Pelosi Pass the Bill Then Read It
Pelosi defends her infamous health care remark
Jonathan Capehart
"But nosotros take to laissez passer the [health care] pecker so that y'all can find out what's in it...."
For Republicans and conservatives, goose egg exemplifies government overreach and arrogance more those 16 words, uttered by then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at the Legislative Conference for the National Association of Counties in March 2010. Ask her virtually that comment and the ensuing criticism today and Pelosi fights back.
During a lunch in the Capitol with opinion writers today, House Minority Leader Pelosi was asked almost those infamous words. "It's because we didn't take a Senate bill," Pelosi said forcefully before Eleanor Clift of Newsweek even finished asking her a question most the statement's context. "We were urging the Senate to pass a nib."
Those ten seconds, immortalized by Fox News leave out what Pelosi said in the lead-up to those infamous words:
You've heard about the controversies within the beak, the procedure about the bill, one or the other. But I don't know if you lot take heard that it is legislation for the future, not simply about health treat America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is non something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention—it'due south about nutrition, not diabetes. It's going to be very, very heady.
The key line is the starting time 1. Information technology'south piece of cake to forget the tumult of that time. In that location was a lot of frustration with the Senate version of the health intendance reform beak and consternation over the proposed procedure to get it through the sleeping accommodation with minimal Republican votes, reconciliation.
"In the fall of the year," Pelosi said today, "the outside groups...were saying 'it's about abortion,' which information technology never was. 'It's about 'decease panels,'' which it never was. 'Information technology'south about a job-killer,' which information technology creates four one thousand thousand. 'It'due south near increasing the arrears'; well, the main reason to laissez passer information technology was to decrease the arrears." Her contention was that the Senate "didn't have a pecker." And until the Senate produced an actual piece of legislation that could be matched up and debated against what was passed by the House, no one truly knew what would be voted on. "They were still trying to woo the Republicans," Pelosi said of the Senate leadership and the White House, trying to "become that 60th vote that never was coming. That'south why [there was a] reconciliation [vote]" that required only a simple majority.
"And so, that's why I was maxim nosotros have to pass a beak so nosotros tin can meet so that we can prove you what it is and what it isn't," Pelosi continued. "Information technology is none of these things. It's not going to be whatever of these things." She recognized that her comment was "a good argument to take out of context." But the minority leader added, "Simply the fact is, until you lot have a nib, you can't really, we tin't really debunk what they're saying...."
14 days after Pelosi's spoken language, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Deed into police, a constabulary that was passed with not one Republican vote. Now, Americans wait a decision from the Supreme Court on whether that law is constitutional. "We're prepared for every eventuality," Pelosi said, "including success."
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/pelosi-defends-her-infamous-health-care-remark/2012/06/20/gJQAqch6qV_blog.html
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