House Dems discover they’re irrelevant
posted at 9:25 am on June 28, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
Barack Obama has begun to confer closely with Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner on the budget and debt-ceiling impasses, hoping to resolve them by the end of the summer session of Congress. One notable figure apparently missing from these discussions is House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and any representatives from her caucus. According to The Hill, they’ve begun to notice that no one is paying them much attention, especially not Obama:
House Democrats feel like jilted lovers.
They’re looking down Pennsylvania Avenue for some sign of affection from President Obama in the White House. But all they feel they’re getting in return is the back of his hand.
“How is it that the House Democrats played such an important role [in the majority], and all of a sudden [the White House says], ‘Forget it, we’ll work with the Senate and the Republican leadership?’ ” asked Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), vice chairman of the Democrats’ Steering and Policy Committee.
Er … seriously? Perhaps Cuellar needs a little help with mathematics. Republicans have a fairly significant although not historically large majority in the House, and therefore can pass almost anything through normal rules without any input from Democrats. Cuellar and his caucus are irrelevant to any budget deal.
Cuellar should be very familiar with this phenomenon. When it came time to discuss a stimulus package in early 2009, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi locked Republicans out of the law-drafting process. Obama at that time told Republicans, “I won.” It turned out to be a big political miscalculation, since Democrats ended up passing Porkulus with almost no Republican support (only three votes in the Senate), and its failure ended up being blamed squarely on Democrats. Now, Cuellar and other Democrats want people to pretend they matter, but even Obama can’t muster up that much imagination.
Doug Mataconis says, “Welcome to the minority, guys,” and that’s the truth. But it’s also equally accurate to say that what goes around, comes around.
Blowback
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mizflame98 on June 28, 2011 at 9:27 AM
and get used to being the minority for a long, long time.
AZCoyote on June 28, 2011 at 9:28 AM
Bill Clinton hardest hit?
Shy Guy on June 28, 2011 at 9:29 AM
Turnabout is a Pelosi.
Knott Buyinit on June 28, 2011 at 9:29 AM
Headline of the day…!
SouthernGent on June 28, 2011 at 9:29 AM
What representatives? These days, she is a caucus of one. Everyone else that used to associate with her has wisely headed for the proverbial hills.
pilamaye on June 28, 2011 at 9:32 AM
Nancy Pelosi and Helen Thomas last spotted going over a cliff in a convertible.
Roy Rogers on June 28, 2011 at 9:36 AM
The next time Nancy demands to be heard the response should be, “Are you serious?”.
NotCoach on June 28, 2011 at 9:37 AM
The planet is 2% more beautiful today.
lorien1973 on June 28, 2011 at 9:37 AM
Revenge is a dish best served
coldsteaming, and it’s steaming in The Swamp right now.Steve Eggleston on June 28, 2011 at 9:37 AM
The money is on the dresser, Nance.
Nikkia2112 on June 28, 2011 at 9:38 AM
Cuellar’s pinin’ for the days of a decade ago, when Rick Perry appointed him Texas Secretary of State and bi-partisanship mattered. Here, he has to know that Team Obama is blowong off House Democrats, because going into 2012 they wamt Crazy Nancy back in the limelight about as much as thry want Helen Thomas back in the front row of the press gallery quizzing Obama on the Palestinian flotilla.
jon1979 on June 28, 2011 at 9:38 AM
Hey Nancy, here’s the bill we just passed. Want to take a gander and let us know what’s in it?
hip shot on June 28, 2011 at 9:39 AM
It’s not just that. It’s also that the House Democrats would contribute nothing of substance to the discussion. We know exactly what they’d say. Taxes must be jacked up and entitlements can’t be touched.
Doughboy on June 28, 2011 at 9:39 AM
yepper!
cmsinaz on June 28, 2011 at 9:40 AM
And, about this time in 2013, Dems will discover that the filibuster is a pretty good idea.
Pablo Snooze on June 28, 2011 at 9:40 AM
apostic on June 28, 2011 at 9:41 AM
Nancy Pelosi almost single-handedly lost the House for the Dems in 2010 and yet she wants to feel she’s important and relevant to them. Sorry Nancy, even your own party recognizes a loser, and they just ain’t that into you.
