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Stories tagged with “Nancy Pelosi”

LGBT

Anti-Gay Chick-fil-A Attracts Losers, Repels Prominent Leaders, Universities, And The Public

By Zack Ford on Jul 30, 2012 at 11:30 am

It seems telling that the political conservatives attracting media attention for coming to the defense of Chick-fil-A and its anti-gay crusades — Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty — are all most recently known for having lost elections. Indeed, the anti-gay vitriol that Chick-fil-A’s president Dan Cathy has repeatedly dispensed has been a loser with the public: YouGov BrandIndex polling shows that the public’s approval of Chick-fil-A has taken a nosedive since Cathy’s interview from 65 to 39:

Meanwhile, a number of prominent leaders have continued to show their displeasure with Chick-fil-A. Here’s a sampling:

  • House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): “For the record, I prefer Kentucky Fried Chick. #ChickFilA” (Twitter)
  • Washington, DC Mayor Vince Gray (D): “Given my longstanding strong support for LGBT rights & marriage equality, I would not support #hatechicken” (Twitter)
  • Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker (D): “Wouldn’t deny a biz a permit on those grounds BUT I’d join my residents in taking my $’s elsewhere” (Twitter)
  • Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA): “I disagree with what the CEO from Chick-fil-A said. I was glad he spoke further and said that his company does not discriminate.” (Boston.com)

To clarify Brown’s remarks, Chick-fil-A said it will “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect,” regardless of sexual orientation, but the company still has no employment protections in its official corporate policies. According to Forbes.com, there have been at least 12 lawsuits against the company since 1988 on various charges of employment discrimination.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) wrote to the president of New York University, home to the city’s only Chick-fil-A, urging him to end the university’s relationship with the anti-gay restaurant:

NYC is a place where we celebrate diversity. We do not believe in denigrating others…As you know from recent press coverage, the President of Chick-fil-A continues to make statements and support causes that are clear messages of extreme intolerance and homophobia and a belief that LGBT Americans are less than others and deserve to be treated as such.[...]

I urge you to sever your relationship with the Chick-fil-A establishment that exists on your campus. This establishment should be replaced with an establishment where the ownership does not denigrate a portion of our population.

Another university’s leadership has already taken action against a Chick-fil-A on its campus. The president and provost at the University of Louisville released a statement saying that they “will not be eating at Chick-fil-A anytime soon.” Responding to a growing student petition, U of L administrators are currently assessing the contractual arrangements with the franchise on campus to evaluate further courses of action. At least seven other universities also have petitions underway challenging the existence of a Chick-fil-A on their campuses.

Attacking gay people as purveyors of society’s destruction is harmful to many people, and as public condemnation grows, it’s proving to be a losing philosophy for Chick-fil-A.

Election

Pelosi: If A Woman In Politics Acts Tough, ‘You Know What People Say About Her’

By Annie-Rose Strasser on Jul 2, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not unfamiliar with sexism in politics. But over the weekend, she explained exactly how women are affected by a political system riddled by latent sexist sentiments.

Appearing on Melissa Harris Perry’s show on MSNBC, Pelosi argued that women are unfairly judged for being equally tough as their male counterparts. This, she explained, makes it hard to increase the number of women in politics, especially in the current, high-conflict Congress:

PELOSI: I really believe as a woman in politics, and one of my goals and a crusade I’m on is always to increase the number of women in politics. I don’t think it’s really possible as long as we’re playing on a playing field created by others where money, money, money, money is the currency of the realm where it should be ideas, ideas, ideas, and that the stridency, the harshness, they suffocate the system with money, they suppress the vote, and they poison the debate. That’s not a good formula for women because women need to have a civil conversation. The minute a woman gets tough in the debate, you know what people say about her.

Watch it:

The world of fundraising is equally challenging to women, who might have a harder time gaining credibility among wealthy donors — who, for other gender-driven reasons, are mostly male.

