LIVE from Las Vegas: Speaker Pelosi returns to Netroots Nation to take audience questions
Good morning from Las Vegas.
A somewhat tired group of conventiongoers (weary from late-night parties) has been trickling into the main pavilion here at the Rio Convention Center this morning to grab a table for Ask the Speaker, the first of the Saturday general sessions.
Our moderator, Cheryl Contee of Jack and Jill Politics, has just introduced Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who herself is now introducing Speaker Pelosi.
Schakowsky described the current Congress the most effective in history, and Nancy Pelosi a fearless leader. Considering the concessions and compromised compromises that have been put by Democrats into the major bills that the House and Senate have approved to date, that seems a bit farfetched.
It is true, however, that Nancy Pelosi is a remarkable leader who has the tough job of stitching together a philosophical majority from a very divided House Democratic caucus, which is nowhere close to being a hundred percent progressive.
Jan is about to welcome Speaker Pelosi to the stage.
UPDATE, 9:35 AM: The Speaker received a very warm welcome from the convention after appearing onstage. While Cheryl patiently waited, seated to Pelosi's left, the Speaker spoke briefly about her motivation for coming. She thanked the community for sending roses to her office (which were then brought to Walter Reed Army Medical Center) and hailed the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. She acknowledged, however, that there is more to do. Now there's an understatement. How about pledging to work for a public option?
She concluded her opening remarks by announcing that President Obama had recorded a message to Netroots Nation, which was then shown onscreen. Obama apologized for not being present in person in Las Vegas, but said he appreciated the community's support of his campaign in 2008, and stressed that "change is hard". He used a series of clips from Rachel Maddow's show to highlight some of the important things his administration has already accomplished.
(If more Americans were exposed to that message, perhaps the president would have a higher approval rating than he currently has. He urged the convention to hold him accountable, which is precisely what we all intend to do).
The webcast ended, and the Speaker and Cheryl Contee sat down together to begin the Q&A. The first question concerned the Employee Non-Discrimination Act, and Pelosi committed herself to passing ENDA, as soon as Congress has given the military the authorization to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". When asked which members of Congress the netroots should target, the Speaker suggested we should instead give positive encouragement to members who are willing to listen.
The next question was about the Youth Promise Act, which seeks to increase the educational standards in our country. Pelosi talked about the difficulty in passing legislation that will be taken up by the Senate and said, "We don't know what can pass in the Senate. Ever." She explained that House may pass the Act in pieces, in order to make it easier for the Senate to pass the legislation.
Pelosi was then asked about protecting Medicare and Social Security, and about whether she supported raise the retirement age. She talked about cleaning up the system and preventing fraud, but was to quick to point out that taking a meat axe to Social Security won't reduce the deficit. Keeping Social Security solvent and reducing our debt are two different challenges.
"When you talk about reducing the deficit and Social Security, you're talking about apples and oranges... to change Social Security to balance the budget, that isn't the same thing in my view," Pelosi said.
Congress can move faster, she said, on priorities like universal healthcare, ENDA, and enhancing Social Security, if activists turn their determination into action. And while it's true that politics should be bottom-up, not top-down, we still need leadership from the top. Authentic, courageous progressive leadership.
(Alan Grayson knows a thing or two about that).
UPDATE, 9:50 AM: The conversation moved to economic security. Pelosi talked about Congress' job creation strategy, increasing the manufacturing jobs throughout America, easing the ability of manufacturers to access raw materials, and preventing companies who use Chinese material and labor from bidding on government contracts, in order to cultivate a more robust manufacturing sector in the United States.
A question about the climate crisis again gave Pelosi the opportunity to talk about the difficulty of passing bills in the Senate. The House is ready to act, she said. "Sooner or later this [climate legislation] has to happen."
On fair election legislation, Pelosi once again talked about outside mobilization in order to get the votes that the legislation needs. "It's about the people's interests, it is about removing the perception of the public mind that people who have large amount of money have special access... Make your voices known."
On the stated homogeneity of the Republican agenda from the Bush era to now, Pelosi said, "We're not going back."
UPDATE, 10:15 AM: Cheryl exercised her privilege as moderator to ask Pelosi one last question after time had expired. Her question was about the difficulty of running for office as a woman. Kind of a softball for Pelosi, who actually wrote a book about the subject called Know Your Power.
Pelosi (who had been ready to stand up and leave) sat back down and reflected on female empowerment, telling the story of how it felt to be the first woman to sit at the power table in the White House (as the House Democratic leader).
She wrapped up her remarks by saying, "We strive to find common ground...we measure our progress through the progress of the American people."
She reiterated, "We're not going back."
Kudos to the Speaker for coming to Netroots Nation and taking our questions. We're willing to trust her judgment if she's willing to keep pushing forward, and not allow her caucus to rest on their laurels. There's just too much that's still broken in this country. We need a Congress that answers to the American people, a Congress that will put our common wealth to work for the common good. If anything, that's the message we want Speaker Pelosi to take with her when she leaves.
