Obama and Pelosi are selling us something worse than snake oil. Obama and Pelosi have made this much clear: They are DEDICATED to making us look "good" in europe. This is the same europe that is blowing islam night and day. Excuse my french, but this pisses me off. They just don't get it. We Americans will NEVER allow any "adjustments" in our Constitution that will alter our government's relationship with any religion. A Dutch member of their Parliament is being prosecuted for making a film critical of islam. OK, that's their problem but now the Brits have refused to allow that guy to enter England when the local muslims threatened to "demonstrate". Can you believe this? And Obama and Pelosi want us to "be more european"??? We give a shit if they don't "like" us. For us to act in favor of islam as the euros have,would require us to toss our Constitution in the trash. I said at IYT 4 years ago and I'll repeat it now. In my opinion, GW invaded Iraq to scare the shit outta islam. Islam is now attacking and subverting europe; no question about it. They have found their "soft belly". Let's hope Obama and Pelosi don't have us rolling over like an old dog. Instead of "seeking new paths to understanding", we should be aiming our missiles at every godamn muslim nation in the mid-east. PS: If anyone here can't see where this kind of appeasement is leading, they need to go back to school and read some history.

no facts just opinions, i knew some facts on the Muslims in France, but forgot, lol, but ur correct i believe its how i feel. Europe is the soft belly, leave it to the dutch, lmao, do we know dutch that feels like poor ole Muslims, lol, i know its the radicals extremist, our economy will eventually come back, but this problem with radical extremist, is a problem i see for now as a growing problem world wide, but we all know that. but it will be with maybe even out grandchildren's , children, but actually i am rather surprised at some of Obama stance in the middle east, he is a bit tougher than i thought he may be, but i said once way back in the election when he gets briefed on classified national security matters he may change some. and i pray he does.. but this is something that is to early to tell what he will do on all maters Muslim..
well i'm just rambling on, and maybe looking at just the good parts ,, time will tell, one thing i do believe i think ppl that voted for Obama, for the most part, it was a vote of many reasons, a vote against bush, a vote for their view of the economy,and frankly macain ran kinda a weak campaign, and other things, but not a vote for easing up on radical extremist Muslim terrorist,well maybe some ppl,, i have said if it comes to our shores again during his administration, he will be a one term president, and i think he is smart enough to know that.. i am interested as to how he deals with iran, seems the Russians are getting nosey there, we probably will have to depend on Israel, well most this is old news, ill hush, good post Marc, take care

Tx, 'Scoe. I'm hoping this latest attack in Pakistan is just a beginning. I know,I know, I'm "war mongering", but these murderers need to duck every time they even THINK about this country. I honesstly hope they HATE us forever! (They will anyway) I think we both agreed that once Obama got briefed, he'd sober up. It's that Pelosi I'm worried about, she's nuts AND stupid.

meemoon wrote:Tx, 'Scoe. I'm hoping this latest attack in Pakistan is just a beginning. I know,I know, I'm "war mongering", but these murderers need to duck every time they even THINK about this country. I honesstly hope they HATE us forever! (They will anyway) I think we both agreed that once Obama got briefed, he'd sober up. It's that Pelosi I'm worried about, she's nuts AND stupid.

AMEN Moon, Pelosi is friggin crazy.

i agree, i wonder how they elected her speaker of the house after a long history of great ppl, i know many did not like him but take "tip oneal," agree with him or not, he was a leader, she cant compair to a figure in history like him,

Election

The Speaker is elected on the first day of a new session of Congress. The election is presided over by the Clerk of the House of Representatives and each party nominates a candidate. Whoever receives a simple majority of the votes is elected and, after election, is sworn in by the Dean of the House, the chamber's longest-serving member. There is no requirement in the Constitution that the speaker must also be a current member of the House of Representatives to serve as speaker; however, every speaker elected has also been an elected representative.

In modern practice, the Speaker is chosen by the majority party in the House; it is usually obvious within two to three weeks of a House election who the new Speaker will be. It is expected that members of the House vote for their party's candidate. If they do not do so, they usually vote for someone else in their party or vote "present." Voting for the other party's candidate is dealt with very severely. For example, when Democrat Jim Traficant voted for Republican Dennis Hastert in the 2001 election for Speaker, the Democrats stripped him of his seniority and refused to appoint him to any congressional committee.

