Pelosi decides to run again for House leader post
WASHINGTON (AP) - Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she will run to keep her job as the Democratic leader in the House after a pair of elections that kept the party in the minority there even as Democrats gained seats in the Senate and a second term for President Barack Obama.
"My colleagues made it very clear: 'Don't even think of leaving,' " she recalled at a news conference, surrounded by women lawmakers. "I have made a decision to submit my name to my colleagues to once again serve as the House Democratic leader."
Republicans reacted with derision.
"There is no better person to preside over the most liberal House Democratic caucus in history than the woman who is solely responsible for relegating it to a prolonged minority status," said Paul Lindsay, spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee.
"This decision signals that House Democrats have absolutely no interest in regaining the trust and confidence of the American people who took the speaker's gavel away from Nancy Pelosi in the first place," he said.
The announcement was one of several throughout the day that would give more clarity to the leadership and direction of the next Congress, led by majority Republicans in the House and Democrats in the Senate. Voters in last week's elections gave Obama a second term, added two seats to the Senate Democratic majority and as many as eight to Pelosi's caucus in the House.
Newly-elected Sen. Angus King, Maine Independent, announced that he will caucus with Democrats next year, adding to Pelosi's announcement another question answered about the makeup of the next Congress. Leadership elections were set Wednesday for Republicans in the House and for both parties in the Senate.
Pelosi put off her caucus' leadership elections off until after Thanksgiving.
Pelosi, 72, has represented a San Francisco area district in the House for a quarter century, including a stint as the first woman in history to serve as speaker. The tea party-fueled political wave of 2010 forced the gavel from her hand to Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner's.
Holding a news conference Wednesday morning, Pelosi said "we're very, very proud" of how large a role women played in the Nov. 6 election.
"We don't have the gavel" of majority status in the House, she said, "but we have unity."
"Being actively involved in politics at this level is really insatiable," Pelosi told reporters. "There's so much more I want to do, I don't know how to get any more hours in the day. You can only sleep so less."
Pelosi was a major force behind the passage of Obama's health care overhaul and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Even after the 2010 elections, when her party lost 63 seats, Pelosi was reelected Democratic leader by her caucus.
Pelosi's colleagues had said for days that the top leadership post was hers if she wanted it in the next Congress that begins in January. She refused to reveal her plans for a week after the Nov. 6 elections failed to give Democrats gain they wanted.
It was a disappointing, but not unexpected result of a bitter year of elections that focused on the tight contests for president and control of the Senate. Throughout, Pelosi raised millions of dollars for Democratic House candidates and insisted that the 25 seat gain was within reach. But in the end, Democrats will gain at most eight seats and Republicans will keep their majority.
Waiting in the wings of Democratic ranks are Pelosi's deputy, Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the party whip, whom she has known since they were congressional interns, and South Carolina Democrat James Clyburn, assistant to the Democratic leader.
Pelosi is the daughter and sister of former Baltimore mayors. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., served as mayor of Baltimore for 12 years after representing the city for five terms in Congress. Her brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III, also served as mayor.
"My colleagues made it very clear: 'Don't even think of leaving,' " she recalled at a news conference, surrounded by women lawmakers. "I have made a decision to submit my name to my colleagues to once again serve as the House Democratic leader."
Republicans reacted with derision.
"There is no better person to preside over the most liberal House Democratic caucus in history than the woman who is solely responsible for relegating it to a prolonged minority status," said Paul Lindsay, spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee.
"This decision signals that House Democrats have absolutely no interest in regaining the trust and confidence of the American people who took the speaker's gavel away from Nancy Pelosi in the first place," he said.
The announcement was one of several throughout the day that would give more clarity to the leadership and direction of the next Congress, led by majority Republicans in the House and Democrats in the Senate. Voters in last week's elections gave Obama a second term, added two seats to the Senate Democratic majority and as many as eight to Pelosi's caucus in the House.
Newly-elected Sen. Angus King, Maine Independent, announced that he will caucus with Democrats next year, adding to Pelosi's announcement another question answered about the makeup of the next Congress. Leadership elections were set Wednesday for Republicans in the House and for both parties in the Senate.
