Pelosi hits back at Jon Stewart: You’re wrong, I’m no hypocrite

Republicans in Congress are petrified of offending conservative talk-radio icon Rush Limbaugh, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) isn’t scared of taking on left-leaning Jon Stewart. The Comedy Central “Daily Show” host recently called Pelosi out for being hypocritical on budget reconciliation rules (which must be the only time in history that budget reconciliation and comedy have been intertwined).

The reconciliation rules would allow Democrats to pass healthcare reform with only 51 Senate votes, stripping the GOP of its filibuster rights.

{mosads}Stewart aired video clips ostensibly showing Pelosi embracing the partisan budget maneuver this year but condemning it when Democrats were in the minority.

A smirking Stewart noted the irony of Pelosi’s contrasting statements.

Asked for comment this week, Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami fired back.

“She was not talking about reconciliation in that clip — it was about judicial nominations and the nuclear option. This has nothing to do with reconciliation … Jon Stewart had it wrong (shocking, I know),” Elshami wrote.

As Stewart would say — Oh, snap!

We don’t want to get in the way of a good fight, but a review of newspaper articles and transcripts shows that Pelosi is dead on and Stewart is dead wrong.

Will Stewart apologize? ITK contacted Stewart’s flack, but Stewart is apparently in bunker mentality, declining to respond to what surely will become known as DailyShowgate.

Pelosi appeared on Stewart’s show a week after he had mocked her. The reconciliation topic didn’t come up (but the tension was palpable).

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Lugar takes pride in being ‘Nobody’s bitch’

Who would have thought that the always-smiling Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) would acquire such a fierce reputation? The May issue of Esquire magazine included the 77-year-old lawmaker in its feature “Sixty-Six Guys to Emulate.”

{mosads}Next to a head shot of the senator is this simple explanation: “Senator Richard Lugar. Nobody’s bitch.”

For people not hip to the latest street slang, this title might sound like a bad thing. But it’s not.

“I asked my staff to interpret that, and they said it meant that you’re an independent-minded individual,” Lugar told ITK this week. “Given that interpretation, I was pleased.”

What leaves ITK puzzled is how Esquire came up with such a moniker for the affable Midwesterner. Perhaps it’s his willingness to work across party lines, as illustrated by his close relationships with the country’s two most powerful former senators, President Obama and Vice President Biden. Or maybe it was his leadership on one of Capitol Hill’s stickier issues as head of the Republican task force on earmark reform last Congress.

Whatever the reason, Lugar keeps company with the Dalai Lama, former President George H.W. Bush, singer Willie Nelson and basketball star Shaquille O’Neal on the magazine’s exclusive list.

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Clinton gives Ron Paul a shout-out

Talk about an odd couple: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday gave a little bit of love to fellow former presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

During Clinton’s appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee, Paul — the only Republican presidential contender in 2008 who opposed the war in Iraq — praised the Obama administration’s emphasis on diplomacy.

{mosads}Clinton returned the love.

“I just want to say, having campaigned during the last presidential election, you had the most enthusiastic supporters of anybody I ever saw,” Clinton said. “I mean, my goodness, everywhere I went, they were literally running down highways holding your signs.

“So I’ve never had a chance to tell you that, but your message obviously resonated with a lot of people,” the secretary of State gushed.

“You’re going to encourage him,” deadpanned panel Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) as the room broke out laughing.

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‘Pencil press’ only for Plouffe

Remember when President Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, riled everyone up in February by giving a speech at the National Press Club that was closed press?

 It looks like Plouffe is now set to give a speech at the end of April that straddles the line between open and closed press.

 {mosads}Plouffe is scheduled to speak at the American Hospital Association’s annual membership meeting from April 27 to 29, according to a release from the group. Plouffe’s remarks are denoted as “for pencil press only.” That means that radio and television coverage is not allowed, according to a spokesman for the group.

The spokesman also said that broadcast media are not allowed for “contract reasons.”

Sen. He-Man from Nebraska

Sen. Ben Nelson (D) told The Hill this week that he spent much of his April recess cooped up in his Nebraska office holding “meeting after meeting after meeting” and thus didn’t get much of a chance to blow off steam in the great outdoors like he likes to do.

Nelson might not be happy about spending so much time indoors, but his tailor is grateful.

That’s because last summer during the August recess, Nelson did so much work clearing tree stumps and brush around his cabin on the Platte River in Nebraska that he nearly busted out of his fine wool business suits when he returned to Washington.

“Last year I did so much in August that my weight didn’t go down but I bulked up in my shoulders and my muscles so that my suit coats were tight,” Nelson recalled. “I was almost bound up.”

Lawmakers often describe large, controversial bills as “heavy lifts,” but Nelson gives new meaning to the Senate jargon.

Nelson said clearing trail is “hard physical labor” but he likes it. He noted that he sweats so much lifting tree trunks and other debris that he often changes clothes three times a day. An aide says that Nelson’s favorite spot for buying outdoor gear is Cabela’s, an outfitter that boasts a “bargain cave” and has three stores in Nebraska.

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Using his free time for a good cause

The Washington Wizards were hoping to be playing in the playoffs this spring, but it didn’t happen. (Actually, not even close.)

 But Wizards forward Antawn Jamison is not sitting at home with the remote. He will join beach volleyball star Misty May-Treanor at an event on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to speak out against drunk driving and underage drinking.

{mosads}The event is being organized by The Century Council, which is funded by distillers and chaired by former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.).

Fireworks expected in DeMint’s new book

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), one of Congress’s biggest bomb-throwers, is coming out with a book on Independence Day. And he will not be holding back in his criticism — of Democrats and Republicans alike.

The tome has been in the works for over a decade, DeMint told The Hill. It will be titled Saving Freedom: We Can Stop America’s Slide Into Socialism. (And will undoubtedly be read on beaches across the country this summer).

“It’s really about what works in America, with our history of freedom and the components of it,” De-Mint said. “It’s kind of a warning against policies that are essentially socialistic, with an action plan on how we can change it.”

DeMint said he began working on it in 1999 “in bits and pieces,” adding that the basic idea behind the book was what motivated him to seek election to Congress.

“I don’t name any names; it’s more about criticizing the process — spending and stuff,” he said. “There’s pretty equal criticism of both parties … It’s just about freedom. It’s about what works. It’s not about politics, and it’s really bipartisan in its criticism. We’re just trying to inform and activate America.”

This is DeMint’s second book. His first, Why We Whisper: Restoring Our Right To Say It’s Wrong, was released last year.