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Pelosi is seeking to calm nervous Dems.

Washington (CNN) - Job growth is expected to take center stage Friday as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addresses the increasingly anxious leadership of her party at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting.

Pelosi's remarks will coincide with the release of the Labor Department's January employment report. President Barack Obama will stress the need for small business job growth later in the day at a separate event in Maryland.

While the president claimed credit Thursday night for breaking "the back of the recession," the jobless rate has remained high at 10 percent.

Politically, Pelosi and Obama find themselves in an uncomfortable position as their party's centrist and liberal wings are at odds over the best way for Democrats to recover from a string of recent election losses.

Moderates facing tough challenges in the looming midterm elections are stressing issues such as the need to reduce spiraling deficits. Progressives warn that a failure to more aggressively pursue issues such as health care reform will depress turnout this November from an already deflated and angry political base.

In Congress, Democrats remain divided over how to proceed in the wake of Massachusetts GOP Sen. Scott Brown's upset victory in the race for Ted Kennedy's seat, which stripped Democrats of their 60-seat Senate supermajority. Brown's win gave Senate Republicans the power to block most legislative initiatives.

For the near term, however, most senior Democrats appear to be in agreement on the need to stress job growth. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Thursday that he could call for a vote on a new job stimulus bill as soon as Monday.

He indicated he'd like to see congressional approval of a measure before lawmakers recess for the President's Day holiday next Friday.

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TOPICS: Obama speech, favorable ratings, foreign policy

Full results (pdf)

Washington (CNN) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has released this list of her guests for President Obama's first State of the Union address Wednesday night:

Front row of the Speaker's box (left to right):
Paul Pelosi, Jr. (Speaker's son)
Former Baltimore Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro (Speaker's brother)
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley
Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty
Ted Kennedy, Jr.
Ophelia Dahl, Executive Director, Partners In Health
Barry Rand, CEO, AARP
Janet Murguía, President and CEO, National Council of La Raza
Ben Jealous, President and CEO, NAACP

Other guests in the Speaker's box will include:
Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley
Anna Burger, SEIU
Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO
Jim Guest, President and CEO, Consumers Union

Other guests of the Speaker in the Chamber will include:
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Tom Foley

Full coverage: President Obama's State of the Union address

Pelosi promises health care reform win.

Washington (CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted Wednesday that Congress will pass a health care reform bill, despite recent setbacks that have raised new questions about the changing political climate.

Democratic hopes to get a bill to President Barack Obama's desk before his upcoming State of the Union speech were derailed by the GOP's upset win in last week's special election to fill Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat.

The win stripped Democrats of their 60-vote Senate supermajority and gave Republicans enough votes to block most legislation in the chamber. Democrats, who were in the process of combining previously passed House and Senate bills at the time of election, have been struggling since to come up with a new legislative strategy.

"I don't see (failure) as a possibility," Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill when asked about the possibility of not enacting health care reform. "We will have something."

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the House does not have the votes to support the current Senate health care bill.

Washington (CNN) - The Senate health care bill has too many unpopular provisions to win approval from the House at this time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.

Pelosi's comment to reporters appeared to dash the chances that Democrats will take the easiest route for passing a health care bill - having the House approve the Senate version unchanged.

"I don't think it's possible to pass the Senate bill in the House," Pelosi said. "I don't see the votes for it at this time."

She insisted that all options remain open, but also signaled possible agreement with President Barack Obama's comment Wednesday that scaling back the legislation estimated to cost almost $1 trillion over 10 years might be the preferred option.

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The National Republican Trust PAC announced Monday the creation of 'The Pelosi Index.'

Washington (CNN) – A conservative group that attacked Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign for his association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright is launching a new campaign against vulnerable Democratic members of Congress with the goal of linking them to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her "leftist agenda."

The National Republican Trust PAC announced Monday the creation of "The Pelosi Index," an online database that rates members of Congress according to how often they side with Pelosi on votes on touchstone issues, such as the stimulus package and health care reform.

Democrats who have lined up with House leadership more than 75 percent of the time - closer to the "Tyranny" end of the group's scale, as opposed to the "Liberty" end - are labeled "The Worst of the Worst."

