The Quotable Blinky Pelosi
In today’s Wall Street Journal’s “Notable and Quotable” section the WSJ reproduces a conversation between Wolf Blitzer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi;
BLITZER: John Boehner, who’s the Republican leader in the House, he says you have to let this come up for a vote. He says that you’re walking your blue dogs, who are the moderate and conservative Democrats, and other vulnerable Democrats off a cliff by not allowing this to come up for a vote, the offshore oil drilling legislation.
PELOSI: Is that right? Well, you know, just because John Boehner, who is my friend and whom I respect, says it, doesn’t make it so. . . .
BLITZER: Are you afraid if this comes up for a vote in the House you will lose, given the support for offshore oil drilling among these so-called blue dogs, or moderate Democrats, who will join with Republicans?
PELOSI: Afraid is not a word that is in my vocabulary. . . .
BLITZER: So let me get — will you allow this issue, offshore oil drilling, to come up for a vote on the floor of the House?
PELOSI: We’re going to exhaust our other remedies in terms of increasing supply in America by…
BLITZER: So the answer is no?
PELOSI: I have no plans to do so.
Apparently, there are a lot of words that are not in Blinky’s vocabulary. Like “failure”, “corruption” and “treason”. Oh, and “supply and demand”. I wrote a few weeks ago at Tall and Rich about Pelosi’s undermining our national security by liaising with FARC and pledging support to the terrorist organization – so it’s already clear that Pelosi will commit treason to win elections, is she also willing to dry up our fuel supply for a few votes from the environmentalists and do irreparable damage to our economy?
Collin Levy, also in the Wall Street Journal claims that the Democrats’ “green” policy is getting harder to swallow in the midst of the energy crunch;
Back in June, Barack Obama made hay of John McCain’s comment that while opening lands to drilling might not have a short term direct impact on oil supply and prices, it would have a “psychological impact” by sending a signal to consumers and the market that the country was expanding its own resources. “In case you’re wondering,” Mr. Obama said, “that’s Washington-speak for ‘it polls well.'”
Ho, ho. But oil prices have fallen since President Bush announced his support for more drilling. And polls these days are shifting overwhelmingly in favor of it. More than two-thirds of Americans support expanding drilling along the coasts, and 59% approve of drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, according to a Reuters-Zogby poll. The worst news for Democrats is that support for drilling is now a majority opinion even in their own constituency.
The quandary for Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi et al. is how to keep irate environmentalists inside the tent while still meeting voter demand for lower prices. Raging against oil companies and Wall Street may get you through a news cycle or two, but it’s not a solution.
They might have gotten away with it in the beginning, but Americans are beginning to recognize the carelessness with which Democrats toss around our money especially with rising gas prices and their refusal to even lower our price at the pump a few pennies – our pennies.
I wonder how fast those eyes will blink when Pelosi finds herself in the minority in January because “afraid” wasn’t in her vocabulary in July.
Category: Economy, Foreign Policy, Politics
