Over the last several weeks, we've been covering how Democrats in Congress have refused to negotiate on a new round of COVID-19 aid because they didn't want to give President Trump a win before the election.
Yesterday, Rep. Dan Crenshaw called them out on the House floor, and his speech is terrific. Check out the video and a transcript of his speech below.
. @DanCrenshawTX just obliterated Nancy Pelosi from the House floor. pic.twitter.com/YjlEnp9jsi
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) December 9, 2020
Transcript:
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to unequivocally condemn in the strongest possible terms the actions of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Just last week, referring to her obstruction of bi-partisan targeted relief bills that we could have voted on on this floor, she said, “Don’t characterize what we did before as a mistake; this is not a mistake; it was a decision.” When asked what had changed, why she is finally coming to the table on COVID relief, her response was simple: a new president.
We have known for months that Speaker Pelosi was holding the American people hostage for political gain; I’ve said it; my colleagues have said it. While Americans suffered under unscientific, foolish lockdowns, Pelosi withheld relief for political purposes. Not policy purposes, but political purposes.
But we now have a full admission. She said the quiet part out loud. This was never about what was best for the American people, never about honest policy disagreement; it was about preventing President Trump from getting any credit.
It was about politics.
Speaker Pelosi made a simple calculation; she bet that if she could keep Congress from reaching a deal on COVID relief, that would hurt President Trump and Republicans and give her more power. Even when members of her own party asked her to bring common-sense, stand-alone, bi-partisan measures to the House floor that would easily become law, she refused. She would say over and over again that nothing is better than something.
She was being honest; she honestly believed that nothing was better than something. But better for who? Not for the American people, that’s for sure. She believed that nothing was better than something — for her and her party.
It’s hard to imagine a more awful and heartless strategy. And what’s worse, Speaker Pelosi does all of this while people in her home state suffer from unscientific, unconstitutional lockdowns the Democrat leaders in California are forcing upon their citizens. These lockdowns are not based in science; they never have been. Study after study shows that they yield little or any benefits but they impose extreme costs on the small businesses suffering under them.
And you know what else? Democrat leaders making these executive orders — they know this too, because they’re violating their own guidelines. The Speaker of the House couldn’t even let a pesky little lockdown get in the way of a haircut appointment even though those same lockdowns destroyed the lives of her constituents.
We’ve all seen the heartbreaking video of Angela Marsden, the owner of Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill in Los Angeles. Everyone should have to watch that testimony as Democrats shut down her outdoor, outdoor dining while a Hollywood studio sets up shop right next door.
She represents millions of Americans suffering who have taken note of the hypocrisy of these lockdowns, of the double standards, as big businesses can operate freely while small businesses are shamed into submission and told wrongly that they are the ones who must sacrifice to slow the spread, that the demise of the business they spent their whole lives building is the price to pay because “If it just saves one life.”
But this is unscientific nonsense, and we all know it. Study after study shows outdoor dining is safe; that outbreaks are not occurring because of our small businesses, our gyms, our restaurants, our salons, and yet these small businesses are in the crosshairs of cowardly politicians across the country.
This madness has to stop. This arbitrary application of executive orders is deeply, deeply unconstitutional. Justice Gorsuch recently stated, “There is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues, and mosques.”
Americans have had enough. It is time to stand up against the hypocrisy of these so-called “leaders” deliberately harming the citizens they claim to represent and to condemn the deeply partisan actions of the Speaker of this House.
Rep. Crenshaw is right, but he can only do so much to limit Pelosi's power. The real power lies in the people and the states, and their most effective tool is an Article V Convention of States.
A Convention of States can propose constitutional amendments that get politicians like Pelosi out of D.C. These amendments can limit the terms of office for federal officials, impose fiscal restraints on Congress, and limit the power, scope, and jurisdiction of the federal government.
Sign the petition below to join the movement!