Scott Wheeler, the executive director of the PAC, told CNN the new effort will be accompanied over the next 90 days by a $3 million television and radio ad blitz against several Democrats seeking re-election in 2010, with a specific focus on members who hail from districts won by John McCain in 2008.

Wheeler would not list every Democrat in the PAC's crosshairs, but he did name four who will be targeted by ads in the coming months: Florida Rep. Ron Klein, Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and Arkansas Rep. Marion Berry.

"There are others that I think that can be put in a position to have to explain and defend voting for an agenda that is completely inconsistent with the values of their district," Wheeler said of other Democrats on the PAC's hit list.

He said the PAC group was still evaluating whether Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith - who switched parties to become a Republican in December - will be targeted or treated "as Republican who might start voting more conservatively."

Pelosi has been named a 2009 loser in a new poll.

(CNN) – Americans don't believe House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Congressional Republicans had a particularly good 2009: Both were labeled "losers" in a just-released Gallup poll.

According to the new poll, 50 percent of those surveyed thought Pelosi is among the "losers" of the year while 52 percent said the same for Republicans in Congress. Conversely, only 39 percent think Pelosi is a "winner" while 38 percent gave positive marks to GOP members of congress.

As for other political losers of the year, 61 percent identified South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson - who earned fame after his "You Lie!" outburst at President Obama - and 63 percent named South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, whose exploits with an Argentinean woman were well documented last summer.

But Americans thought the biggest political losers of 2009 were Tareq and Michaele Salahi, whose last name became a verb after the two crashed a White House State Dinner last month. Seventy percent of those surveyed said the Salahi's were losers while only 16 percent identified them as winners.

When it comes to the year's winners, Michelle Obama gets the highest marks with 73 percent of Americans giving the first lady high marks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes in a close second with 70 percent of those surveyed giving her the thumbs up. Rounding out the list is President Obama with 58 percent, and newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor with 57 percent.

Americans were less decided on four other political figures of 2009: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, radio talk-show host Glenn Beck, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. None received more than 50 percent as either a "winner" or a "loser." Palin came close though: 49 percent of those surveyed thought she was a loser; 46 percent said she was a winner.

The poll surveyed 1,025 Americans from December 11-13 and carries a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated on a conference call Wednesday that her goal is to get a final health care reform bill to President Obama's desk before his State of the Union address.

Washington (CNN) – House Democrats are already home for the holidays, but they huddled on a conference call Wednesday afternoon to discuss the next steps in negotiating a final health care bill with the Senate.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi restated the goal is to get a final bill to President Obama's desk before his State of the Union address in late January or early February, but admitted on the call that timeline could slip, according to two senior Democratic aides who were on the call.

Members made it clear to House leaders that they didn't want to simply accept the Senate bill, the aides said.

"Their point is that while both bills are a major step toward making affordable, quality health care available to all Americans, the House bill has quicker reform, is more affordable, and covers more people," according to one of the aides.

The Wednesday call follows a Tuesday meeting that Pelosi convened with other top House Democratic leaders and committee chairs via phone to map out the House's game plan for a conference with the Senate early next year. Although the House won't be in session until January 12, next week House staff will begin working through the differences on the two chambers' healthcare bills, according to several Democratic aides. Leaders and committee chairmen will return in early January for health care meetings. These aides were hesitant to get into specific details because the Senate hasn't passed a bill yet, but they emphasize that the House Democratic leaders will push hard for some key elements of their reform measure.

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A winter storm is expected to wallop the D.C. area Saturday.

Copenhagen (CNN) – In a strange twist, a Washington snowstorm is forcing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, to make an early departure from a global warming summit here in Denmark.

Pelosi told CNN that military officials leading her Congressional delegation have urged the 21 lawmakers to leave Copenhagen several hours earlier than scheduled on Saturday.

The Speaker said she has agreed to the new travel plan so that lawmakers can get back to Washington before much of the expected storm wallops the nation's capital.

HHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled her willingness Thursday to consider a health care bill that lacks a government-run public health insurance option.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled her willingness Thursday to consider a health care bill that lacks a government-run public health insurance option.

