Speaker Pelosi: Read the Job Description
The timing is good. Recently started a series of posts on Women in Politics that does not look favorably toward one particular trio of women, namely, Feinstein, Boxer and Pelosi. One of the few times Nancy Pelosi has not disappointed me. She’s doing something stupid again. It’s one thing to oppose your country’s President based on party or personal ideology. But to use your Congressional office to undermine the President in a role in which you have no business acting independently is absolutely irresponsible at the least and damn near criminal at the worst.
Hey Nancy, your title is Speaker of the House, not the entire planet. Could this be a case of a little power going to one’s head? If you sat down, shut your mouth and think for a few minutes you would realize that President Bush and Vice-President Cheney will no longer hold those titles after the election in 2008 since one is term limited and the other chooses not to run. You could have your cake and eat it too if you provided reasonable opposition to the other party with intelligence and grace for which the payoff might be increased approval for that band of whiners you call Democrats. In case you haven’t noticed, the international stage and San Francisco are not the same thing. And it is doubtful that you considered all the damage you could be doing and not to your chosen target.
Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com
House Speaker Says, ‘The Time to Leverage All Our Power Is Now’
By JOHN HENDREN
April 1, 2007 — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., obliquely defended her decision to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad later this week in direct defiance of President Bush’s policy not to engage in one-on-one talks with Syrian officials.“The time to leverage all our power is now. And the way to do it is through diplomacy, with stronger sanctions and smarter policy,” Pelosi said in an address to the Israeli Knesset, where she was dramatically introduced as “Her Excellency, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,” after a band played the Israeli and American national anthems.
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April 3rd, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Article 1, section 6 of the constitution says:
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
I believe that means that they can’t be ambassadors, while they serve in Congress.
In any case, according to article 3, section 2, only the Executive branch can make treaties with other powers, providing 2/3 of the Senate concurs. Since Speaker Pelosi isn’t in the Executive branch, or even the Senate her trip is meaningless based on the Constitution.
It’s just another waste of taxpayer money, and another example of overreaching by someone in the legislature.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:37 am
Ok, let\’s tag team those who don\’t their Speaker of the House job description. Thanks for the help Perri. Here\’s my two cents from the Congressional Research Service in 2004. Recent enough that you think Nancy Pelosi could have found time to read it. A caveat here, there are more docs on this topic, but I doubt any of it suggests the Speaker of the House shares other duites in holding meetings with foreign heads of state without consulatiion with the President.
To keep this as brief as possible, the other Congressional leaders items were omitted.
Congressional Research Service
˜
Updated November 29, 2004
Party Leaders in the House:
Election, Duties, and Responsibilities
Thomas P. Carr
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Each major party in the House has a leadership hierarchy. This fact sheet summarizes the election, duties, and responsibilities of the Speaker of the House, the majority and minority leaders, and the whips and whip system. For more information on legislative process, see [http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml].
Speaker of the House
The Speaker is elected by the House on the first day of a new Congress. Customarily, the conference of each major party first elects a candidate at early organizational meetings. When the new Congress convenes, each party places the name of its candidate in nomination, and the majority party’s candidate is typically elected.
A rules change adopted at the beginning of the 108th Congress requires the Speaker to submit the names of Members designated to serve as Speaker pro tempore in the event that the speakership becomes vacant, or in the event the Speaker is disabled. House rules invest the Speaker with substantial powers. These duties include:
administering the oath of office to Members;
recognizing Members for the purpose of speaking or making motions;
referring bills and resolutions to committees;
putting questions to a vote of Members;
declaring a quorum (or the absence of one);
counting and declaring all votes;
deciding points of order;
appointing House Members to select and conference committees;
exercising additional committee appointment authority under party
conference rules;
making appointments to fill temporary vacancies in House administrative
offices;
appointing the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole and the Speaker pro
tempore; and signing all bills and resolutions passed by the House.
Traditionally, the Speaker has no formal committee assignments, but serves as an ex officio member of the permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The Speaker infrequently votes or participates in floor debate. Although not prescribed in any formal way, the Speaker is the principal spokesperson for the House and, oftentimes, for the party, taking a leading role in negotiations with the Senate and President.
Within the Republican Party Conference, the Speaker acts as chair of the Steering Committee, which assigns Republican members to committees, subject to conference approval and House election. Under Republican Conference rules, the Speaker makes nominations for the conference’s consideration for membership on the Rules Committee and House Administration Committee, designates their chairs, and also appoints one Member to serve on the Budget Committee. Democratic Caucus rules specify similar appointment procedures when the Democrats are in the majority.
April 4th, 2007 at 4:01 am
One of the few times Nancy Pelosi has not disappointed me. She’s doing something stupid again.
Well said!!!
Apparently being Speaker of the House is not enough, She also wants to be Secretary of State.
This woman is beyond contempt…
Good Post!
April 4th, 2007 at 4:44 am
Well we have had at least two disappointing Speakers in a row. And even though I regularly proclaim my non-partisan stance, the Dems make it difficult for me to appear sincere. But I actually remained objective when Pelosi got the job. I need not remind anyone what circumstances led me to adjust my thinking. Primarily because the list is too long.