Trafalgar on June 28, 2011 at 9:41 AM
This is the political version of being rode hard and put up wet. Da One got what he needed from the useful idiots in Congress, and he is still being hammered for it so he shows ya the back of his hand. Deal with it Dems, this is the man you pushed on the US and he is just being himself.
TQM38a on June 28, 2011 at 9:41 AM
How dare they whine when they themselves set the precedent of completely excluding Republicans from talks on a number of bills.
darwin on June 28, 2011 at 9:46 AM
Winner.
docflash on June 28, 2011 at 9:47 AM
Could it be that Obama knows Pelosi’s caucus would 1) offer nothing to the current negotiations? And 2) at this point, what ever Pelosi has as “input” into the process could grind everything to a halt. Or 3) Pelosi doesn’t play golf?
Rovin on June 28, 2011 at 9:53 AM
She needs the puppy treatment after making a mess on the floor. Rub her nose in it, give her a whack with a rolled up newspaper, and put her outside along with the admonishment ‘bad girl, bad girl’.
“Now be quiet, the grownups are trying to concentrate here.”
GnuBreed on June 28, 2011 at 9:54 AM
Nancy, ya just gunna have to read the invite to know what’s really in it !
Sandybourne on June 28, 2011 at 9:56 AM
I’m sure everyone had a good hearty snicker yesterday when Pelosi demanded a seat at the debt-ceiling meetings.
I think the only seat everyone would like to see her in these days is the type with the word EJECT on the side.
pilamaye on June 28, 2011 at 9:57 AM
One can only hope Pelosi has to fly commercial.
MarkT on June 28, 2011 at 9:59 AM
Hmmmmm… man, man, man, woman!
Obama hates women! Glass ceiling!
mankai on June 28, 2011 at 10:01 AM
The republicans have a majority in the House. They should pass credible spending cuts and force the democrats to expose their insanity when the Senate has to vote them down. Exposing the clowns for being clowns is so elementary that the liberals cannot resist the attention, and in doing so, expose their insanity for all to see. Pelosi and her ilk are certifiable insane. Expose it where even a brainwashed lemming cannot deny it.
volsense on June 28, 2011 at 10:02 AM
2nd that doc…..definite winner
cmsinaz on June 28, 2011 at 10:03 AM
Jeez, she only wants to be there as Barry’s fluffer. What’s his problem anyway, doesn’t he like celluloid botox SanFran women?
Western_Civ on June 28, 2011 at 10:03 AM
I know they have no place else to go and turn about if fair play but this just seems like a bad idea by the administration. These people have constituents.
Cindy Munford on June 28, 2011 at 10:04 AM
Botox only takes care of the face wrinkles. It does nothing for the flaps under the arms. Even in WH AC, she’d flutter like a flag on a pole.
Fluffage/FAIL
44Magnum on June 28, 2011 at 10:07 AM
As long as Osama “President for Life” Obama has nothing worse to contend with than gutless, unprincipled sellout Republicans and their polite, weak-kineed little minions in the commentariat, he’ll get what he wants, and so will Nanzi.
MrScribbler on June 28, 2011 at 10:07 AM
Thank you for the starting my day off with a big grin.
perries on June 28, 2011 at 10:16 AM
Following the 2006 election when Nancy “Know Your Power” Pelosi took up the Speaker’s gavel until she was formally voted out of her position by voters beginning to wake up, the self-absorbed, self-serving economic nitwit sent this economy into a death spiral. She deserves no seat at a table where serious discussions are taking place.
onlineanalyst on June 28, 2011 at 10:22 AM
These bums expect gratitude. It’s hilarious.
Jim Treacher on June 28, 2011 at 10:23 AM
Poor Nancy. Just now learning that once you’ve used up your usefulness, Barry no longer comes calling.
Get used to it Nancy. The nation has seen you’re extreme left wing for what it is. Don’t expect to be back in power any time soon.
GarandFan on June 28, 2011 at 10:25 AM
HHAHAHAHAH!!! OMG…. you totally caught me off guard with that one!!
