Finally, someone on MSNBC figured out how to ask a Democrat a hard question. During a Friday morning interview with Nancy Pelosi, fill-in host Kristen Welker took the long-awaited opportunity to grill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over coronavirus relief legislation that has been stalled in Congress.
Trying to justify her refusal to compromise with Republicans on the urgently-needed relief bill, Pelosi arrogantly proclaimed: "This isn't just about dollars. It's about values, and our bill was very precise in terms of the needs were, meeting those needs." Welker pushed back: "I understand, but you have had hours of negotiation, Madam Speaker....And still no deal....Did you overplay your hand?"
What Pelosi argued was just ridiculous partisan politicking, whining about Republicans not wanting to spend boatloads of money and further increase the deficit without any accountability. Welker rightfully hit on the fact that Democrats refuse to accept an agreement other than the full amount of what they are asking for, further delaying any action.
Welker kept up the pressure:
WELKER: Given the stalemate on the big issues, though, would you be open to a short-term extension of those unemployment benefits to start getting that critical aid to millions of Americans who need it right now?
PELOSI: No.
WELKER: Not open to a short term deal.
PELOSI: No, that's an excuse. That's someplace the Republicans want to go and say we've done what we're going to do. We wash our hands. We've been there. We know what that's about, and why would we have to do that?
WELKER: The big picture, though, Madam Speaker, when there is so much at stake, don't you all have a responsibility to compromise and to come off of your two sides, so that you can get something done for the American people, which just has not happened yet?
It’s truly amazing to see Pelosi fold under real, tough questions, something she's not accustomed to dealing with from the leftist media. Other MSNBC hosts routinely give Pelosi the softball treatment, like Andrea Mitchell did for the Democratic leader just the other day.
We have to give credit where credit is due, and this was certainly a good interview by Welker. Pelosi has no answers for her forced stalemate on the stimulus bill, and this segment uncovered the blatant politicization.
This was a rare example of good journalism, but to fight back against MSNBC's usual Democratic Party propaganda, go here.
Read the full transcript below to learn more.
MSNBC’s Live
8-7-20
11:04 AM ET
KRISTEN WELKER: With that I bring in house speaker Nancy Pelosi. Madam speaker, thank you so much for joining me on a very busy day for you.
NANCY PELOSI: Good morning.
WELKER: And all across the country.
PELOSI: Yes, it is.
WELKER: Good morning to you. Before we get to the critical negotiations I do want to start with the latest figures when it comes to covid-19. We've passed that grim milestone, more than 160,000 deaths, the estimates it could reach as high as 300,000. So Speaker Pelosi, what responsibility does Congress have to try to turn this around and make sure we don't go even higher?
PELOSI: Well, one of the responsibilities we all have is to convince the White House that they should base their decisions on science. Let me just, let’s just talk numbers, because it's very sad and I appreciate how you have framed this, 160,000 people have died. We passed the heroes act 12 weeks ago today. Since that time, 3.5 million people have been added to the list of those infected by the virus, 3.5 million since we passed our bill. 70,000 people have died since we passed our bill. The Republicans pushed the pause button. The president still ignores all the guidance from science, so we have to make a scientific decision to govern in a way that has the allocation of resources. We have to defeat the virus if we're going to open the economy and safely return our children to school. So what we should do is to commit to testing, tracing, treatment, mask wearing, isolation, sanitation, and the rest, that's what the scientists have been telling us all along, which has been mocked at certain times. Now hopefully will be embraced. That's what we have to do. Everything else flows from that.
WELKER: Speaker Pelosi, let's get to those negotiations. We just got that new jobs picture, the unemployment rate still in the double digits. I can imagine it's only adding urgency to the talks. Will you be meeting with White House negotiators today, Speaker Pelosi?
PELOSI: Oh, we are calling upon them to meet today. We haven't gotten a response back from them, but I always put things in terms of the children. For the children, we must come to an agreement. Children and families are preparing for school and we have major disagreement between us on the schooling, in terms of the dollar amount, but also how the money would be spent. The president is insisting that most of the money that they are allocating will go to schools that are opening actually, when the evidence is that across the country, school districts are saying largely overwhelmingly that they will be opening virtually or in a hybrid fashion, some actually. That can't happen unless you reduce, actually can't happen unless you reduce the infection rate in those communities. So that's one big stumbling block. The other is honor our heroes is the purpose of our bill. Our health care providers, our first responders, our teachers, our teachers, our teachers, our sanitation, transportation, food workers, they're on the verge of being fired, 1.5 million already because we have not adequately compensated them for their outlay of for the coronavirus and the rest, so that's another place, and a fourth part, it's not 915, they're the 150. Those are two places that we have to come to terms.
WELKER: Speaker Pelosi, I understand that, and big picture, you did pass the heroes act 12 weeks ago.
PELOSI: 12 weeks ago.
WELKER: That is a package that is north of $3 trillion.
PELOSI: It is. That's where the needs are.
WELKER: Republicans are saying they want something that’s more pared back but where is the middle ground, and do you have a responsibility to find it?
PELOSI: Well the middle ground is not Sophie's choice, how many children will be fed, how we're going to deal with evictions and how many people will remain, will be relegated to eviction and homelessness, so when we're talk -- this is a different kind of a negotiation. This isn't just about dollars. It's about values, and our bill was very precise in terms of the needs were, meeting those needs. We can come down in terms of the length of time for our food, for example, in the food we have $67 billion for food and utilities and water. They have $250,000. $67 billion, $250,000.
