Pelosi's Nightmare on Capitol Hill

Pelosi Spooked by Pro-Life Amendments
Forget those long weeks at home facing angry constituents. Hill leaders have asked both chambers to postpone their Veterans' Day vacation and stick around to work overtime on the health care debate. While the House will be in session, it won't be considering amendments. Our sources on both sides of the aisle believe that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will close off debate on health care reform because she's terrified that representatives will offer amendments prohibiting federal funding of abortion.
Her fear is a legitimate one. It stems from the very real possibility that an amendment banning taxpayer-funded abortion would actually pass, thanks in part to pro-life members of Pelosi's own party. The Speaker knows the current bill would pay for abortion coverage, and she wants to keep it that way. "We haven't even gone into the procedure as to what will be on the floor," she said, "if there even are any amendments on the floor."
Lately, Pelosi's party has not only allowed the amendment process--but exploited it. Just last week, Democrats were more than willing to pile on, even when it meant including non-germane policies like "hate crimes" in the defense authorization bill. If the Speaker insists on clamping down debate, it could prove disastrous. People are already whispering that House leaders don't have the votes they need to pass the government takeover option. And ignoring the democratic process won't win over any more.
Of course, the real irony is that this is exactly the kind of repression that Rep. Pelosi condemned when Democrats were in the minority. Flashback to 2006 when the House leader published a campaign document called, A New Direction for America. In it, she criticizes the majority for its "incivility." The GOP, Pelosi writes, has "silenced Democrats and choked off thoughtful debate." She goes on to say that the majority ought to let the minority offer meaningful amendments to important bills. "When we are shut out, they are shutting out the great diversity of America," she said in an interview. "[W]e want to set a higher standard."
How? "Bills should generally come to the floor under a procedure that allows open, full, and fair debate consisting of a full amendment process that grants the Minority the right to offer its alternatives..." Now that Nancy Pelosi is holding the reins to the largest domestic policy debate in decades, where is all of the collaboration she promised? Maybe it's time for Pelosi to take her own advice and govern with a respect "for the great diversity of America."