who didn't have it - one of the largest expansions of coverage in history. She passed the Lilly Ledbetter Act. She passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (which died in the Senate).
Pelosi just delivered over 30 seats to the House (closer to 40 when it's all said and done). With a good economy, she provided one of the biggest electoral wipeouts of the last hundred years.
To recap: in one Congressional term, Pelosi as Speaker achieved a 50-year Democratic goal, fixed the GLOBAL ECONOMY, passed legislation on women's rights and a sweeping green energy bill. In one term of unified GOP government, Paul Ryan passed a tax cut bill that was literally written by lobbyists. (Side note, but Paul Ryan's mystique as the Boy Genius of Policy was so utterly unfounded and we really need to correct this misconception).
Fast forward to 2016. Democrats lose the White House and the GOP finally gets their shot to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, their single reason for existence since 2009. Pelosi as minority leader guaranteed that NONE of her caucus - even from the reddest, pro-Trump districts, would break with leadership to vote for repeal of the ACA. The *only* reason the ACA is still standing is because of Pelosi and McCain/Collins/Murkowski in the Senate.
Pelosi just delivered over 30 seats to the House (closer to 40 when it's all said and done). With a good economy, she provided one of the biggest electoral wipeouts of the last hundred years. In districts in OKLAHOMA and KANSAS Democrats won. She fund-raised like a champion and she instituted message discipline that kept Democrats focused on healthcare and the tax cut bill instead of whatever shiny object Trump used to distract the media and incite fear in his voters. There are people who will tell you that Pelosi is radioactive in the middle of the country. Sharice Davids would beg to differ.
The ONLY valid criticism of Nancy Pelosi is that the Democratic Party holds leadership positions for too long. But on the flip side, do you really want a 2nd or 3rd-term Congressman running, say, House Judiciary or House Ways and Means? Look at Marsha Blackburn if you want to see utterly helpless leadership by a rookie who was out of her depth (as chair of the budget committee she failed to...draft a budget). I'm glad Joe Crowley is out of leadership. Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn are old and should be replaced. But the opposition movement to Pelosi - led by five white guys - hasn't even put up another name to replace her. They're just mounting a whisper campaign that they have the votes to defeat her. She's publicly called for them to name a challenger but they're a bunch of f*cking cowards. Tim Ryan? You want f*cking TIM RYAN to try and whip the votes to impeach the President? Come on. Pelosi will be Speaker, she will navigate the waters of investigations and impeachment, and she will draft a suite of legislation that Democrats can run on in 2020 to give the American people an actual choice between Trump's incompetence and fear-mongering and bold forward-thinking progressive leadership.
In closing, I'm legitimately angry at every single person who's even making me defend Nancy Pelosi, who has more legislative in her f*cking pinkie finger than everyone who's afraid to challenge her for her job. She earned this job and she's earned the right to keep it at each and every turn. Now is not the time to discard decades of institutional knowledge and leadership. Without Pelosi you don't get HALF of Obama's agenda passed. Without Pelosi ALL of it gets torn up by the Republicans.
The remotest suggestion of Beto O'Rourke or Stacey Abrams is f*cking laughable. There is nobody else in the whole of Congress (either party) with the chops that Pelosi has. You want younger leadership? Fine. In 2021 she can retire with her job mostly done for the next President. We can promote all the experienced people in the House. We can give committee chairs to the younger generation. We can promote the younger legislators that haven't even been sworn in yet.
For the next two years: it's Nancy's house. Please, please, PLEASE don't make me explain this again.
-Chris Baugh