Nancy Pelosi -- The Views

Whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not, or whether you care or not, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi employs some serious name-calling to characterize her opponents on different views. Nancy Pelosi also tops the list of the richest members of Congress. The Pelosi family has a net worth of over $25 million, mainly from Paul Pelosi's investments. Besides a large portfolio of jointly owned San Francisco Bay Area real estate, he also has millions of dollars worth of shares in publicly traded companies such as Microsoft, Amazon.com and AT&T, Wikipedia notes. And, speaking of Pelosi's views, here are some memorable quotes from now Madam Speaker Pelosi. May 19, 2004, on President Bush: "Bush is an incompetent leader. In fact, he's not a leader,'' Pelosi said. "He's a person who has no judgment, no experience and no knowledge of the subjects that he has to decide upon.'' August 29, 2005, on Hurricane Katrina and President Bush: Here is what she said about the president’s handling of Hurricane Katrina: "The president said he's going to lead the investigation into what went wrong. He need look only in the mirror, for starters." 2006 on the Republican budget:

She also reportedly called the GOP budget in "unpatriotic" because it drove up the national debt.

April, 2006, on a trip by President Bushyou outside of Washington:

"Let's see that matched in your separating yourself from your ... patron, Big Oil. Cut yourself off from that anvil that is holding ... your party down and this country down. Instead of coming to Washington and throwing your Republican colleagues under the wheels of the train, which they mightily deserve for being a rubber stamp for your obscene, corrupt policy of ripping off the American people."

November, 2006, on Pelosi in the House: "You must drain the swamp if you are going to govern for the people," she reportedly said during a speech at a senior center in Portland, Oregon. "Maybe it takes a woman to clean House. [Democrats] haven't had a bill on the floor for 12 years. We're not here to whine about it; we will do it better. I intend to be very fair. I do not intend to give away the gavel. (2006 - looking forward to becoming Speaker of the House in 2007)

April, 2007, on Pelosi's trip to Syria: U.S.A. Today finds that "Pelosi stepped out of bounds on [her] ill-conceived trip to Syria." USA. Today happens to disagree with the administration's policy of not talking to Syria. However, it understands that disagreement with the president is no excuse to "violate the long-held understanding that the United States should speak with one official voice abroad - even if the country is deeply divided on foreign policy back home." In other words, U.S.A. Today understands the meaning of loyal opposition in our democratic system.

June, 2007, on describing anti-war protesters criticized by war supporters as unpatriotic:

"It's always exciting," she said of protesters who interrupted a meeting in January 2006, according to an account in the San Francisco Chronicle. "This is democracy in action. I'm energized by it, frankly." At an event in June 2007, she had told anti-war protesters "just go for it, I respect your enthusiasm," according to another account.

September, 2008, on Republicans who weren't showing up to talks on a Wall Street bailout package:

"I thought it was very unpatriotic of them not to show up, not to show up, in some ways, boycott the meetings earlier in the week."

January, 2008, on Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama for President:

"Did you ever see anything like that?" asked Pelosi. "Transferring the mantle from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama. It was the most stunning thing. I mean, I couldn't take my eyes off it. And I didn't have any time to sit there and watch TV, you know - we had a whole schedule. I just was mesmerized by it. April 22, Earth Day, 2008, on the celebration: The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, 'To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.' "The problem is, the Bible doesn't tell us any such thing -- in the Old or New Testament. There is no such passage. May, 2008, on the U.S. troop surge: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi claimed the U.S. troop surge failed to accomplish its goal. She then partially credited the success of the troop surge to “the goodwill of the Iranians,” claiming that they were responsible for ending violence in the southern city of Basra. May, 2009, on CIA interrogatons:

She accused the CIA of lying to Congress, as she was facing questions about how much she knew early on about the Bush administration's interrogation policies. Asked whether she was accusing the CIA of lying, she replied, "Yes, misleading the Congress of the United States."

July, 2009, on the health care debate:

With the health care debate growing more heated, she invoked Nazi Germany, accusing protesters of "carrying swastikas and symbols like that" to meetings. A spokesman for Pelosi later said the speaker was referencing a photo taken at a town hall meeting hosted by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., which showed a protester holding a sign of a swastika crossed out over President Obama's name and a question mark.

August 10, 2009 on the health care debate: "Let the facts be heard," Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer wrote. "These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views -- but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades." Why does Pelosi say and do these things: Pelosi told Time, "Anybody who's ever dealt with me knows not to mess with me." Pelosi carries a chip on her shoulder, believing that fellow Democrats and media élites have constantly underestimated her political ability, dating back to her unsuccessful effort to become head of the Democratic National Committee in 1985 "It's going to be wonderful for the American people," Nancy Pelosi, the first woman ever to serve as House speaker, two steps from the presidency, said Friday at an open house breakfast on Capitol Hill.