Citing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's leadership demonstrating "strength, integrity and grace under pressure" and "using her power to protect the most vulnerable of our citizens," former ambassador Caroline Kennedy has named Pelosi as the recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for 2019. "She is the most important woman in American political history and is a true Profile in Courage," Kennedy said.
Recipients of the award are chosen each year by a bipartisan committee composed of political, academic, and private sector leaders. Pelosi's recognized achievements include spearheading the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and her "persistence and determination as she set out to rebuild the Democratic Party in the image of America." That persistence and determination are needed now more than ever for all of the people of America, and she's got another chance to use them in the next stimulus spending bill Sen. Mitch McConnell is trying to jam Democrats with this week.
McConnell's announcement that he was going to get a bill through Thursday with unanimous consent to beef up the already faltering small business lending program was news to Sen. Chuck Schumer and Pelosi. However, as of Tuesday afternoon Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he's talked to them to "secure an additional $250 billion for the #PPPLoan program." Here's another point of leverage for Pelosi and Schumer to get their priorities enacted: they’ve shifted priorities to focus on the most vulnerable people in this crisis. That means more direct payments to everyone, hazard pay for front line workers as Schumer has proposed, expanded paid leave, expanded nutrition assistance, more money for hospitals, and more health coverage for people requiring treatment for the virus.
It also needs to protect voters. What's happening Tuesday in Wisconsin is a travesty and will almost certainly result in more people being infected with the novel coronavirus. Vote by mail has to happen nationwide, and it will only happen if Pelosi and Schumer are willing to exploit Trump, Mnuchin, and McConnell's desperation to keep bailing out the business community.