[Breitbart] By a narrow margin, the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives voted on complicated and controversial legislation.
Inside-the-Beltway observers, always attuned to political technique, were duly impressed by the muscle used to get the bill through the House. In the words of Politico, “Despite the tough path to passage, the legislation is a significant win for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”
For his part, the new Democratic president—less than a year into office—was delighted. He said of the legislation, “It’s a bold and necessary step.”
So, yes, Democrats were very happy when the American Clean Energy and Security Act passed the House on June 26, 2009.
Oh, sorry—were you thinking that this was about the Build Back Better (BBB) legislation that passed the House on November 19, 2021?
We’ll get to BBB, but just for another moment, let’s keep going down memory lane, back to when House Speaker Pelosi pushed an ambitious—many said, too ambitious—bill aimed at setting up a “cap and trade” system for carbon dioxide emissions. You know, to fight climate change—and perhaps also to enrich her cronies. Indeed, critics ripped the cap-and-trade system as “Enron in the sky,” referring to the crooked company that sought to make insider profits out of its political connections.
Yes, House Democrats were happy a dozen years ago—but not for long. You see, the House bill never passed the Democrat-controlled Senate, which meant that the Democrats who voted for it in the House were left exposed—they had voted for the exotic and expensive legislation, and yet had nothing to show for it. Only downside, no upside: pols hate that.
Indeed, the following year, the blowback against Pelosi/Barack Obama-type overreach cost the Democrats dearly. In the 2010 midterm elections, opposition Republicans picked up 63 House seats—the largest Republican gain in the lower chamber since 1938—and along the way, relieved Pelosi of her speakership.
So now to 2021, when Democrats are once again in the majority, once again led by House Speaker Pelosi, and once again, have passed a big bill, BBB. Needless to say, Beltway media are once again lionizing Pelosi; in the words of Punchbowl News, a split-off from Politico, “Pelosi wins.” The publication added, admiringly, “Pelosi pulled off an inside straight . . . [she] played the long game, waited out all the gripes from the various factions inside her caucus, and got what she wanted at the end of the day.” (As we can see, Pelosi is much admired by inside-baseball types, those who focus more on legislative clout—whip operations and the like—than on actual policy outcomes.) 
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