Pelosi - National Embarrasement

Not OUR fault. Blame them.....

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when asked Tuesday whether Democrats bear some of the responsibility regarding the current crisis on Wall Street, had a one-word answer: “No.”

Pelosi (D-Calif.) ripped President Bush’s “mismanagement” of the economy and a lack of regulation that led to the current situation.

“I think the American people have had it with this situation where the middle-income people in our country are not protected from the ramifications of the risk-taking and the greed of these financial institutions,” Pelosi told MSNBC.

When asked whether the Democrats “deserve some responsibility” regarding the economic crisis, Pelosi responded: “No.”

“John McCain said that this is a result of overregulation by the Democrats in Congress,” she added. “Either he doesn’t know what he's talking about or he’s misrepresenting the facts as he knows them. But it’s simply not true.”

Republicans responded quickly, pointing out that a Congress led by Democrats had not helped the economy.

“The Pelosi-Obama Congress has failed to pass an all-of-the-above energy plan, failed to stop earmarks, and failed to break the partisan gridlock that plagues Washington,” RNC spokesman Alex Conant said. “If Pelosi thinks the Democratic Congress is doing a good job handling the economy now, then just imagine how bad our economy would be if Democrats controlled the White House, too.”

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/pelosi-dems-bear-no-responsibility-for-economic-crisis-2008-09-16.html

OK. So let's start an investigation NOW. Since we did not know what was going on BEFORE.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered a broad, swift investigation of Wall Street and will demand testimony from Bush administration officials and captains of finance, congressional officials said.

House Democrats plan to aggressively look at the administration’s role in the meltdown over the weekend and to explore further regulation and government structures that would be taken up under the new president.

Republican aides accused Democrats of trying to shift blame with a series of “show trials,” but acknowledged that key officials will wind up cooperating.


But let's leave the man who writes the tax code but does not follow them in the Chair position.

"Mr. Rangel has not considered, nor has it ever been on the table, that he would step aside from his current position as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee," said the Harlem Democrat's lawyer, Lanny Davis.

"He has no intention of leaving that position, even on a temporary basis."

The development came as new details emerged about Rangel's tax shenanigans, based on his financial-disclosure forms:

* The congressman's Sunny Isles, Fla., condo was purchased in 2004 for $335,000 and listed as a rental, although he didn't report income on it. He then sold it in 2007 for a $60,000 profit, but didn't list the sale, as is required.

* He never disclosed, as mandated, the sale of his Washington, DC, home in 2000. Property records list the price as $500,000.

* He only sporadically listed rental income for a West 132nd Street home. Then, when he unloaded it in 2004, he didn't report the sale. The home's value was listed as less than $100,000 in 2002; in 2004, Rangel said it was worth $250,000 to $500,000.

* The value of his personal portfolio fluctuated wildly without explanation. The investments he reported grew from $50,001 in 2000 to somewhere between $177,000 and $530,000 in 2001. In 2002, he reported new holdings worth $115,000 to $315,000.

Republicans have turned Rangel's ethics controversies - from the tax-reporting issues to his four rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem to soliciting funds for a City College center named after him - into a campaign issue.

The National Republican Campaign Committee has called on Democratic candidates and incumbents to return his donations.

At least one said he will: Anchorage, Ala., Mayor Mark Begich.

Begich, a Democrat challenging Republican incumbent Ted Stevens for the US Senate, yesterday said he'd return $10,000 in donations from Rangel.

Despite what one source said was a quiet push by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get Rangel to step down on Monday, he returned to work yesterday.

And Pelosi seemed unwilling to have a showdown with her most powerful chairman.

"I see no reason why Mr. Rangel should step down," she said after meeting with him for the second time yesterday.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09172008/news/regionalnews/stuck_in_his_ways_129463.htm

This is the leadership you want from the Democratic Party?