Pelosi has previously insisted the public option was necessary for House approval of a health care bill. Last month, the House passed its version of the sweeping health care measure that includes the public option.

However, Senate Democrats agreed this week on a tentative deal to drop the public option from their health care bill in order to ensure the measure can pass the chamber.

Under a proposed alternative, the Senate bill would permit private insurers to offer non-profit coverage overseen by the government and expand the Medicare program for senior citizens to allow people as young as 55 to buy in.

Pelosi, D-California, at her weekly news conference said she wants to get the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate alternative before judging it, but she opened the door to a final bill without the public option.

"We in the House believe that the public option is the best way to keep insurance companies honest and also to increase competition," Pelosi said, adding: "If you have a better way, put it on the table."
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The day after President Obama's inauguration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described herself as 'on a high.'

(CNN) - The day after President Obama's inauguration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described herself as "on a high."

"I am very excited about the prospect of serving as the Speaker of the House with President Barack Obama because of the power of his ideas, the strategic thinking that he brings to it and the leadership that he provides to speak to the American people," the California Democrat said.

Obama laid out his agenda for the country and his plan to bring about the change he promised during the campaign. Still glowing from the elections, Pelosi said, "my attitude is to take his lead."

In the 10 months since then, Pelosi has successfully done what she's needed to do to push Obama's agenda through the House - so much so, that some have asserted she's more effective than the president.

Full story

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama's decision to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan met Tuesday with a mixed reaction among the nation's leaders.

Leading Republicans backed the additional deployments, but questioned the creation of a three-year withdrawal timetable.

The sharp disagreement among members of Obama's own party indicates potential political trouble for the president as he tries to rally the country around his decision to expand American involvement in the eight-year conflict.

Obama announced the deployments - along with the three-year withdrawal plan - in a speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, on Tuesday night.

(The mixed reactions of 15 key lawmakers and politicians after the jump)
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Washington (CNN) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement after President Obama's speech Tuesday night:

“President Obama inherited a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan because the Bush Administration did not have a plan to get the job done.

“Tonight, the President articulated a way out of this war with the mission of defeating Al Qaeda and preventing terrorists from using Afghanistan and Pakistan as safe havens to again launch attacks against the United States and our allies. The President has offered President Karzai a chance to prove that he is a reliable partner. The American people and the Congress will now have an opportunity to fully examine this strategy.

“Our troops in Afghanistan and around the world have performed excellently; they have done everything that has been asked of them. As always, we are grateful and respectful of the enormous sacrifices our men and women in uniform, and their families, have made.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says a war surtax does not have 'a good prospect.'

Washington (CNN) - Speaker Nancy Pelosi Tuesday poured cold water on a proposal by several top House Democrats to impose a new surtax to pay for the war in Afghanistan.

Pelosi told CNN, "I think the war has to be paid for. That may be one option, but I don't think that has a good prospect."

The surtax proposal–a graduated tax on most taxpayers–was put forth recently by a number of senior Democrats and close allies of Pelosi, including: House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wisconsin; Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania; Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-New York; and House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson, D-Connecticut.

Pelosi, who has expressed concerns about increasing the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, is scheduled to meet with President Obama Tuesday afternoon to hear details on his new war strategy. She declined to comment on the President's decision to send another 30,000 troops.

"What I've said to the members is: Listen to what the President has to say. Give him room to give his justifications. We will all have something to say about it then."

Speaker Pelosi said Tuesday that 'there is serious unrest' in the House Democratic Caucus over funding the Afghanistan war.

Washington (CNN) - Speaker Nancy Pelosi kept the door open Tuesday to a proposal by several senior House Democrats to impose a graduated surtax on American taxpayers to finance the war in Afghanistan.

While Pelosi wasn't pressed about the details of the new war tax, she pointed to strong reservations among Congressional Democrats about the costs of the war during a conference call Tuesday with several economic writers and bloggers.

"But let me say that there is serious unrest in our Caucus about can we afford this war?" Pelosi said.
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Speaker Pelosi said Tuesday that 'there is serious unrest' in the House Democratic Caucus over funding the Afghanistan war.

Washington (CNN) - Speaker Nancy Pelosi kept the door open Tuesday to a proposal by several senior House Democrats to impose a graduated surtax on American taxpayers to finance the war in Afghanistan.

