President Obama’s claim that the Republicans want “dirtier air” has apparently set the Democratic Party line. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told Jon Stewart earlier this week that Republicans “don’t believe in,” among other things, clean air and public safety. Her remarks appear in an unedited long version of her Wednesday interview on the Daily Show.
“Bless their hearts, the Republicans, they do what they believe,” Pelosi said. “And they do not believe in: Social Security; Medicare; Medicaid; clean air; clean water; food safety; public safety; public education.”
She added, however, that she didn’t want to paint with too broad a brush.
When Jon Stewart noted that Republicans, at least, “would somewhat disagree with that characterization,” Pelosi didn’t back down. “Maybe some of them would,” she allowed, but “some of them would try to use the debt [issue as an excuse to eliminate the public space — all the things I just talked about.”
With the debt a topic of discussion, Stewart asked Pelosi why Democrats didn’t set out a budget when they had control of both chambers. “The House passed the Recovery package, which was a form of budget,” she noted.
You can see her comments on Republicans wanting to “eliminate the public space” here. You can see her talking about why Democrats didn’t pass a budget here.