Congressional career

Phillip Burton died in 1983 and was succeeded by his wife, Sala. In late 1986, Sala became ill with cancer and decided not to run for reelection in 1988. She picked Pelosi as her designated successor, guaranteeing her the support of the Burtons' contacts.[8] Sala died on February 1, 1987, just a month after being sworn in for a second full term. Pelosi won the special election to succeed her, narrowly defeating San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt on April 7, 1987, then easily defeating Republican candidate Harriet Ross on June 2, 1987; Pelosi took office a week later.[9] [10] She has the distinction of contributing the most among members of Congress to other congressional campaigns because she is in a safe district and does not need the campaign funds.[11]

Pelosi represents one of the safest Democratic districts in the country. Democrats have held the seat since 1949, and Republicans, who currently make up only 13 percent of registered voters in the district, have not made a serious bid for the seat since the early 1960s. Pelosi has kept this tradition going. Since her initial victory in 1987, she has been re-elected 11 times, receiving at least 75% of the vote. She has never participated in candidates' debates.[12]

In the House, she served on the Appropriations and Intelligence Committees, and was the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee until her election as Speaker. [13]

Democratic Party leadership

In 2001, Pelosi was elected the House Minority Whip, second-in-command to Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri. She was the first woman in U.S. history to hold that position. Since then, she has campaigned for candidates in 30 states and in 90 Congressional districts, making her a vital factor for the Democratic Party.

In 2002, after Gephardt resigned as minority leader to seek the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election, Pelosi was elected to replace him, becoming the first woman to lead a minority and major party in the House.

Defeating Social Security privatization

Shortly after winning re-election, President George W. Bush claimed a mandate for an ambitious second-term agenda that would include the privatization of Social Security.[14] Pelosi strongly opposed the privatization of Social Security, and as minority leader imposed intense party discipline on her caucus, leading them to near-unanimous opposition of Bush's proposal.[15] With a unified Democratic Party pushing against the President's plan, Social Security privatization was defeated.[16]

Blocking of impeachment proceedings against Bush

In the wake of George W. Bush's reelection in 2004, several leading House Democrats believed that Democrats should pursue impeachment proceedings against the president. They asserted that Bush had misled Congress about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and had violated the civil liberties of Americans by authorizing wiretaps without a warrant.

In May 2006, with an eye on the upcoming Congressional elections—which offered the possibility of Democrats taking back control of the House for the first time since 1994—Pelosi told colleagues that, while the Democrats would conduct vigorous oversight of Bush administration policy, an impeachment investigation was "off the table". (A week earlier, she had told the Washington Post that, although Democrats would not set out to impeach the president, "you never know where" investigations might lead.)[17]

Since becoming Speaker of the House in January 2007, Pelosi held firm against impeachment, notwithstanding strong support for that course of action among constituents in her home district. In the November 2008 election, Pelosi withstood a challenge for her seat by antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, who ran as an independent primarily because of Pelosi's refusal to pursue impeachment.[18]

Speaker of the House

Democratic nomination and election as Speaker

On November 16, 2006, Pelosi was unanimously chosen as the Democratic candidate for Speaker, effectively making her Speaker-elect. While the Speaker is elected by the full House membership, in modern practice the election is a formality, since the Speaker always comes from the majority party.

Pelosi supported her longtime friend, John Murtha of Pennsylvania, for the position of House Majority Leader, the second-ranking post in the House Democratic caucus. His competitor was House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who had been Pelosi's second-in-command since 2003.[19] Pelosi and Hoyer had a somewhat frosty relationship dating back to 2001, when they ran against each other for minority whip. However, Hoyer was elected as House Majority Leader over Murtha by a margin of 149-86 within the caucus.[20]

On January 3, Pelosi defeated Republican John Boehner of Ohio with 233 votes compared to his 202 votes in the election for Speaker of the House.[21] She was nominated by Rahm Emmanuel of Illinois, the incoming chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, and sworn in by her longtime friend, John Dingell of Michigan, as the longest-serving member of the House traditionally does.
Pelosi (right) with Vice President Dick Cheney behind President George W. Bush at the 2007 State of the Union Address making history as the first woman to sit behind the podium at such an address. President Bush acknowledged this by beginning his speech with the words, "Tonight, I have a high privilege and distinct honor of my own — as the first President to begin the State of the Union message with these words: Madam Speaker".[22]

With her election, Pelosi became the first woman, the first Californian and the first Italian-American to hold the Speakership. She is also the second Speaker from a state west of the Rocky Mountains. The first was Washington's Tom Foley, the last Democrat to hold the post before Pelosi.

In her speech to Congress she stated:

"I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship, and look forward to working with you on behalf of the American people. In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country."[23]

During her speech, she discussed the historical importance of being the first female to hold the Speaker's position:

"This is a historic moment — for the Congress, and for the women of this country. It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years. Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights. But women weren't just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal. For our daughters and granddaughters, today, we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaughters, the sky is the limit, anything is possible for them".[23]

She also spoke on Iraq as the major issue facing the 110th Congress while incorporating some Democratic Party beliefs:

"The election of 2006 was a call to change — not merely to change the control of Congress, but for a new direction for our country. Nowhere were the American people more clear about the need for a new direction than in Iraq. The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end."[23]

As Speaker, Pelosi is still the leader of the House. However, by tradition, she does not normally participate in debate (though she has the right to do so), and almost never votes on the floor. She is also not a member of any House committees.