Justice

Pelosi Urges Obama To Declare The Debt Ceiling Time Bomb Unconstitutional

By Ian Millhiser on Jun 25, 2012 at 1:30 pm

Last year, Congressional Republicans exploited an unfortunate quirk in American law to hold the American economy hostage unless President Obama capitulated to rapidly escalating demands for austerity. When the federal budget runs a deficit, Congress must periodically cast a vote to raise the nation’s debt ceiling or else the entire nation will be thrust into catastrophe. Had Republicans carried through on their threat to refuse to raise the debt ceiling, it likely would have dealt an even sharper blow to the U.S. economy than the worst part of the Great Recession that began in 2008.

At a meeting with reporters late last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) embraced a plan to make sure this kind of hostage taking can never happen again — declaring the debt ceiling unconstitutional:

At a lunch roundtable with columnists earlier today, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urged President Barack Obama to avoid a new debt-ceiling showdown by stating that a statutory borrowing limit is inconsistent with Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, which states that “the validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.”

She at first referred to this possibility obliquely while making a larger point about the lack of cooperative spirit between the Republican Party and the Obama administration but clarified her stance in response to further questions saying, “I would like to see the Constitution used to protect the country’s full faith and credit.” She didn’t offer a legal argument in favor of the position but argued on policy grounds that “you cannot put the country through the uncertainty” again, noting that America’s sovereign debt was downgraded by ratings agencies in the wake of the standoff even though it was successfully resolved.

Pelosi’s constitutional solution to the debt ceiling time bomb is not a new suggestion. Several senators proposed President Obama invoke the Fourteenth Amendment and disarm this time bomb during the GOP-led crisis last year — although Obama himself often showed rhetorical reluctance to turn to the Fourteenth Amendment.

If the American people choose to elect Obama to a second term, however, their decision may become utterly meaningless unless the White House executes some plan to take the debt ceiling off the table for good. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has already warned that he will use the debt ceiling to take America hostage again in 2013, once again forcing a choice between a sudden economic collapse or a slow bleed due to austerity.

In other words, McConnell’s plan is to ensure that, no matter who wins the 2012 election, Republicans will get to set our nation’s policy. If America is to remain a democracy, eliminating the debt ceiling time bomb needs to be a top priority.

Politics

GOP Congressman Calls Pelosi ‘Mind-Numbingly Stupid’ And Suggests She May Be Mentally Ill

By Annie-Rose Strasser on Jun 22, 2012 at 9:39 am

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC)

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) yesterday called House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi “mind-numbingly stupid” and said that there is something medically wrong with her brain because she believes Republicans are unfairly targeting Attorney General Eric Holder.

On FOX News, Gowdy ranted about Pelosi’s suggestion that the witch hunt against Attorney General Eric Holder might have to do with his attempts to get rid of Republican’s voter suppression efforts:

But keep in mind, Greta, this is the same woman who said that she would have arrested Karl Rove any day she wanted. So I don’t know what was wrong with her yesterday or today or whenever she said that, but I would schedule an appointment with my doctor if she thinks that we are doing this to suppress votes this fall. That is mind-numbingly stupid.

Watch it:

Health

Pelosi Vows To Replace Mandate If Supreme Court Strikes It Down

By Igor Volsky on Jun 21, 2012 at 12:13 pm

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) doubled down on the importance of the individual mandate Thursday morning, just days before the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

“You have to have the mandate for [health reform] to work from a financial standpoint,” Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference, implying that some Democrats may advocate for a mechanism that requires individuals to purchase insurance even if the existing provision is ruled unconstitutional. “I believe the court will rule in favor. We’re iron clad constitutionally, we’re iron clad on the constitution,” Pelosi — who has long maintained that the Court will uphold the law in a 6 to 3 decision — said, but noted that it would be difficult to retain some of the law’s popular provisions in the absence of the individual requirement:

PELOSI: You have to eat your vegetables — you have to have the mandate in order for this to work from a financial standpoint…If Americans like the idea that they and their children cannot be deprived for a lifetime of health care insurance because of a pre-existing health care condition, then that will require some other action if that is to happen. And what would that be? There could be something passed in the Congress, similar to what we had originally in the House bill, which was a surcharge on the wealthy to pay for aspects of that … States can take their own actions … We cannot say to the American people, we are going to throw you on the mercy of insurance companies who refuse coverage to you.