A somewhat tired group of conventiongoers (weary from late-night parties) has been trickling into the main pavilion here at the Rio Convention Center this morning to grab a table for Ask the Speaker, the first of the Saturday general sessions.
Our moderator, Cheryl Contee of Jack and Jill Politics, has just introduced Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who herself is now introducing Speaker Pelosi.
Schakowsky described the current Congress the most effective in history, and Nancy Pelosi a fearless leader. Considering the concessions and compromised compromises that have been put by Democrats into the major bills that the House and Senate have approved to date, that seems a bit farfetched.
It is true, however, that Nancy Pelosi is a remarkable leader who has the tough job of stitching together a philosophical majority from a very divided House Democratic caucus, which is nowhere close to being a hundred percent progressive.
Jan is about to welcome Speaker Pelosi to the stage.
UPDATE, 9:35 AM: The Speaker received a very warm welcome from the convention after appearing onstage. While Cheryl patiently waited, seated to Pelosi's left, the Speaker spoke briefly about her motivation for coming. She thanked the community for sending roses to her office (which were then brought to Walter Reed Army Medical Center) and hailed the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. She acknowledged, however, that there is more to do. Now there's an understatement. How about pledging to work for a public option?
She concluded her opening remarks by announcing that President Obama had recorded a message to Netroots Nation, which was then shown onscreen. Obama apologized for not being present in person in Las Vegas, but said he appreciated the community's support of his campaign in 2008, and stressed that "change is hard". He used a series of clips from Rachel Maddow's show to highlight some of the important things his administration has already accomplished.
(If more Americans were exposed to that message, perhaps the president would have a higher approval rating than he currently has. He urged the convention to hold him accountable, which is precisely what we all intend to do).
The webcast ended, and the Speaker and Cheryl Contee sat down together to begin the Q&A. The first question concerned the Employee Non-Discrimination Act, and Pelosi committed herself to passing ENDA, as soon as Congress has given the military the authorization to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". When asked which members of Congress the netroots should target, the Speaker suggested we should instead give positive encouragement to members who are willing to listen.
The next question was about the Youth Promise Act, which seeks to increase the educational standards in our country. Pelosi talked about the difficulty in passing legislation that will be taken up by the Senate and said, "We don't know what can pass in the Senate. Ever." She explained that House may pass the Act in pieces, in order to make it easier for the Senate to pass the legislation.
Pelosi was then asked about protecting Medicare and Social Security, and about whether she supported raise the retirement age. She talked about cleaning up the system and preventing fraud, but was to quick to point out that taking a meat axe to Social Security won't reduce the deficit. Keeping Social Security solvent and reducing our debt are two different challenges.
"When you talk about reducing the deficit and Social Security, you're talking about apples and oranges... to change Social Security to balance the budget, that isn't the same thing in my view," Pelosi said.
Congress can move faster, she said, on priorities like universal healthcare, ENDA, and enhancing Social Security, if activists turn their determination into action. And while it's true that politics should be bottom-up, not top-down, we still need leadership from the top. Authentic, courageous progressive leadership.
(Alan Grayson knows a thing or two about that).
UPDATE, 9:50 AM: The conversation moved to economic security. Pelosi talked about Congress' job creation strategy, increasing the manufacturing jobs throughout America, easing the ability of manufacturers to access raw materials, and preventing companies who use Chinese material and labor from bidding on government contracts, in order to cultivate a more robust manufacturing sector in the United States.
A question about the climate crisis again gave Pelosi the opportunity to talk about the difficulty of passing bills in the Senate. The House is ready to act, she said. "Sooner or later this [climate legislation] has to happen."
On fair election legislation, Pelosi once again talked about outside mobilization in order to get the votes that the legislation needs. "It's about the people's interests, it is about removing the perception of the public mind that people who have large amount of money have special access... Make your voices known."
On the stated homogeneity of the Republican agenda from the Bush era to now, Pelosi said, "We're not going back."
UPDATE, 10:15 AM: Cheryl exercised her privilege as moderator to ask Pelosi one last question after time had expired. Her question was about the difficulty of running for office as a woman. Kind of a softball for Pelosi, who actually wrote a book about the subject called Know Your Power.
Pelosi (who had been ready to stand up and leave) sat back down and reflected on female empowerment, telling the story of how it felt to be the first woman to sit at the power table in the White House (as the House Democratic leader).
She wrapped up her remarks by saying, "We strive to find common ground...we measure our progress through the progress of the American people."
She reiterated, "We're not going back."
Kudos to the Speaker for coming to Netroots Nation and taking our questions. We're willing to trust her judgment if she's willing to keep pushing forward, and not allow her caucus to rest on their laurels. There's just too much that's still broken in this country. We need a Congress that answers to the American people, a Congress that will put our common wealth to work for the common good. If anything, that's the message we want Speaker Pelosi to take with her when she leaves.
# Posted by Patrick : 9:05 AM
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