Pelosi was re-elected Speaker in 2009.

The "Hundred Hours"

Main article: 100-Hour Plan

Prior to the U.S. 2006 midterm elections, Pelosi announced a plan for action: If elected, she and the newly-empowered Democratic caucus would push through most of its program during the first hundred hours of the 110th Congress' term.[24] Later she said this referred to business hours rather than clock time, and began on the Tuesday (January 9, 2007) after the swearing-in ceremony on January 4.

The origin for the name "first hundred hours" is a play on words derived from former Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt's promise for quick action on the part of government (to combat the Great Depression) during his "first hundred days" in office. Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker, had a similar 100-day agenda to implement the Contract with America.

She is still a friggin lunatic, with enough power to be very dangerous to the well being of the country.

she must be highly intelligent, I think to be there as long as she has~I like her, she does not pussy foot around I disagree with only one thing she stopped ,AND I AM SURE YOU CAN ALL GUESS WHAT

Mark my words she will come back to haunt you, and of course we all know you wanted Bush impeached...tough shit didn't happen

nope it didn't happen..

investigations will continue..
First thing is repairing our country,we all can agree with that~ :cheers

:I don't agree with a lot of this stimulus ,I guess so much wheeling dealing is what I hate, and that happens with all government, I think.. I watched a Oberman documentary that Obama was bewildered with the corruption.. yes ,I know most of you are fox/news supporters~

I think Obama will do a good job,..he has got a full plate!!

Fox news is very indepth in reporting.
Looking at the small lists of cuts already shows Obama going back on his word. Veterans were slashed bad, but I didn't see where they threw out the ATV trails or the honey-bee research, or the funds to map out ways to unclog canals ( not clear them) just a high dollar study. By the time this fiasco is over the price tag will be in the trillions since the US has to borrow all this money at a hefty interest rate.

Fox news,is opinionated as is oberman, and no I don't see Obama going back on his word,Bush legacy has forced him to direct attention to failed policies during his terms..as I said before we all have different thoughts.. Obama hasn't had time for criticism..give him a chance,

veterans ~~look at Walter Reed , how bad it is during the last eight years,maybe longer, we are speculating now, we need to back up what we are writing...I think Obama will work on that,also, war/economics is first~

Veterans: Nearly all items for Veterans Affairs were reduced and the $2 billion the Senate wanted for VA construction was wiped out altogether. The VA did get one thing: $1 billion for medical facilities renovation and retooling.

Gypsy this is from another post on the board, I am backing up my statement Obama is cutting veterans.

well to stop the back and forth i remember Traficant.. i think i have the right guy , he was a nut, lol he always was a goofball when he talked at the podium, he had the toupee i think. i never was for the social security being privatized, it would have been for the young mostly, investing some social security money into the market, but as things have gone now, i dont see that ever coming back up again.when as always the worm will turn and the republicans will again have their turn, as history has proven time and time again, the worm always turns, i think pelosi probably saw anything about bush would go to nowhere, and just waist valuable time, as it did with Clinton, valuable time was waisted, in all the time devoted to him in congress, i blame him for his stupidity, in his actions , he should have put the country first. but he put his self first, and see he lost his precious time,in whatever his agenda would have been..

gypsy wrote:veterans ~~look at Walter Reed , how bad it is during the last eight years,maybe longer, we are speculating now, we need to back up what we are writing...I think Obama will work on that,also, war/economics is first~

economics is first, the military will not change much, u keep saying walter reed, we are talking about vetrans benefits , there are hospitals all over the united states, the veterans benefits cant be judged on one hospital, , and i dont have aa clue about walter reed i will admit,

SSC I will have to see it to believe it.cutting veterans support...I think your against Obama, as I was Bush, but eight years of failure and reason forced this,when you and others said our economy was strong ,and other disagreements~

SSC until I see it happening,I have my own thoughts, Speculation is a big word((IF))

Gypsy since the money was CUT..there is no if in this . It is a done deal. I do not like Obama and he isn't making any better impression with his rush to pass this huge financial dinosaur. What was hidden in the 1000 page plan ? Giving 24 hours to review before a vote sounds a might shady. The pork will rise and it will be to late . Tuesday it is a done deal. The trillions owed back will effect several generations to come.

I like and trust Obama, after 4 years we will see,,This time frame will not correct the problem of the last eight years!! it will take decades~~can you admit that?

well as ssc posted all the railroad money, even transit has rail amoung other things, , as in new york transit my boss said we get 65 percent of what we bid on in that, but it may be to late, i may loose my job next week,, so if the money plays any part in me keeping my job, on the rail money i will kiss obama black ass in front of the white house, lmao, but actually im scared to death, the decision on my job may already be made, in the high level meeting at work last week, take care,

Railroad money?? SSC said?? I am lost~