Pelosi calls Republicans 'legislative arsonists' over government shutdown
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Version 0 of 1. Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, has said "legislative arsonists" in the Republican party are using their opposition to President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform as an excuse to shut down the federal government. Speaking on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday morning, Pelosi said anti-government ideologues dominate the GOP and forcing a shutdown would be a victory for them. "I call them 'legislative arsonists'," she said. "They're there to burn down what we should be building up in terms of investments and education and scientific research, and all that it is that makes our country great and competitive." President Obama indicated the likely outcome of current Republican intransigence in his weekly address on Saturday, when he said: "The most basic constitutional duty Congress has is passing a budget. But if it doesn't pass one before 30 September … the government will shut down." Pelosi was more forgiving when speaking about John Boehner, the Republican House Speaker who on Friday bowed to pressure from the conservative wing of his party and allowed the passage of a bill which would extend government funding until December, at the cost of defunding the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The bill will not pass the Democratic-controlled Senate – if somehow it did, President Obama has said that he will veto it. Republicans in Congress have also targeted the impending deadline for the extension of US government borrowing, suggesting they will not approve an extension of the debt ceiling if Obamacare survives. "I don't paint them all with the same brush," said Pelosi. "I certainly don't paint the Speaker with that brush. But there's enough of them in the caucus to shut down government – that will be a victory for them." Pelosi added that GOP efforts to derail healthcare reform and shut down the government had "no prospect of prevailing". She said the goal of some in the GOP was to get the government out of the lives of Americans by handing social security over to private bankers and allowing medicare to "wither on the vine". "They want to shut down the government," Pelosi said. "The effect of putting [the] Affordable Care Act on the bill is to shut down government. They know that. They know that has no prospect of prevailing." "None of us of comes here to have more government than we need," Pelosi said. "I was making the distinction between those who say, 'How much government do we need?' to those who say, 'We don't need any government,' the anti-government ideology is making a mess of what goes on in Congress now." Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |