海角大神

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to the Wednesday with a prop and a policy agenda to promote. The prop was a sheet titled 鈥淢cConnell鈥檚 Graveyard,鈥� and depicted nine tombstones, each representing Democratic House bills that the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says will not be voted on in his chamber.

Why is Speaker Pelosi helping promote Senator McConnell鈥檚 message, that he鈥檚 the 鈥淕rim Reaper鈥� for Democratic legislation? Because, she says, these bills are popular with voters and, in her view, the senator is bucking public sentiment at his peril.

鈥淸These bills] have overwhelming support among the American people,鈥� Ms. Pelosi said. 鈥淢itch has to be held accountable.鈥�

Among the bills are measures aimed at protecting people with pre-existing conditions, preventing gun violence, helping Dreamers, addressing climate change, and ending discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Ms. Pelosi then went to one of her favorite mantras, quoting President Abraham Lincoln: 鈥淧ublic sentiment is everything.鈥�

Ms. Pelosi鈥檚 focus on legislation, despite Washington gridlock, may reflect the triumph of hope over experience, but she is following her longstanding view that leaders must shape public opinion, and not just follow it.

Still, in this charged political environment, congressional investigations into President Donald Trump and the growing list of House Democrats who want to launch a formal impeachment inquiry are eclipsing efforts to publicize policymaking. And as President Trump rails against Democrats as the 鈥淒o Nothing Party,鈥� some party members worry their House majority could be imperiled in 2020.

Indeed, some of the more memorable moments at the Pelosi breakfast centered on impeachment and the report by special counsel Robert Mueller on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Ms. Pelosi announced that she would soon have access to a 鈥渓ess-redacted鈥� version of the Mueller report. The speaker had previously rejected such access if it wasn鈥檛 available to the whole country.

But now this less-redacted report will be available to 鈥渕any more people than just the leadership鈥� in Congress. Furthermore, she said, 鈥淚 accepted that because I鈥檓 afraid I really don鈥檛 trust the attorney general of the United States and I鈥檓 afraid that he may 鈥� depending on what is in there 鈥� try to, shall we say, deal with ongoing matters in a way that is not constructive for our Constitution. I can鈥檛 say anything more than that.鈥�

You can . Following are more excerpts from the breakfast, lightly edited for clarity:

Are you considering a censure of President Trump as an alternative to impeachment?听听

No. I think censure is just a way out. If the goods are there, you must impeach. And censure is nice, but it is not commensurate with the violations of the Constitution, should we decide that鈥檚 the way to go. That鈥檚 my view.

There are a few people in our caucus who say, 鈥淲ell, we could just do that.鈥� That鈥檚 a day at the beach for the president 鈥� or at his golf club, or wherever he goes to get that complexion.

Another Democratic member of Congress, Rep. Brian Higgins of New York, called for an impeachment inquiry Tuesday, saying the president has 鈥渟tonewalled鈥� House investigations. What do you think of his argument?

Well, I respect everybody鈥檚 timing on when they think there should be an inquiry. I don鈥檛 think you should have an inquiry unless you鈥檙e ready to impeach.

What I believe is that when we go forward, if we go forward, it has to go deep. It can鈥檛 be the Democrats impeach in the House; the Senate, in his view, exonerates. This president must be held accountable.

What鈥檚 your take on the replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA?

This is NAFTA with sugar on top. So it isn鈥檛 that much of a change. But the president could go out there and say, 鈥淪ee, I got a better NAFTA,鈥� when it really isn鈥檛 going to make a difference in the lives of the American people.

Should Congress take action to protect the independence of the Federal Reserve?

The last thing we need is politics involved in setting interest rates and our monetary policy. And the last thing we need is a president threatening a chairman of the Fed about whether he is raising or lowering rates in tune with the president鈥檚 politics. This is so very, very wrong.

I鈥檝e fought Democrats who wanted to have more say about funding for the Fed if they did this or that 鈥� that鈥檚 completely wrong. You have to have an independent Federal Reserve Board. You would think that some Republicans would say, 鈥淢r. President, you shouldn鈥檛 be doing that.鈥� But we don鈥檛.

Let me just close by saying, I keep quoting our founders and what they had in mind for us. Thomas Paine, in addition to saying, 鈥淭hese are the times that try men鈥檚 souls鈥� [also] said, 鈥淭he times have found us.鈥� The times have found us. They found our founders to do what they had to do 鈥� to declare independence, fight a war, win it, establish a new country built on equality, something that had never happened before.

The times have found us, and all of you as well.