Pelosi put off her caucus' leadership elections off until after Thanksgiving.
Pelosi, 72, has represented a San Francisco area district in the House for a quarter century, including a stint as the first woman in history to serve as speaker. The tea party-fueled political wave of 2010 forced the gavel from her hand to Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner's.
Holding a news conference Wednesday morning, Pelosi said "we're very, very proud" of how large a role women played in the Nov. 6 election.
"We don't have the gavel" of majority status in the House, she said, "but we have unity."
"Being actively involved in politics at this level is really insatiable," Pelosi told reporters. "There's so much more I want to do, I don't know how to get any more hours in the day. You can only sleep so less."
Pelosi was a major force behind the passage of Obama's health care overhaul and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Even after the 2010 elections, when her party lost 63 seats, Pelosi was reelected Democratic leader by her caucus.
Pelosi's colleagues had said for days that the top leadership post was hers if she wanted it in the next Congress that begins in January. She refused to reveal her plans for a week after the Nov. 6 elections failed to give Democrats gain they wanted.
It was a disappointing, but not unexpected result of a bitter year of elections that focused on the tight contests for president and control of the Senate. Throughout, Pelosi raised millions of dollars for Democratic House candidates and insisted that the 25 seat gain was within reach. But in the end, Democrats will gain at most eight seats and Republicans will keep their majority.
Waiting in the wings of Democratic ranks are Pelosi's deputy, Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the party whip, whom she has known since they were congressional interns, and South Carolina Democrat James Clyburn, assistant to the Democratic leader.
Pelosi is the daughter and sister of former Baltimore mayors. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., served as mayor of Baltimore for 12 years after representing the city for five terms in Congress. Her brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III, also served as mayor.
DISGUSTING to say the least.....guess she isn't finished with destroying all she can of our country......shame on San Francisco...
SSDD.
The squirrels in this country should be getting obese with so many nuts to choose from!
The deer in headlights wants to lead the rest of the herd into oncoming traffic.
 @Rob C 503 Yep I think that smile is fixed in silicon...
 @Rob C 503 that leaked into her brain years ago...
To borrow a quote from Blanche Devereaux... "That woman belongs in a wax museum..!" Â Â Â
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Too darned bad the voters in California don't seem willing to get her out of office once and for all... Â People there are always complaining about paying a lot more in taxes than they get back from the Feds... well, Pelosi is one of the reasons why that happens... "none so blind as those who will not see..." Â Â
 @margay1 I'm not sure I get your point.  The most recent year there is data for federal taxes v. federal spending, Californians pay an average of just over $8,000 per person in taxes and receive about $6,700 in federal spending.  Are you arguing that California should get more tax dollars and Pelosi is failing her constituents by not getting enough money for CA?  Do you want the money to come from Oregon or what?  Of course Oregonians are short changed as well.  The States that suck up the most tax dollars for dollar paid are New Mexico (1), Mississippi (2), Alaska (3), Louisiana (4), West Virginia (5), North Dakota (6), Alabama (7), South Dakota (8), Kentucky (9), and  Virginia (10).  I guess you'd say these States have the best Senators because they suck up the most federal dollars?
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Eight of these States vote reliably Republican. Â It's kind of cool to feed at the federal trough and hate federal spending. Â
 @margay1 Not to put too fine a point on it, margay, but she's a representative from CA.... Given CA current budget quagmire, the states obsession with flash over substance, the socialist mentality that is pervasive throughout the entire state...
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I'm not entirely sure that she isn't the most accurate representative of the state that can be found. Looks okay from a distance, but just pray that there's no close-ups in high-def. Â
 @MarkKpic ~  Yes, I suspect that your analysis is pretty much on target, Mark... I lived in CA for over 25 years, but haven't been there since the late 80s...  They were always a little "quirky", but it seemed in the later years I was there, it was getting rapidly worse...going from ":quirky" to just plain "nuts", which is why I left...  Sad, really, because it is still a beautiful state... lots of good people still there, but unfortunately, they're outnumbered by the entitlement crowd...
