Nancy Pelosi puts nation's business ahead of BCS title game

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) is the grinch who stole the Bowl Championship Series  title game.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) made a perfectly reasonable request, asking Pelosi to back off on House business Thursday night and Friday so that members from Florida and Oklahoma could attend the game between the Gators and Sooners on Thursday night in Miami.

One thing the House is supposed to do Thursday afternoon is certify the Electoral College vote for Barack Obama as president.

That can't wait?

Apparently not. Pelosi said no.

What does she know about football? She went to Trinity College in Washington, which doesn't have a team.

Besides, the Florida and Oklahoma delegations are heavily Republican.

-- Randy Harvey

Photo: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California signals the start of the 111th Congress Tuesday with her gavel. Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press

Comments

[michigancookie]

The peoples' business comes before ANY football game, even if USC were playing. Have you lost all sense of priorities? This is the same Congressman, by the way, who exhorted the Congress to stay in session rather than recess in order to vote on drilling for oil off the coast of California. Now he thinks that Congress should recess in favor of a game. Where is his sense of priority? Now I am reduced to backing Oklahoma.

[ZiaHarmony]

michigancookie is absolutely right that the nation's business is more important than any football game -- or other sporting event for that matter. Kudos to Rep. Pelosi for making the right call.

One thing I don't understood is why the request was made at all. Congress normally adjourns early enough in the day that those wanting to go to Florida for the game could fly down there. If they don't want to rush, they can watch on TV like anyone else. As for Friday, Reps can come to work tired like the rest of us. Or they can take the day off. It's all about their priorities.

[Pat McGuire]

Darn right we have no football team at Trinity! For 112 years we've been perfectly happy to leave the games to the boys while we teach women how to lead our nation. But don't be fooled, Trinity Women can run, pass, block and tackle with the best!

[Sydney Cross]

Well as a tax payer I expect my representatives to do their job by not taking the day off so that they can attend leisure activities while I go to work everyday and at payday half my check goes to the IRS so that their salaries can get paid.
As a Trinity Student that is a proud St.Louis Rams season ticket holder, Mizzou fan, and grew up in a family of football players. I know a whole lot about football and I am perfectly content that my school does not have a football team. By the way on any given Saturday or Sunday you can find college football or the pros playing on my slingbox !

[John Smith]

After reading all of the rhetoric about Congressman Stearns trying to shut down Congress, for the BCS Championship game, I decided to contact his office to see what was up. This is what he had to say.

“Recently, media outlets have erroneously reported that I asked Speaker
Pelosi to shut down Congress so that members of the Florida and Oklahoma congressional delegations could attend the BCS national championship on
January 8. These reports are categorically false. At no point did I request, nor would I ever request, for Congress to delay its business or shut down for a football game.

In my personal letter to the Speaker, I requested that she look into the possibility of rescheduling a few votes that were planned for Friday, January 9 to anytime on Wednesday, January 7 or on Thursday morning, January 8. As it turned out, the House finished its business at 12:30 PM on Wednesday and did not have any votes on Thursday, the day of the national championship game. So in effect, the Speaker suspended all votes for 48 hours, which allowed Members who wished to attend this event, the opportunity to do so. Obviously, due to the extremely light workweek scheduled by the Speaker, my request would not have prevented the House from completing any of its scheduled work for the week. This incident has proven to be much ado about nothing.”