Watch it:

“Let’s hope and pray that the Court will love the Constitution more than it loves broccoli and that we will have a decision that is based on the merits and the Constitution of the United States,” Pelosi concluded.

Her tone is a stark contrast to the stance of some Democrats who have hinted that they will stress the law’s other benefits should the court invalidate the unpopular individual requirement.

Economy

Pelosi’s ‘Middle Class’ Tax Cut Extension Would Largely Benefit Millionaires, Cost Billions In Revenue

By Travis Waldron on May 24, 2012 at 12:55 pm

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) issued a statement Wednesday calling for a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, demanding House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) schedule a vote on the plan as soon as possible. But her proposal differs from others offered by Democrats, including President Obama, that call for an extension of the rates for incomes below $250,000. Instead, Pelosi wants a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts for incomes up to $1 million, the statement said.

“Democrats believe that tax cuts for those earning over a million dollars a year should expire and that we should use the resulting revenues to pay down the deficit,” Pelosi said. Her plan, however, would cost the government billions in revenue compared to Obama’s plan, and though she has billed it as a tax cut for the middle class, half of its benefits would go to millionaires, according to analysis from Citizens for Tax Justice:

CTJ’s preliminary estimates show that Obama’s proposal to extend the Bush tax cuts for the first $250,000 or $200,000 of income a taxpayer makes would save between $60 billion and $70 billion in 2013 compared to the GOP proposal to extend all the tax cuts, depending on economic conditions. Leader Pelosi’s proposal to extend the Bush tax cuts for the first $1 million of income would save 43 percent less revenue than Obama’s proposal.

The additional tax cut that would result from Pelosi’s plan compared to Obama’s plan (the additional tax cut resulting from extending the Bush tax provisions for taxpayers’ first $1 million of income instead of “just” their first $250,000 or $200,000 of income) would not be targeted towards the “middle class.” In fact, 50 percent of this additional tax cut would go to taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) in excess of $1 million.

Millionaires would continue to benefit under Pelosi’s plan because the tax cut applies to the first $1 million of their incomes, meaning their tax cut would still be substantially larger than it would be for actual middle class workers. And as a result, a large portion of the Bush tax cuts for the rich, which blew up the national debt and failed to deliver on promises of job creation and economic growth, would exist in perpetuity.

NEWS FLASH

Nancy Pelosi Predicts Obamacare Will Be Upheld 6-3 | Speaking to the Paley Center for Media, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi predicted that the health care law would be upheld by the Supreme Court. After claiming that over 80 million people have benefitted from the law, including younger Americans staying on their parents’ insurance until age 26 and people who can no longer be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions, Pelosi said of the impending court decision, “Me, I’m predicting 6-3 in favor.” While criticizing Republicans for shifting their position on the idea of judicial review, Pelosi said that Democrats have “always respected judicial review and the Constitution, and we wrote the bill in an ironclad way in terms of its constitutionality.” Watch:

-Zachary Bernstein

By Guest Blogger on Apr 4, 2012 at 2:25 pm

LGBT

Democrats Ask Boehner To Back Off His ‘Direct Assault’ On Gay Veterans

By Igor Volsky on Apr 2, 2012 at 9:04 am

Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Whip Steny Hoyer (MD) are urging House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to abandon his efforts to defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act in a case involving a disabled Iraq war veteran. That veteran, Tracey Cooper-Harris — is on disability and receiving treatment for PTSD and multiple sclerosis — alleges that by failing to provide spousal benefits to her wife, the Veterans Affairs administration is infringing on her constitutional right to equal protection under the law. DOMA prevents federal agencies from recognizing same-sex relationships and Title 38 of the United States Code defines spouses as a person of the opposite sex.

House Republicans convened the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) to defend the constitutionality of DOMA since the Obama administration announced that it is unconstitutional in February of 2010, but this is the first case in which Beohner is also defending Title 38.