 @margay1  @MarkKpic Ya know, it's funny.... So long as you stay north of San Luis Obispo, San Bernadino & Kern counties, I'm okay with CA as a whole. Admittedly, SFO tends to get a bit 'out there', but there's enough sensible people to counter most of the idiocy.Â
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The single biggest drain on CA is LA and the surrounding counties. And I'm not automatically predisposed to believe that it's all the 'poor' in the area, either. The uber-wealthy that live off the silicon valley money and all that hollywierd cash are just as bad as those that live below the poverty line. The dichotomy is astounding. You can (literally) cross the freeway and go from abject poverty to McMansions. One side of the line wants everything free and the other side wants to dictate what everyone does.
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There are still a few nice areas in CA.... But, they're also the same areas that end up having to pay for all the socialist nonsense down south. Move the border about 200 miles north and be done with it.Â
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If the Dems ever want to take back the house they are going to have to hide her. She is the main reason they lost the house in 2010. The image of her carrying that huge gavel up the stairs the day the forced Obamacare through still agitates me to no end. I can't even stand to look at that woman.
I think it's easier to explain the Republican victory in the House be gerrymandering.  As things stand now, 53,952,240 votes were cast for Democratic candidates, while Republican candidates received 53,402,643.  Since the House is supposed to be representative, there should be close to a tie.  Republicans did a better job of stacking the deck.
 @blotto Are you opposed to all gerrymandering or only when it's done by those with whom you disagree?
 @blotto I agree with most of what you said, though I remain unconvinced that the electoral college should be eliminated. I still find it useful in that it preserves a piece of the large state-small state compromise and grants small states a bit more weight than would otherwise be the case.
 @mikew  @blotto I am opposed to all gerrymandering.  I guess, whenever you draw district lines there will be winners and losers, but the most significant problem with gerrymandering (both parties) is that the politicians draw safe districts and so we get conservative districts that will elect anyone conservative and liberal districts that elect any liberal.  In both cases the more extreme, liberal or conservative, a candidate is, the more likely they get elected.  If you drew districts without this agenda, it might be that more centrist candidates could win and we would all be better represented.
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The other problem, as highlighted in this election, it that gerrymandering can be used to thwart the will of the electorate. Â As we read the posts on KATU, we can see that there are plenty of questions about the legitimacy of our government. Â Schemes be either party to stack the deck raise further questions about legitimacy. Â
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I guess I'd like a bipartisan or better (if there is such a thing) a nonpartisan commission to draw district lines.  I'd like candidates that had to speak to their constituents across the political spectrum.  I'm sick of the polarized politics.
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 I'd also like to get rid of the electoral college. Â
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I'd also like to get rid of all the TV advertising. Â I'd like to get rid of the polarized news shows. Â All of these things treat the future of our country as if it were a game or a joke. Â
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We have to do something different. Â What we are doing now isn't working.
 @blotto Hmm with the entire US media outside of FOX on the DEM side that seems like quite a feat to accomplish...
there are currently 130921 unhappy civilians wishing to secede..
 @lee986321 I consider President Obama's performance in office to be poor but it's hardly the first time we've had a lousy President and it won't be the last. To call for secession due to his reelection is a gross overreaction. We all need to be adults about this and make the compromises necessary to serve the best interests of ALL Americans, not just the interests of whatever party we might prefer.
 @lee986321 ... In a country with a population of around 312,000,000.Â
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That makes your '130,921' about .004% of the population. Not a decidedly overwhelming percentage. In fact, I would suggest that it's entirely likely that percentage has always, and will always, exist. May have increased by a couple of thousand thanks to the Rachel Maddows and Rush Limbaughs of the country, but they are (and always will be) the distinct minority within the whole. The difference is that now, thanks to the internet and 24/7 'news' media, they are used for ratings and revenue.
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I get that there are many people (myself included) that are unhappy with the way that our Federal (and, in many cases state and municipal) governments are run. I really do. A BIG part of the problem with your mindset is that there are many (a majority, IMO) who would rather come to the proverbial table and work towards solutions that appease ALL citizens, rather than just the fringe elements on both sides.
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 The greatest strength that our country has is it's diversity of people, ideas and beliefs. The two fringe elements that get all the air time are the ones causing all the problems.Â
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To bad she doesn't run into freeway traffic.
