Pelosi Pushes For Truth Commission
Speaker Nancy Pelosi chatted with reporters today during a Christian Science Monitor event in Washington about Earth Day and climate change as well as harsh interrogation tactics and more.
On investigating use of extreme interrogation tactics used by CIA during the Bush administration:
"My thinking has always been that we should have some kind of truth commission as suggested by Sen. Leahy. Where we had some difference of opinion was that the thrust in the Senate side had been with immunity, and I thought we should be more selective in terms of granting immunity. I believe that the direction that we're going in the investigation by certain committees of the House will be useful. It might be further useful to have such a commission so that it removes all doubt that how we protect the American people is in a values-based way."
On reaction in Democratic caucus to the White House suggestion that some interrogators and former Bush administration officials and lawyers should not be prosecuted:
"As far as I know that has not been definitively stated as to what the policy is. What the attorney general put forth was to say those who received orders and acted upon these legal opinions should not be prosecuted, if that's the word, held accountable, whatever, further action taken against them. Our question among our members is -- does that just go down or does that go up? And what about the idea of the lawyers who gave these opinions. What's interesting to us is were there counter opinions in the administration. So you will see the Judiciary Committee looking into this. The Intelligence Committee looking into this. But I think it gives further impetus among members to have some kind of truth commission as to what happened and why legal opinions were so one-sided ... "
On Jay Bybee, now judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who formerly served as assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, where he authored the now much-discussed torture memos:
"I would not call for his impeachment without knowing what the facts are. But I do think that legal opinions as we are learning now that were issued by the Office of Legal Counsel did not serve our country well and were not based on our country's values. Again, in terms of his particular situation, I think the important place to look is what he said about that at the confirmation hearings."
On promoting a climate change bill:
"Now is the time that we have to do this. When people ask the question -- 'With the economy the way it is, isn't the president taking too much on with health care and energy, to name two, and education?' -- it's the reverse answer. Now is the time when we must take these on. ... "
"As we go forward with this, as a consensus building -- as we always do in our caucus, we build consensus, hopefully in a bipartisan way -- in terms of how we go forward with energy. There are two areas where some people bring up concerns. One is -- What is the cost to the consumer? Well, there should be no cost to the consumer. ... That consumer, whatever the cost is, the consumer must be held harmless. So any money that would be derived from the cap and trade -- if that's the decision to go on cap and trade -- would have to be used to offset any cost to the consumer."
On health care reform:
"This is a very exciting initiative for us. It's going to be historic in its nature when it is passed by the Congress, and I believe that it will be. ... We are all working in partnership on this. It's teamwork. ... As our members came back from their recess, a great deal of what they heard out there was public options, public options, public options, public options. In our caucus, over and over again, we hear single payer, single payer, single payer. Well, it's not going to be a single payer. ... We had an opportunity for that awhile back, and it was not realized. And that's not what it's going to be. So we had to take people from a place that they see universal, affordable, quality health care available best in single payer and say this can be achieved in other ways."
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
RE Ms. Pelosi's comments on health care... When she said that single payer had its "opportunity" but that it was not "realized" (bizarre use of terms) she has to be talking about the 60's. Hillary did not propose single payer. Those to her left did but not Hillary.
So I'm struck by a "progressive" member of congress saying, "Golly, gee it didn't pass 50 years ago so how do you expect it to pass now." Is she serious?
I'm outraged by her subsidized confidence.
re: Pelosi comments on health care (IMO as exciting as SPAM) "Well, it's not going to be a single payer...that's not what it's going to be...we had to take...universal, affordable, quality health care...single payer...(and say)...this can be achieved in other ways."
antsy-nay, elosi-pay
say what?
say how?
It is a shame that Dems are , in the end, just acting like Pubbies when it comes to health reform. Congress does not have any skin in this game-they have great and flexible, hugely subsidized health care plans and instant access to Bethesda Naval Hospital suites. However, I will take Speaker Pelosi at face value and assume she is doing her best within political constraints. make no mistake though, if we do "half-assed" health care reform now we will simply raise the federal budget, private health insurance revenues/profits, and do nothing about costs, real access, real quality of care, and be back here in 10 years having wasted trillions of dollars with little to show for it. However, is House Democratic leadership allows any reform to take place without a viable, legitimate public option/plan, its time for progressives to start a third party. Once again we see that Dem Congressmen, like their Republican colleages, only care about getting reelected and continuing their careers as politicians.
So Nancy Pelosi thinks she can get away with calling the Clintons' failed "health reform" effort "single payer". What a liar! She knows full well that the cockamamie scheme the Clintons drew up in 1993-94 was a managed care private insurance plan and not in any way a single payer plan.
Has it occurred to Ms Pelosi that she is supposed to represent the citizens of the United States and not the health insurance corporations? A resounding majority of us outside the beltway want a national health insurance plan, financed by taxes, run by the government, covering everyone in America. Only a tiny minority profit from the health insurance industry, and they can definitely find other things to invest in.
The rest of us are out here, want single payer health coverage, and vote!
I would like to hear Nancy Pelosi, Max Baucus et. al. state, clearly, loudly and concisely just why they are tying themselves in knots keeping single-payer health care "off the table". I want to make them say it.
All of the health profiteer advocates may get a surprise when people react to the mandate provision in their plans.
We all need to write to Nancy Pelosi, Max Baucus, and let them know that we want and need a single-payer system such as H.R. 676, and that we're not content to do as we're told, like good children.
Dear Leader Pelosi
I m convinced, that doing away with the for profit insurence system, and replacing it with single payer is the only way to make sure our health care system can be both universal and affordable.
Health care is a classic example of where the GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE PROBLEM GOVERNMENT IS THE ANSWER.
Jim Gately
As has been said the Clinton plan was "managed competition" NOT Single Payer and neither was her plan in the Presidential race. I say with Pelosi, Kennedy, Baucus,etc. who needs Republicans?!!
They should be convening hearings on the AIG equivalents in the health insurance industry on their obscene profits while denying care and the person dies. It's tantamount to murder. Why is no one screaming? We need a Medea Benjamin in all the health reform hearings standing up in a bright T shirt and shouting.
We need a March on Washington!!
All other first world countries that provide health care to their citizens, do so with a highly structured / regulated health care payment system. In the USA, none of the health care providers want anyone messing with their "revenue streams". Nancy Pelosi doesn't get it.
Americans need freedom and security from the terrorism of bankruptcy, home foreclosure and death, because of a failed health care payment system. We need HR 676, The U.S. National Health Care Act.