House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, said Tuesday that a large segment of the GOP is “anti-government, anti-science and anti-Obama” and that while Democrats opposed much of President George W. Bush’s agenda, Republican obstruction to President Obama is “something quite stunning.”
“What’s interesting to me is that Democrats and Republicans know what they believe,” Mrs. Pelosi said on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown.” “They know what they believe, and that’s what’s happening in Congress … what’s happening here now is we have a large segment of the Republican party that is anti-government. We don’t want any more government than we need, but they’re anti-government, anti-science and anti-Obama.”
“They have a trifecta that is going,” she continued. “Now, I say to the Republicans: Take back your party … you come with confidence with the debate that goes on and try to influence the decision, but to obstruct every initiative that the president’s put forth on jobs and then say, ’Why don’t we have more jobs?’ We do have more jobs, but no thanks to the Congress of the United States.”
Mrs. Pelosi argued that while Democrats opposed Mr. Bush on many issues, including the Iraq War and his efforts to privatize Social Security, they also worked together on many issues such as the Wall Street bailout and energy legislation.
“We did not treat President Bush this way,” she said. “We thought we had a responsibility to work with the president to get a job done for the American people and we did. This obstruction to President Obama is something quite stunning. It’s something quite different.”
Later Tuesday morning, House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said the GOP-led House has sent “dozens” of jobs bills to the Democratic-controlled Senate only to see them languish, and offered to work with the president on a number of issues.
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“The president says he wants to make this a year of action,” Mr. Boehner told reporters. “Well, it sounds good, but … let’s work together to pass trade promotion authority that would expand exports and create more jobs in America. Let’s work together on building the Keystone Pipeline and the tens of thousands of jobs that would be created as a result.”
“Let’s work together, find common ground on the dozens of House-passed jobs bills that are sitting over in the United States Senate that really will help the American people have a better shot at a better job and higher wages,” he continued.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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