See report from my FNC colleague Chad Pergram and post your thoughts…
Urgent: Pelosi says Republicans have to give up “sacred cows” to get a sequester deal
Per Pergram-Capitol Hill
On-cam from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) after the sequeter meeting at the White House.
Pelosi:
Mindless cuts do not reduce the deficit.
Pelosi
I has to be shared sacrifice. We have to look at discretionary spending, entitlement spending, tax expenditures. Thats where the money is.
Pelosi on CR:
I haven’t seen it. Have you seen their cr? I haven’t seen their CR. Can’t tell you if anyone will vote for it.
Pelosi
My hope springs from the American people. The more they know about the choices here, the clearer it will be to our Republican colleagues we can’t have situation where there are absolute statements.
Pelosi:
We cannot have situation where one party says we’re going to protect wasteful giveaways but we’ll stop Meals on Wheels for seniors.
Pelosi:
I’m optimistic something can be done.
Pelosi on what the GOP should do:
We want to see movement on the other side in terms of their sacred cows. Tax breaks for special interests.
Pelosi on protections in the Budget Control Act which created the sequester:
We tried to protect as much as we possibly could. Across the board cuts are senseless, brutal, mindless. Nobody ever thought they would happen. They’re so brutal. 1Again, trickle down, protect speical interests, That was a priority more for Republicans than to avoid mindless cuts.
Pelosi on impacts of the sequester:
The saddest thing i heard was some psychiatric nurses who are meeting the needs of returning vets with PTSD may have to be furloughed.
- Funny moment where Pelosi wants to get a document out of her purse to reference something. Her Chief of Staff, Nadeam Elshami goes to get it. She then tells him he doesn’t have to…since there’s now someone else to do that..and not the Chief of Staff.
