Why did health-care reform pass? Nancy Pelosi was in charge.
By Vince Bzdek
WashPost
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Congress had tried to hammer together a national health-care initiative for a century, but it wasn't until a woman ascended to a key position of power in Washington that a plan actually passed.
This is not a mere historical coincidence. Sure, President Obama pushed health-care reform to the top of the country's agenda, and the Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate were essential to passing the bill. But make no mistake: The overhaul happened because Nancy Pelosi wanted it to happen, deep in her DNA.
This wasn't just another piece of legislation for Pelosi -- this was the culmination of a crusade she has been waging her entire career to reorder Washington's priorities. Pelosi's animating ambition has been to put so-called women's and family issues such as health care, education and the welfare of children on the same level as homeland security, foreign relations and defense.
The tenacity with which she fought for health-care reform is directly tied to her gender. The belief that women, and the agendas they tend to support, are underrepresented has provided much of the rocket fuel that propelled her rise through Congress over 22 years. In 1984, Pelosi ran for the Democratic Party's national chairmanship and lost; party leaders told her she would have won if she had been a man. Since then, the Californian has been on a mission to smash the old-boy network in Washington.
(More here.)
WashPost
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Congress had tried to hammer together a national health-care initiative for a century, but it wasn't until a woman ascended to a key position of power in Washington that a plan actually passed.
This is not a mere historical coincidence. Sure, President Obama pushed health-care reform to the top of the country's agenda, and the Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate were essential to passing the bill. But make no mistake: The overhaul happened because Nancy Pelosi wanted it to happen, deep in her DNA.
This wasn't just another piece of legislation for Pelosi -- this was the culmination of a crusade she has been waging her entire career to reorder Washington's priorities. Pelosi's animating ambition has been to put so-called women's and family issues such as health care, education and the welfare of children on the same level as homeland security, foreign relations and defense.
The tenacity with which she fought for health-care reform is directly tied to her gender. The belief that women, and the agendas they tend to support, are underrepresented has provided much of the rocket fuel that propelled her rise through Congress over 22 years. In 1984, Pelosi ran for the Democratic Party's national chairmanship and lost; party leaders told her she would have won if she had been a man. Since then, the Californian has been on a mission to smash the old-boy network in Washington.
(More here.)
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