She's b-a-a-c-k! GOP may need Nancy Pelosi to pass debt-ceiling deal

[Jazz Ambassador]

She's b-a-a-c-k! GOP may need Nancy Pelosi to pass debt-ceiling deal
By James Oliphant

Washington Bureau

9:24 AM PDT, July 21, 2011

At times she has looked to be an afterthought, a relic of a bygone era. Republicans haven’t bothered to court her. And the White House, at times, has appeared to ignore her.

But now they’re going to need Nancy Pelosi.

As the clock ticks down toward a possible government default, it appears to be less and less likely that a package can be crafted that will appease the large bloc of House conservatives who either oppose raising the debt ceiling on principle or won’t vote to hike it without massive cuts in federal spending.

That means that Pelosi, the former speaker who presides over a shrunken Democratic minority in the House, likely will come into play. Any plan that passes the Senate, be it the fallback option by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell or a more ambitious proposal like the one being crafted by the so-called Gang of Six, will only be able to pass the House if Democratic votes push it over the finish line.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-pelosi-debt-20110721,0,2827274.story?track=rss

[WCGreen]

1. Stand Tall Nancy.... Stand Tall....

[peace frog]

3. More like: Hang tough, Nancy

Not that she will, of course, but there's that hopey changey thing again.

[daa]

2. She has always been in the bag! nt

[chill_wind]

4. Nancy Pelosi (who hasn't seen the details of the GO6 Plan)..

Pelosi: Gang of Six plan not the only option
By Mike Lillis - 07/21/11 12:28 PM ET

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that a deficit-reduction plan being crafted by the Senate's Gang of Six "contains some good principles" but is hardly the only option on the table.

"We have many ," Pelosi said Thursday during a press briefing in the Capitol. "We have Simpson/Bowles, we have Domenici/Rivlin, we have the Center for American Progress, we have the Center Budget Policy ."

Former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) chaired the president's fiscal commission last year. Former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and former White House Budget director Alice Rivlin headed up a bipartisan group last year that presented their plan for spending cuts.

"We have, across the spectrum, many good resources — Mr. Peterson's institute — many good suggestions that we can draw upon to have a balanced bipartisan solution to this."

"This (the Gang of Six plan) would be one of them," she added.

Pelosi was quick to clarify that she hasn't seen the details of the Gang of Six plan, but she was supportive of their efforts to seek a balance between spending cuts and revenue raisers.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/172757-pelosi-gang-of-six-plan-is-not-our-only-option

Unhhh....

[mzmolly]

5. "Pelosi was quick to clarify that she hasn't seen the details of the Gang of Six plan, but she was "

supportive of their efforts.."

Doesn't anyone bother to read anymore? :crazy:

[gratuitous]

6. Any bill that passes the House will need significant Democratic support

The Tea Baggers have pretty well written themselves out of the negotiations, as they are stuck on their default setting of "NO." Something like 100 of them have signed a pledge that they would rather wreck the nation than even appear to be reasonable adults. That means that for anything to pass in the House, Boehner is going to need a significant number of votes from the Democrats.

Strangely, however, nobody seems all that interested in courting the House Democrats like offering them something in exchange for their votes. And there's been practically nothing about Senate Democrats, who still hold the majority in the upper chamber of Congress. It's almost as if the White House and the Republicans on the Hill have decided amongst themselves that Democratic support in Congress is a given.

Maybe it is and maybe it isn't.