“[W]e strongly object to spending taxpayer money to intervene in this case against a decorated veteran, Tracey Cooper-Harris, and her spouse, Maggie Cooper-Harris,” Pelosi and Hoyer write in their letter. “This decision clearly exceeds the scope of the original BLAG authorization, with which we initially disagreed”:

This intervention once again puts the House of Representatives on the wrong side of the future – supporting discrimination, unfairness, and the denial of basic equality to all Americans. We have objected to prior decisions by the House Republican BLAG members to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to defend discrimination. This latest decision not only ignores the civil rights of LGBT Americans but opens a new, direct assault on veterans. The men and women of our Armed Forces serve with courage and dignity on behalf of our safety and security. They risk their lives for the country they love – and they should not face prejudice at home because of whom they love. These brave soldiers deserve nothing less than our gratitude, our respect, and the benefits they have earned in battle.

Pelosi and Hoyer are calling for “a formal vote of the BLAG on extending your defense of discrimination to veterans and their families” and a full examination by the Committee on House Administration and the House Ethics Committee of any “extension of the existing legal contract, any new contract, and any additional expenditure of public funds on behalf of outside counsel.” Democratic lawmakers have long raised questions about the GOP’s efforts to spend taxpayer dollars on DOMA and have asked Boehner to divert the resources to investigate the Trayvon Martin shooting.

NEWS FLASH

Pelosi: GOP Favors Government Intrusion On Individual Liberty Only When It Comes to Matters of Sex | Given the GOP’s recent efforts to limit women’s access to contraception, social issues have become priority number one for the Republican party. Yet, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says Democrats are up for the challenge. In an interview with the Washington Post this morning, Pelosi went after the Republicans’ tendency to “favor government intrusion on individual liberty only when it comes to matters of sex.” “They don’t believe in a government role except when it comes to women exercising her conscience on an issue like that,” she said. “People who choose to marry and find comfort with each other — they decide that government should step in there. But clean air, clean water, food safety, public safety, public education, public health, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security — they want to end the government role.” Pelosi has vocally opposed House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) decision to defend the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA), noting that the legal team hired to uphold the statute in court has spent $1.5 million on the effort. — Fatima Najiy

By Guest Blogger on Mar 2, 2012 at 2:52 pm

Health

Pelosi To GOP: ‘Duh!,’ Women Should Be Included In A Hearing About Contraception

By Igor Volsky on Feb 16, 2012 at 12:27 pm

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) echoed Democrats’ concerns about Republicans excluding female witnesses from a hearing focusing on President Obama’s new regulation requiring insurers and employers to provide birth control in their health insurance plans. “This is an issue about women’s health and I believe that women’s health should be covered in all fo the insurance plans,” Pelosi insisted at her press briefing this morning, refuting the GOP’s claim that the debate should focus on “religious liberties.”

“Where are the women? And that’s a good question for the whole debate. Where are the women?” she asked. “Imagine, having a panel on women’s health and then not having any women on the panel, duh!”:

PELOSI: What is it that men don’t understand about women’s health and how central the issue of family planning is to that? Not just if you’re having families but if you need those kinds of prescription drugs for your general health, which was the testimony they would include this morning if they had allowed a woman on the panel. I think the fact that they did not allow a woman on the panel is symbolic of the whole debate as to who is making these decisions about women’s health and who should be covered.

Watch it:

Last Friday, the Obama administration addressed the GOP’s concerns that Catholic-affiliated colleges and hospitals would have to provide contraception coverage that is inconsistent with their religious beliefs by issuing a revised regulation that will allow these nonprofit institutions to stop offering birth control. The change pleased several moderate Catholic organizations, but most Republicans — and some conservative Catholic organizations — continue to insist that women in their employment should not have access to these medications.

Update

Earlier this week, Sen. Frank Lautenberg called out the Republican “men’s club” in the Senate, saying they want women “barefoot and pregnant.” “It’s time to tell the Republicans to mind their own business,” Lautenberg said on Tuesday. Watch his comments here:

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