In 2007, Nancy Pelosi made history.
As the first female Speaker of the House, she presided over the most productive Congress since the Great Society. She passed a public option; a cap-and-trade bill; ended Don't Ask, Don't Tell; enshrined hate-crime protections for the LGBT community; and passed a bailout and stimulus to save the country from another depression. President Obama's achievements wouldn't have materialized without her legislative acumen and uncanny vote-counting abilities. She had no shutdowns, no rogue members showing their asses and holding her hostage - just good, solid legislating.
Even in the minority, she's demonstrated her skill, providing votes when ineffectual GOP Speakers (redundant) would have us default on the debt and enter an economic meltdown. In the first two years of Trump's presidency, she capitalized upon GOP divisions and got a number of liberal priorities included in an omnibus bill: increased funding for the arts, permission for the CDC to study gun violence, etc. Moreover, she ensured that not a single Democrat voted for the ACA repeal or Republican tax scam, maintaining party unity in the face of regressive legislation.
These achievements represent only a fraction of a storied career dedicated to progressive causes. Elected in 1987, she came to Congress intent on fighting AIDS and supporting LGBT people in- and outside her district:
She opposed normalizing trade relations with China because of its egregious human rights abuses and even protested in Tienanmen Square:
She opposed the Defense of Marriage Act, the Iraq War, and ICE.
On the backbenches and in the highest echelon of leadership, she has striven to improve the lives of vulnerable people in this country and to pass the most progressive policy possible.
Now, in her second act as Speaker, she's gone even farther:
Not only has she spearheaded another raft of progressive legislation (albeit stymied by an evil Republican Senate) - the Equality Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act, universal background checks - she has also endeavored to check and defeat a lawless president. Since January 2019, Pelosi has been a thorn in Trump's side personally and legislatively. She routinely outmaneuvers Trump and McConnell in negotiations; she keeps her diverse, sometimes unruly caucus unified, even on grave matters such as impeachment; and she refuses to allow Trump's lies and distortions to pass unchallenged.
Quite a comeback for someone whose return to the Speakership was declared unlikely time and time again, no?
In short, she has become a leader for this moment. Does she always get it perfectly right? No. Has it taken some adjustment? Yes. But she continues to be a competent public servant who genuinely tries to help the American people - the complete antithesis of Trump and Trumpism. Moreover, her rise has set an example for all women, telling them that they can rise to the highest echelons in government, that they can shape public policy, that they can outsmart and outwork any dumbass man.
Happy birthday, Madam Speaker. May she keep her majority this November.
As the first female Speaker of the House, she presided over the most productive Congress since the Great Society. She passed a public option; a cap-and-trade bill; ended Don't Ask, Don't Tell; enshrined hate-crime protections for the LGBT community; and passed a bailout and stimulus to save the country from another depression. President Obama's achievements wouldn't have materialized without her legislative acumen and uncanny vote-counting abilities. She had no shutdowns, no rogue members showing their asses and holding her hostage - just good, solid legislating.
Even in the minority, she's demonstrated her skill, providing votes when ineffectual GOP Speakers (redundant) would have us default on the debt and enter an economic meltdown. In the first two years of Trump's presidency, she capitalized upon GOP divisions and got a number of liberal priorities included in an omnibus bill: increased funding for the arts, permission for the CDC to study gun violence, etc. Moreover, she ensured that not a single Democrat voted for the ACA repeal or Republican tax scam, maintaining party unity in the face of regressive legislation.
These achievements represent only a fraction of a storied career dedicated to progressive causes. Elected in 1987, she came to Congress intent on fighting AIDS and supporting LGBT people in- and outside her district:
She opposed normalizing trade relations with China because of its egregious human rights abuses and even protested in Tienanmen Square:
She opposed the Defense of Marriage Act, the Iraq War, and ICE.
On the backbenches and in the highest echelon of leadership, she has striven to improve the lives of vulnerable people in this country and to pass the most progressive policy possible.
Now, in her second act as Speaker, she's gone even farther:
Not only has she spearheaded another raft of progressive legislation (albeit stymied by an evil Republican Senate) - the Equality Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act, universal background checks - she has also endeavored to check and defeat a lawless president. Since January 2019, Pelosi has been a thorn in Trump's side personally and legislatively. She routinely outmaneuvers Trump and McConnell in negotiations; she keeps her diverse, sometimes unruly caucus unified, even on grave matters such as impeachment; and she refuses to allow Trump's lies and distortions to pass unchallenged.
Quite a comeback for someone whose return to the Speakership was declared unlikely time and time again, no?
In short, she has become a leader for this moment. Does she always get it perfectly right? No. Has it taken some adjustment? Yes. But she continues to be a competent public servant who genuinely tries to help the American people - the complete antithesis of Trump and Trumpism. Moreover, her rise has set an example for all women, telling them that they can rise to the highest echelons in government, that they can shape public policy, that they can outsmart and outwork any dumbass man.
Happy birthday, Madam Speaker. May she keep her majority this November.
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