Pelosi Hits Back

Democrats reached out to the Republicans on the stimulus bill by including billions in tax cuts, yet you didn't get a single Republican vote in the House. What happened?
The debate on the recovery package is a clear manifestation of the difference between the two parties. Republicans ultimately could not accept our new direction for the economy, one with prosperity for the many, not the few. We gave them every opportunity for input. They wanted tax cuts, and we included them in the bill. They wanted a chance to mark up the bill, and we gave them 26 hours to add amendments in committee. Then they wanted amendments on the floor, and we gave them that. We're not afraid of debate, so we welcomed any ideas they had and accepted some of them. But when it came to the fundamental difference we have over economic policy we were not going down that path, and neither were they. In the end, many of their members did not even vote for their own alternative economic package, which is remarkable.

I think President Obama did the right thing by reaching out to the Republicans. We had hoped that President Bush would have done that in the eight years that he was president. The public wants us to attempt to have bipartisanship in what we do. What is clear, though, is that maybe we'll have it in some bills but not in others.

What does the partisan gridlock suggest going forward? If it's impossible to get agreement on something as urgent as the economy, what's the prospect of bipartisanship when it comes to something even more controversial, like a climate bill?
On other issues, like energy and health care, there may be plenty of common ground to find, at least in the House. You have to remember that one of the biggest divisions between the parties, for as far back as you can look — long before we had differences about the environment and other issues — has been economic. The mission of the stimulus bill was to stabilize the economy and create jobs. If the Republicans had suggestions that did that, then they would have been accepted.

Yet GOP congressional leaders talk about leading a Taliban-like "insurgency" against you and the administration. That doesn't sound like there's much room for compromise.
I don't like to use that kind of language in describing anybody in all of this. There has to be a distinction made between attempts at bipartisanship, which are legitimate, and what the American people expect and deserve. I don't think we should say, "OK, let's be bipartisan — we'll accept your proposal, and that will mean we'll have 2 million fewer jobs in the plan." It's just not going to happen. That's not inter-party bickering — that's a fundamental difference between the two parties.

The Republicans seem to be betting that Obama's stimulus plan is not going to work, and that they will benefit politically from its failure if they vote against it.
We've been there with the Republicans on this before. In 1993, the Clinton economic package passed the Congress without one Republican vote. At the time, the Republican leadership predicted a doomsday outcome — that it was going to create a downward spiral and produce the worst economic times. Of course, it did exactly the opposite. It created the longest period of economic growth in a long time, and very substantial economic growth, at that.

The Republicans do a disservice with their message of "I hope you fail." It doesn't help build confidence, and we all have a responsibility to do that. No matter what we are criticizing or commenting on, we have to do so in a way that does not undermine the public's confidence. I think that aspect of what they're doing is irresponsible. They're entitled to their economic philosophy, but it is a failed economic philosophy. We're not going to dilute what we're doing to get a few of their votes and lose many, many jobs in the process.