(CNSNews.com) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, describing the U.S. economy as “dark, darker, darkest,” indicated that further nationalization of American banks may be necessary, although she shied away from using the word “nationalization.”
Pelosi also told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that investing in food stamps and unemployment insurance would be more effective in stimulating the economy than any tax cut would be.
In a taped, edited interview that aired Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Pelosi was asked if she would go along with additional government investment in American financial institutions.
Pelosi said she’s willing to do “whatever we have to do” to resolve the financial crisis.
Asked if it’s a good idea to “have nationalization or partial nationalization of the banks,” Pelosi responded, “Well, whatever you want to call it….If we are going to put money into the banks, we certainly want equity for the American people.
“In other words, if we are strengthening them (the banks), then the American people should get some of the upside of that strengthening. Some people call that nationalization. I'm not talking about total ownership… Now how big that investment becomes is -- would we have ever thought we would see the day when we'd be using that terminology? Nationalization of the banks.”
“So it (nationalization) might be necessary?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“Well, not by the terminology that you use, but some increased investment,” Pelosi responded. She said “transparency” and “accountability” must be part of the plan. “Only then would we be able to pass any additional funding,” she said.
Birth control
Asked about reports that Democrats’ economic stimulus package includes hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services, Pelosi said that family planning services “reduce cost.”
“The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs,” she explained. She said that funding for contraception “will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”
On other topics, Pelosi called Obama’s decision to close the enemy combatant detention center at Guantanamo Bay “really brilliant.”
“It's our first responsibility to protect the American people, as elected officials. And what the president puts forth was very wise. He said he's going to close Guantanamo, take the time to do it. You can't just go down there today and say, everybody out and lock the door. They're going to review the cases, narrow it down, and then go from there.”
Asked about fears that detainees will be released in the United States, Pelosi said, “I don’t even know that that is a possibility. “I know that there is provision for sending them home or to another country,” she said.
“There are all kinds of options,” Pelosi continued. “But I think you have to take the first step to say, who are these people? Why are they here? Should they be freed and sent home? Should they be prosecuted? Do we not have enough evidence to prosecute them? And in what courts are they prosecuted, a military court, a civilian court? So this plan is, I think, ingenious in what it does. Let's see how that works.”
As for bipartisanship and Republican complaints that their suggestions on the economy are being ignored, Pelosi said Democrats “will take some” Republican ideas. “We will judge them by their ability to create jobs, to help turn the economy around, to stabilize the economy and to see how much they cost,” she said. “But we're open to them and we'll review them and it all has to be done right away because our bill has to come to the floor this week.”
Pelosi said she doesn’t want the legislation bogged down with items that won’t turn the economy around. “I have the most to prove with this package, by the way, and…the choices we are making are those that will work, that must work. Our economy requires it. America's families need it. This is urgent.”