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Saturday, June 25, 2011

Pelosi "Putting A Strong Liberal Voice in the Room" For A Change

The Hill:
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will demand a seat in the table for the final talks on the national debt limit, putting a strong liberal voice in the room. Pelosi and House Democrats were left out of the negotiations between President Obama and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last year that extended nearly all of the Bush tax rates though 2012. Pelosi didn’t participate in the final high-level talks over fiscal 2011 spending levels either. But now she’s demanding her say at a time when many of her House Democratic colleagues are disappointed in Obama’s level of consultation with their caucus. “If they don’t have the votes, House Democrats have to be at the table,” said a House Democratic leadership aide. Pelosi stayed out of the talks on crafting a continuing resolution funding the rest of 2011 that included $38.5 billion in spending cuts because House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) expressed confidence they would pass it without Democratic help. But, in the end of that debate, the Republican votes fell short, and GOP leaders needed help from House Democrats. Democrats went along with a deal they had almost no part in negotiating because they wanted to avert a government shutdown. The experience left a bitter taste in their mouths, and Pelosi won’t let it happen again.
I enjoyed the understatement of the phrase "a bitter taste in their mouths" to characterize the way people of sense have experienced the serial pre-emptive negotiating surrenders of Democrats to the suicidal-homicidal insanity of Republican demands. While Pelosi isn't a progressive panacea by any means, I'm happy to think she'll be in the smoke-filled backroom where what we pretend to consent to is manufactured by Boehner Biden et alia, since she always seems to remember how the game is played and usually remembers what side she's playing on.

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