Nancy Pelosi bluntly criticizes overreach of AOC's Green New Deal

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) finally cut the niceties and said what she really thought about the Green New Deal, the climate change and economic inequality legislation that has divided the Democratic Party in recent weeks.

The Green New Deal, authored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), has been mocked and criticized for being wildly expensive and potentially impossible to implement even if passed.

"Now in terms of the Green New Deal [as conceived], that goes beyond what our charge is," Pelosi told Rolling Stone. "Our charge is about saving the planet. They have things in there like single-payer and...what is it? Guaranteed income?

"And then they have, I don't know if it's single-payer or Medicare for All...it's kind of, like, a broader agenda. All good values, but nonetheless, not what we hope to achieve with this focused, determined, decision-making: You're either for the planet or you are not. There is no 'plan B' for the planet. We have to preserve it, and it is in great jeopardy."

The much-hyped Green New Deal has created a division within the Democratic Party between those, such as Ocasio-Cortez, who believe only extremely ambitious initiatives will make a difference, and those who favor a more realistic approach, like Pelosi or Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who had a notable exchange with a group of children about the bill.

"I've been doing this for 30 years," Feinstein told the group. "I know what I'm doing. You come in here, and you say it has to be my way or the highway. I don't respond to that."

Pelosi also criticized Medicare for All and single-payer health care in the Rolling Stone interview, acknowledging the appeal of the plan in theory but questioning its financial feasibility.

"Single-payer is just about who pays," Pelosi said. "It's not about what the benefits are. That is, administratively, the simplest thing to do, but to convert it? Thirty trillion dollars. Now, how do you pay for that?"

(H/T The Daily Wire)