Pelosi talks hurricane, Hick and the House

U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi met with Denver Post editors and reporters Wednesday to stump for the Democrats’ economic agenda ahead of a progressive women’s event at the History Colorado Center.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Pelosi spoke about President Donald Trump’s response to Hurricane Harvey, Gov. John Hickenlooper’s health care plans and what she thought of U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter voting against her for House Democratic leader.

Here are highlights from the Q&A:

On Trump’s response to Hurricane Harvey: Pelosi said it’s too

early to judge his response to the catastrophe in Texas. “We haven’t seen it. He’s been gracious, he went to Corpus Christi, which is sort of appropriate for him to do, because it’s in the heart of the storm. It would be a challenge to accommodate a president.

“What I’m concerned about is the president’s cut 11 percent of the (Federal Emergency Management Agency) budget in his budget (proposal). You can’t do that.”

The “test” for Trump, she said, will be whether he and Congress can agree to immediate funding for disaster relief, followed by a more robust aid package, similar to what happened after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

“But these people are not going to be made whole. It’s very hard. But you have to give them hope that it’s going to get better -soon.”

On “antifa” activists’ violent behavior: Pelosi distanced the Democratic Party from the activists who consider themselves anti-fascists. “I think if there’s some people who are acting in a violent

way, that they should be prosecuted,” she said. “I don’t care who they are, where they are, whatever organization they belong to. You’re talking (about) some individuals. You’re not talking about the far left of the Democratic Party — they’re not even Democrats. A lot of them are socialist or anarchist or whatever.

“Violence by anybody is to be rejected and dealt with, but that’s not who we are.”

On Trump’s presidency so far: “Nothing is happening

on the part of the president,” she said. “He hasn’t put forth the infrastructure proposal, he hasn’t repealed the Affordable Care Act, he hasn’t done a tax bill.”

But, she suggested, Democrats shouldn’t fall into the political trap of constantly criticizing Trump. “(The voters) don’t want to hear us criticizing the president,” she said. “This was a choice; they made a decision. And to criticize the president personally is to disrespect their judgment. So I say to my members, ‘This is about what we’re going to do.’ ”

On the Republican tax proposal: Pelosi said it is

critical “to fight the Republicans on what they want to do on the tax bill.” She said Democrats are still pushing for a bipartisan solution and wants to see the final legislation focus on using the tax code to create goodpaying jobs and reduce the deficit.

“What they are proposing is really trickle-down economics revisited, which has never really created jobs or reduced the deficit,” she said, calling the GOP proposal “brutal” in terms of what it may add to the deficit.

Trump wants to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent. Pelosi said she is not willing to discuss “anything lower than the mid-20s,” but wants to see the whole package before drawing a line in the sand.

On a health care effort led by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Ohio Gov. John Kasich:

Pelosi said Hickenlooper is “highly respected in the Congress” and combined with Kasich’s years in the body, it gives them credibility in the discussion. “Their letter is a good letter,” she said, apparently referencing one of the letters the duo issued to lawmakers in recent months. She agrees with efforts from the governors to address cost-sharing payments to insurance companies and reinsurance for the most sick enrollees.

On the 2016 election in Colorado: “Colorado is so important,” she said. “Thank God, Hillary Clinton won Colorado, even though it was closer than we thought . ... Colorado going the other way, it would have been very sad.”

On Democrats’ chances in 2018: Pelosi said Trump’s poor approval ratings remind her of when Democrats retook Congress in 2006 as President George Bush’s popularity was in a free fall. “If (Trump) is in the low 40s or the high 30s one year before the election -- in fact, in the next six weeks -- the path to a Democratic majority is there,” she said, in part because Republicans may have a harder time getting strong candidates to run.

On Colorado’s 6th Congressional District: Pelosi

said she’s interested to see who wins the Democratic primary, but she praised Jason Crow’s background and military service. “My understanding is the (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) is very interested in Jason,” she said.

On U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s changing his mind to run for re-election: “All of the members

wanted him to stay,” she said. “He just couldn’t walk into a room when people were not saying ‘Come on.’ … He’s very respected and well liked.”

On Perlmutter’s vote against Pelosi as Democratic leader: “I don’t care.”

On how other Democrats should respond when asked whether they’ll support her for leader: “I just say to people,

‘Just win your election. Don’t worry about me; you just win your election,’ ” she said, acknowledging that Republicans have used her as a issue on the campaign trail.

She suggested that Democrats should turn the question around and ask whether Republicans will support House Speaker Paul Ryan.

“When Republicans pose that question,” she said, “you know they’re talking about their own political bankruptcy.”