While Pelosi wasn't pressed about the details of the new war tax, she pointed to strong reservations among Congressional Democrats about the costs of the war during a conference call Tuesday with several economic writers and bloggers.

"But let me say that there is serious unrest in our Caucus about can we afford this war?" Pelosi said.
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Pelosi will be burned in effigy at a Tea Party rally in Virginia next week, the event's organizer told CNN.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The organizer of a "Tea Party" protest in Virginia says he intends to move forward with plans to burn House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Tom Perriello in effigy next weekend at a rally to protest Democratic health care legislation.

The event is scheduled for next Saturday in Danville, which borders North Carolina and sits at the southern end of Perriello's congressional district. Perriello, a Democrat, narrowly won his House seat in 2008 and is considered a top target of Congressional Republicans in next year's midterm elections.

When news of the rally surfaced Friday, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen condemned the plans as "shocking and despicable."

But Nigel Coleman, the organizer of the Tea Party, told CNN he doesn't see what all the fuss is about. The attention, he said, should be on the Democratic plans to overhaul the health care system.

"We're not going to actually set Perriello on fire or Mrs. Pelosi on fire," Coleman said. "But we have been trying to months to get our point across just how vehemently we are opposed to this health care legislation. For the House vote to come so close and to know that Mr. Perriello is on the other side, it's a kick in the stomach that a lot of people couldn't take."

Coleman said none of Perriello's potential Republican challengers have been invited to the event, which he expects will draw about 100 people.

"Something shocking and despicable is how they've handled this health care legislation," Coleman said, responding to Van Hollen's statement. "Going behind closed doors, writing a bill that is going to fundamentally change what America is. More people are going to be killed by this health care legislation than this bonfire."

Pelosi will be burned in effigy at a Tea Party rally in Virginia next week, the event's organizer told CNN.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The organizer of a "Tea Party" protest in Virginia says he intends to move forward with plans to burn House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Tom Perriello in effigy next weekend at a rally to protest Democratic health care legislation.

The event is scheduled for next Saturday in Danville, which borders North Carolina and sits at the southern end of Perriello's congressional district. Perriello, a Democrat, narrowly won his House seat in 2008 and is considered a top target of Congressional Republicans in next year's midterm elections.

When news of the rally surfaced Friday, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen condemned the plans as "shocking and despicable."

But Nigel Coleman, the organizer of the Tea Party, told CNN he doesn't see what all the fuss is about. The attention, he said, should be on the Democratic plans to overhaul the health care system.

"We're not going to actually set Perriello on fire or Mrs. Pelosi on fire," Coleman said. "But we have been trying to months to get our point across just how vehemently we are opposed to this health care legislation. For the House vote to come so close and to know that Mr. Perriello is on the other side, it's a kick in the stomach that a lot of people couldn't take."

Coleman said none of Perriello's potential Republican challengers have been invited to the event, which he expects will draw about 100 people.

"Something shocking and despicable is how they've handled this health care legislation," Coleman said, responding to Van Hollen's statement. "Going behind closed doors, writing a bill that is going to fundamentally change what America is. More people are going to be killed by this health care legislation than this bonfire."

Pelosi weighs in on Mass. senate battle.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is weighing in on the battle to succeed the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Pelosi is heading to Boston Friday to formally endorse Rep. Mike Capuano in his bid for the Senate.

Capuano, a six-term Democrat who represents the state's 8th Congressional District, is battling Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, Boston Celts co-owner Steve Pagliuca and Boston businessman Alan Khazei for the Democratic nomination.

"Whether taking on the CEOs of the financial services industry, supporting marriage equality, or voting against the Iraq War because he didn't believe Bush Administration made the case to take military action, Mike Capuano has a proven record of standing up for progressive values and what he believes is right. I am proud to endorse Mike Capuano for U.S. Senate," said Pelosi in a statement.

Capuano is considered a trusted adviser to Pelosi. In late 2006, then Speaker-elect Pelosi tapped Capuano to oversee the Democrats' transition to the majority. The speaker later picked Capuano to head her Special Task Force on Ethics Enforcement.

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