This depresses me to no end.
Is this nitwit honestly the Minority Leader, of the House of Representatives, of the United States of America? Is this real life?
Democrats' various refrains that Republicans are actually against clean air, clean water, food safety, and other such desirables are getting increasingly grating. According to Nancy Pelosi, smog-filled skies and poisonous water are sitting snugly in my political agenda. But what's even more disheartening than her pathetic, shallow, kindergarten-level demagoguery is that people actually buy into her blatant lies.
Let me be clear: private individuals in a free market can engineer clean water and clean air more effectively and efficiently than a government bureaucracy. The government does not need to save us from ourselves - we need to save ourselves from too much government.
Jon Stewart actually gives this point a fair shake: "You lead the party that believes government can take effective and forceful action to change people's lives. At what point do the Democrats have to prove that government can be agile and effective?" But Nancy Pelosi just couldn't miss the opportunity to distort conservatives' belief in small government, making it sound as if government is the only possible mechanism for insuring public health, safety, a clean environment, and retirement benefits for seniors.
I also have to give Jon Stewart props for calling out former Speaker Pelosi for the Democrats' failure to even try to pass a federal budget:
Stewart: “This is where it’s difficult. When the Democrats were in charge, they had an opportunity to put forth a budget. And they didn’t take it. They didn't take the shot…”
Pelosi: “Because the Republicans would have filibustered it.”
Now that, Mrs. Pelosi, is a damned lie, and you know it. Budgets can't be filibustered--they only require a simple majority in both the House and Senate, and before the 2010 elections, Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress (and had a supermajority in the Senate!). Democrats simply chose not to pass a budget, even though it's required by law. I believe this is day 925 that the Senate Democrats have declined to propose a budget, yes?