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Authors, sign in!Connecticut U.S. Senator, Joe Lieberman has "jumped the shark" in his latest attempt to derail health care reform efforts. In a move which was widely seen as a transparent effort to appease the 'independent' senator from the state which is the home to numerous health insurance companies, Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nevada) dropped the idea of a public option in exchange for the idea of permitting those 55 and older who don't qualify for Medicare the ability to 'buy in' to the Medicare system.
Sen. Lieberman has consistently stated his support for a Medicare buy in. Yet, now that he's getting almost exactly want he wants, he claims he can't support the revised proposal.
While having 60 votes is necessary to break a filibuster by the Republicans, perhaps it's time to forget about any attempt at bipartisanship and seek to pass health care reform by budget reconciliation. Let's demand our Democrats have some backbone. Forget pandering to Sen. Olympia Snow (R. Maine) and Joe Lieberman! It time to demand that either Lieberman votes with the majority or he loses his chairmanships on various Senate committees. A recent Research 2000 poll found 80% support for this proposition among rank and file Democrats.
Don't forget that this is the former vice presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. He failed to win the Democratic primary and decided he was so indispensable to the country that he ran as an independent. He followed that up by supporting Sen. McCain in the 2008 General Election. When many in the Democratic Party wanted him to lose his seniority and chairmanships when the Senate reconvened in January, Barack Obama publicly supported him and urged that no retribution be taken against him. But for me this is the last straw when it comes to Lieberman. It is time for him to be booted out of the Democratic caucus and the good people of Connecticut should demand his resignation!
Published December 15, 2009 by James Bordonaro |
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| Tags:
Connecticut
Democratic Party
Harry Reid
Health Care Reform
Insurance Companies
Joe Lieberman
Senate
Comments (1)
Rachel Maddow compared Lieberman to Lucy in Peanuts, who holds the football for Charlie Brown to kick, but then pulls it away at the last moment.
I don't know whether Joe is taking revenge on the party, has sold out to big health insurance, or is a secret Republican agent, working to make this flop of health care reform as catastrophic as possible for Democrats. My guess is all of the above. Whatever we want to say about it, it worked, thanks in no small part to Obama's and Harry Reid's weak leadership.
Posted by Peter Tramel
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December 16, 2009 11:28 PM
Posted on December 16, 2009 23:28