Unfortunately, by this time tomorrow, a new person will serve second in line for the presidency. A new person will sit behind the President at formal congressional speeches and a new person will have control over the agenda and policy setting for the House of Representatives. By this time tomorrow, Kleenex tissues will need to start delivering to the Capitol Building in bulk as the new Speaker of the House may cry his way through his tenure as the highest Republican official in U.S. Government. To his predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, you have been one of the most accomplished leaders in American history and have set a high bar for future Democratic Speakers to come.
Well, the day has finally come. It seems like a long time coming and it seems like a long time ago (actually just two months ago) the Republicans 'shallacked' the Democrats out of power and won control of the House of Representatives. Tomorrow, they take control, but if we all stand together, we can give them a good shallacking in two years.
I think a tribute to the outgoing Speaker, Nancy Pelosi is in order. She was certainly the firestorm of late night comics who took shots at her inability to smile, most likely because of face lifts and her harpy/no-nonsense approach to obstructionist Republicans who just wanted to see her fail. Well, she sure showed them. Although her reign will end tomorrow morning, she has accomplished much more than many anticipated and some of her accomplishments deserve some recognition.
First of all, Pelosi proved to be a tough hand for President Bush to shake intercepting many of his goals to add more troops and of course standing firm on social security. She forced legislation up to his desk to make him either support or veto including minimum wage increases, stem-cell expansion and support for middle class families.
President Obama came to office and the Obama/Pelosi combination was unstoppable.
Speaker Pelosi was instrumental in the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Pelosi was a key figure in convincing President Barack Obama to continue pushing for health care reform after the election of Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown in a January special election, a defeat that was seen as potentially fatal to Democratic reform efforts. After delivering 219 votes in the House for Obama's signature health care package, Pelosi was both praised and heckled as she made her way to Capitol Hill.
Pelosi received a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign for the 107th, 108th, and 109th sessions of Congress, indicating that she voted in agreement with HRC's slate of pro-gay legislative issues. In 1996 she voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, and in 2004 and 2006, she voted against the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which would amend the United States Constitution to define marriage federally as being between one man and one woman, thereby overriding states' individual rights to legalize gay marriage. When the Supreme Court of California overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage, Pelosi released a statement welcoming the "historic decision." She voiced her opposition to Proposition 8, the successful ballot initiative, which defined marriage in California as a union between one man and one woman. [W]
As Speaker of the House, she also spearheaded the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 as part of the 100-Hour Plan. The Act raises the minimum wage in the United States and the territories of the Northern Marianas Islands and American Samoa. American Samoa was initially absent from the act, but as part of HR 2206 it was included. One Republican congressman who voted against the initial bill accused Pelosi of unethically benefiting Del Monte Foods (headquartered in her district) by the exclusion of the territory, where Del Monte's StarKist Tuna brand is a major employer. Pelosi co-sponsored legislation that omitted American Samoa from a raise in the minimum wage as early as 1999, prior to Del Monte's acquisition of StarKist Tuna in 2002. [W]
Pelosi fought for Obama's AMERICAN RECOVERY & REINVESTMENT ACT, enacted in the first month of President Obama’s term, to jumpstart our economy, create and save 3.5 million jobs, give tax cuts to small business and 95% of American workers, begin to rebuild America’s road, rail, and water infrastructure, and make a historic commitment to education, clean energy, and science and technology, with unprecedented accountability. [S]
She fought for equal pay for equal work for women, financial regulation reform, credit card reform, small-business tax redemptions, airline passenger safety, 9/11 first-responder health coverage and of course repeal to Don't ask Don't tell.
These are only some of Pelosi's major legislative accomplishments. She is the highest ranking woman in political history and was the highest ranking Democrat in government from 1/3/2007 to 1/19/2009.
A Pelosi moment:
Before you get too upset, remember, she will be serving as House Minority Leader putting her in good position to regain the Speakership in the event of a Democratic rebound in 2012. So if you want to see that, I think you should send some $$$ her way to make it happen.
A lot of us may cringe tomorrow as Nancy Pelosi hands that gavel over to John Boehner and he puts it down beside his box of Kleenex or possibly Puffs. We will all want to jump into our televisions set to C-SPAN and grab it right back, but we cannot, we just need to hold together and remember there is a shot in two years to get it back.
For now, all we can say is Thanks Madame Speaker and See ya again.
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