 @RalphCramden While I am not a fan of Ms. Pelosi, I do not wish death on anyone.
 @mikew Â
I used to be that way. Now I dance when any politician has a bad thing happen to them. Some senator has terminal cancer, whoohooo. Time to dance.
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Politicians have caused us a lot of pain because of there egocentric policies and I have no love for any politician. They are ruining us.
 @RalphCramden I think she already has,well at least it looks as though she has Maybe a freight train might be better, they can't put you back to gather after that hits you.
 @RalphCramden I guess this is why so many are petitioning to leave the union, her ugliness is scaring every one away...
Also if the union collapses, the government would have no monies to support the military and or any other infrastructure. . To be truthful, I do not think you will want to know what will happen if indeed Texas its self is granted leave of the union.
we petition the obama administration to:Peacefully grant the State of Arkansas to withdraw from the United States and create its own NEW government
As the founding fathers of the United States of America made clear in the Declaration of Independence in 1776:
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
"...Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government..."
Created: Nov 10, 2012Issues: Civil Rights and Liberties, Government ReformLearn about Petition Thresholds
It's up to you to build support for petitions you care about and gather more signatures. A petition must get 150 signatures in order to be publicly searchable on WhiteHouse.gov.
Over time, we may need to adjust the petition signature thresholds, but we'll always let you know what the thresholds are.
Signatures needed by December 10, 2012 to reach goal of 25,000 5,355
Total signatures on this petition 19,645
What you may not realize is that the president has to in writing address any petition that reaches 25,000
If there are more then 2 or 3 I imagine he would put together a formal speech.
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the thing is if the Union does Dissolve then the US is no more and them each state would rely on the constitution totore-start.. HTis means the IRS would be abolished, as it could not function. Those who paid into retirement would be not have a retirement those that are on SSI and SSA would have no means to pay. in short it would tun.turn Chaotic for a bit..Â
As for me and my fairly I putting money to our sons food supplies .
Well, the way I see it is that our nation is in a bunch heap of trouble in suche that people are asking htere satates to secede form the union, even you in Oregon has such a petition, but the strongest petition of all is the one for Texas to secede. jsutin case your wondering,
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Peacefully grant the State of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.
The US continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government's neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending. The citizens of the US suffer from blatant abuses of their rights such as the NDAA, the TSA, etc. Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect it's citizens' standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.
Created: Nov 09, 2012Issues: Civil Rights and Liberties, Economy, Government ReformLearn about Petition Thresholds
It's up to you to build support for petitions you care about and gather more signatures. A petition must get 150 signatures in order to be publicly searchable on WhiteHouse.gov.
Over time, we may need to adjust the petition signature thresholds, but we'll always let you know what the thresholds are.
Signatures needed by December 09, 2012 to reach goal of 25,0000
Total signatures on this petition 99,303
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https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/peacefully-grant-state-texas-withdraw-united-states-america-and-create-its-own-new-government/BmdWCP8B
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What happens if it reach 100,000?
If this is true and real, then we have a real big problem because there are nearly 100,000 angry people. eh we that post here are only a "dot" compared to the number on this petition.
KATU, I posted this to make a point, the American people are indeed angry and it isn't going to go a way any time soon.what is really interesting is if you total the numbers of all petitions it is indeed a very scary number. well over 120,000 any cities close to matching that population by chance to compare to?
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so our in put here is KATU way of seeing how many of us are in touch with what is going on. and to see how many of us actually are reading these posts.
The nasty comments only show how much she is feared. Go get'em Madam Speaker.
 @w-t-f Feared? There is not enough medical MJ in the state to induce the paranoia needed to fear her its just plain disbelief that someone who appears so lacking in mental power can keep getting elected...but then hey there is that 47% in CA as well....
Dear God, P Lease NO!
Got Botox......
She needs to go.....a terrible womam.
Isn't it time for her to retire already!
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And the braid-dead voters in her district will keep her around.
Pelosi & Boehner, Ried & McConnell. The poster children for the least effective federal government in US history.Â
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Can we sequester all 4 of them, and actually put in some leadership willing to work progressively, instead of just further entrenching partisan ideological lines?
That which has been seen cannot be un-seen.