WELKER: I understand, but you have had hours of negotiation, Madam Speaker.
PELOSI: That's right.
WELKER: And still no deal.
PELOSI: Well we don't have shared values.
WELKER: Did you overplay your hand?
PELOSI: No, we haven't overplayed our hand. We're not overplaying our hand when we factually are presenting what the needs are for our families, for our teachers, for our schools, for ending the virus. Now, if they want to say we want to do it with less money, let's find out where we can do that without undermining the purpose. This is life and death. This is lives of the American people, livelihood, in terms of their economic success, and life of our democracy, we have very seriously differences. This isn't about bickering. This is very major differences as to science, the role of governance in all of this, and what you think -- now there was I think that some of the policies of Republicans had put forth have been disdainful. The stock market's doing fine. They don't mind if the Fed is shoring up the stock market and the credit market and that, and we said let's shore up America's working families. It's a values debate that we're proud to have but understanding we must come to agreement to how do we make the reductions? My view is one way we have food going on for a longer time, we could go for a shorter time and revisit the issue after the first of the year.
WELKER: To follow up on your point, you say this is life and death, and while you are --
PELOSI: It is.
WELKER: In these critical negotiations and no one is disputing there are serious values at play here, but the American people do not have the relief that they need, those $600 unemployment checks have expired in July.
PELOSI: That's right.
WELKER: So they're left without that critical aid.
PELOSI: That's right.
WELKER: What is the message to Americans who need that money, that they're just not going to get it in the fall, while these negotiations continue?
PELOSI: Well, the fact is that there are many things the American people need and that’s disdainful to say and all of the evidence, the economists at Yale, universities around the country, are saying this $600 is not a deterrent to our economy. In fact, it has kept at least 1 million people out of poverty and it has been injecting demand into the economy. When the injection of demand slows down, you see the numbers losing steam. So I really thank you and appreciate your honing in on these questions, because it is -- all of these people need housing. It's food. It's really child care, very essential to families going back to work. It's about osha. It's about worker protections. They're saying to people, you're essential, go to work. And if somebody says I can't because it's a health situation, I don't want to take that home to my family, they say well you have to go. If you don't go, you lose your unemployment insurance and by the way, if you go and you get sick, you have no recourse because we want to protect the employer, who may not have taken the necessary precautions. So people have a lot more at stake than the $600, although we have insisted that we get the biggest number possible for that enhancement and reject the notion that the Republicans are putting forth is that people are staying home because of that. They're staying home because of concern about health, they're staying home to take care of their children, who may not be able to go to actual school. This is a comprehensive, an opportunity for to us work together to do something really good for the children.
WELKER: Given the stalemate on the big issues, though, would you be open to a short-term extension of those unemployment benefits to start getting that critical aid to millions of Americans who need it right now?
PELOSI: No.
WELKER: Not open to a short term deal.
PELOSI: No, that's an excuse. That's someplace the Republicans want to go and say we've done what we're going to do. We wash our hands. We've been there. We know what that's about, and why would we have to do that?
WELKER: The big picture, though, Madam Speaker, when there is so much at stake, don't you all have a responsibility to compromise and to come off of your two sides, so that you can get something done for the American people, which just has not happened yet?
PELOSI: I'd like you to take a good look at the Republican proposal. We have $67 billion for food, energy, utilities, et cetera, water. They have $250,000. Now we'll have to find some common ground there, won't we? They have zero for helping renters who are on the verge of eviction. They may do a moratorium, which would be a good thing, the president may do that by executive order, but it's not good without moratorium without money as a hardship for the renters and the landlords. So again, understand, look at their bill, because it is so lacking in so many ways, and the money just thinking of schools, just think of schools, the president is saying unless you go actual, you're not getting these federal dollars. Really? Really? Shouldn't the school districts make a decision based on the incidence of the rate of infection in their communities, and what they can really do? And by the way, I think it's important to note that if you go actual, if you go virtual or if you go hybrid, it's almost the same cost, because there are different costs that weigh in, all of it involving much more in terms of health care precautions and the rest that relate to the virus, but all of the necessary --
WELKER: You've been asked about this, madam speaker, but president trump, we're running out of time so I have a couple more points to tick through. President Trump said he's going to take executive action, including on those unemployment benefits. You have said you don't think that's entirely feasible. Are you saying you're going to try to take legal action to block any executive action that the president takes?
PELOSI: We are trying to use our energy to find common ground. The reason the president is going that route is because they really are not, have they done what they should do, testing, tracing, treatment? They said testing is overrated. Tracing is not necessary. Understand this, you're mistaking them for somebody who gives a damn about a lot of these things. They don't. That's why they have -- in terms of what the president said, he said he was going to do a payroll. The president can't eliminate your payroll tax. He can defer it, but the businesses are not crazy about that, neither are many of the Republicans in Congress, about doing a payroll tax, which has an impact on social security. He said he's going to do a moratorium, great. That will be nice, but if you don't have money and we need about a minimum of $90 billion to help the renters , and there's a way to do this, it's a model after what we did during the time of T.A.R.P. In 2008-2009. So I don't know what else he says but whatever it is, there's some subject as to whether is he going to get the money for this four, four, $400 where is he going to get the money and how long will that last? We want to have it in law with respect for the workers and what they do to spend the money, inject demand into the economy, and if we don't, as you referenced, Chairman Powell, they've all said to us think big. This is a big economic hit. You're going to pay now or you're going to pay more later.