KMC1 on June 28, 2011 at 10:27 AM
Nancy can read bills after they are passed. She will like what is in them. People don’t need to read them before voting on them.
seven on June 28, 2011 at 10:29 AM
The situation House Democrats are experiencing now has almost no similarity to the situation House Republicans faced in the period leading up to the 2010 elections. The only thing missing from today’s discussions is Pelosi herself, and all this whining is pure ego. Her politics are well represented, by the administration, the President himself, and the Senate majority caucus.
Pelosi isn’t included because the Democrats don’t want her at the table. Her caucus is extreme, and she is loud and obnoxious. These are attributes no one wants around when serious people are sitting down trying to accomplish serious things.
MTF on June 28, 2011 at 10:33 AM
This is called draining Pelosi’s Swamp. And Barack Obama trying to charge the country by selling her water.
Lourdes on June 28, 2011 at 10:50 AM
Excellent.
Lourdes on June 28, 2011 at 10:53 AM
I have a feeling that this is all Kabuki theater. Having Pelosi nose her way in doesn’t exactly help Obama’s image of being in the forefront of debt reduction negotiations with the Pubbies and his poll numbers might continue to sink once she came on board as a reminder of why the 2010 elections were such a disaster. Having Pelosi on the sidelines pushing for the lefty agenda, and getting media coverage for it, helps mollify his base that the Dems are really in their corner. It’s like good cop vs bad cop for the Dem base who really have nowhere else to turn.
Bob in VA on June 28, 2011 at 11:00 AM
Irrelevant? Blue skies are irrelevant, gnats aren’t!
Don L on June 28, 2011 at 11:26 AM
Math is hard, Mr. Lillis
dentalque on June 28, 2011 at 11:28 AM
The only serious thing Obama is there to accomplish is his re-election. In my opinion, he believes his destruction of our economy was the right thing. I’m certain George Soros agrees with him.
Don L on June 28, 2011 at 11:30 AM
Hardly. First, democratics and their old media subsidiary will never admit that the stimulus didn’t work. In fact many of them suggest that it wasn’t big enough. Second, even the votes of only three Republicans is enough for them to declare that stimulus was passed on a bipartisan basis.
The definition of what is ‘bipartisan’ and not is radically different for democratics and Republicans.
slickwillie2001 on June 28, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Boehner to Pelosi: We won.
Steve Z on June 28, 2011 at 12:04 PM
Well, we’ll just have to pass the budget so Pelosi can find out whats in it.
BobMbx on June 28, 2011 at 12:15 PM
I would say “We will pass a budget, so Nanzi sees how it’s done.”
jackal40 on June 28, 2011 at 12:46 PM
But Pelosi is positive she’s going to be speaker again.
Speakup on June 28, 2011 at 12:52 PM
Princess Nana misses her personal Boeing 757, and all the free booze, chocolate strawberries, and catered meals. It has to be tough on her, kind of a withdrawal process.
slickwillie2001 on June 28, 2011 at 1:43 PM
Gee, ya think?
Even without schadenfreude, that’s hilarious.
tom on June 28, 2011 at 2:18 PM
*Sniffle*
jnelchef on June 28, 2011 at 3:07 PM
Happiest people these days???
Just gotta be the Air Force crew that flew her to San Fransicko each week, ESPECIALLY the cabin crew, which had to wait on her each flight.
fred5678 on June 28, 2011 at 3:45 PM
On the downside, a liquor store, maybe two, have taken a revenue hit.
slickwillie2001 on June 28, 2011 at 4:59 PM
Two words.
Ewwwwwwww!
Palomino!
Freelancer on June 28, 2011 at 5:53 PM
Nancy really believes that they can mediscare their way into the majority in 2012. I bet she loses 30 or more seats. Redistricting will not go well for her party for the elections next year. For the first time, many states will be drawing lines with republicans in the majority at the state level. This, on top of the states that are winning and losing seats, will be a very favorable environment for the republicans to strengthen their majority.
karenhasfreedom on June 28, 2011 at 5:55 PM
There is also “Old Sparky”
Slowburn on June 28, 2011 at 6:48 PM
She’s so old and shriveled up that I don’t think her body would conduct electricity.
slickwillie2001 on June 28, 2011 at 6:57 PM
…and Obama’s expecting change!!!
landlines on June 28, 2011 at 11:40 PM