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Ear to the Ground

Lieberman Looms Large in Senate Health Debate

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Posted on Dec 14, 2009
AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Playing to the right?: Sen. Joe Lieberman, who formerly ran with the Democratic crowd before becoming independent, arrives at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

If it didn’t look like Senate Democrats were going to face some serious obstacles in passing health care reform legislation, Sen. Joe Lieberman is poised and ready to remind them, as he proved this past weekend with his ongoing rumblings to the press about joining the apparently inevitable Republican filibuster. Sen. Harry Reid and his cohort have their work cut out for them.  —KA

CNN:

Reacting last week to expanding Medicare as part of the proposed compromise, Lieberman said he would “look at it,” but added the Senate health care bill already included subsidies to help people 55 and older buy insurance coverage before they become eligible for Medicare at age 65.

“I want to make sure we’re not adding a big additional burden to the Medicare program, which we need to figure out how to save, because it’s going bankrupt,” Lieberman said then.

On Sunday, Lieberman bluntly stated he would join the GOP filibuster if the bill included the provision to expand Medicare. In response, a senior Senate Democratic leadership aide told CNN that the “Democratic leadership was shocked about how strident Lieberman was in his opposition to the Medicare proposal when he went on the Sunday shows.”

However, Lieberman spokesman Marshall Wittmann told CNN on Monday that Lieberman first informed Reid last week of his concern about expanding Medicare.

“Sen. Reid knew that problem could lead him to vote against this bill,” Wittmann said. “He informed Reid of that Friday.”

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By ben famous, December 15, 2009 at 4:36 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Looks like Lieberman is up to his antics again…

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By Garo, December 15, 2009 at 8:43 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Senator Joe Lieberman is totally controlled by his wife whose name is Hadassah.

Hadassah work for one of the largest insurance company for health care in the U.S.

It certainly needs no brainer to figure out what is the real cause behind his bombastic bravado in joining the Republican Senators who are fighting the Democrat’s health reform bill with public option by their rhetorical tongues,savagery teeth,greedy eyes and totally unacceptable phony positions which serve only the big sharks of Wall Street.

Let the traitor,Joe Lieberman,join his Republican phonies and let him filibuster with his Republican USERS on the Senate floor so that the American people of Main Streets can see what kind of destructive Senators they have and take it from there to throw the bumies out of the Senate and elect decent candidates who put the interest of the underdogs of Main Streets ahead of the interest of the big sharks of Wall Street.

Meanwhile,strip the Senate Chairmanship of Homeland Security Committee from the traitor and all other fringe benefits associated with it. Isolate the bastard and let him,along with his Hadassah,continue to be subservients to their Masters,the greedy sharks of big health insurance companies and the rest of the greedy sharks of Wall Street. When their Masters,the big sharks,find them no longer useful,they will
trash them.

One poster has suggested to stop “funding for the electric boat contracts(submarines)”. I smell that this item is very dear to Lieberman. Stop the funding to teach him a small lesson. Can the Democratic majority in the Senate,at least,do that?

If the Democrats fail to do all of the above and more,they are inept,incompetent and certainly a bunch of f fools.

Where is Represntative Alen Greyson of Florida to give them hell?  Alen,where are you? Please.

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By James Goodson, December 15, 2009 at 8:32 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The Democrats cannot govern either. Dumb ASSES

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By msgmi, December 15, 2009 at 8:16 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Believe it or not, Joe, the Main Street wannabe hero, was on the Gore ticket not too long ago. The CT electorate was fooled by the fool.

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By idarad, December 14, 2009 at 7:20 pm Link to this comment

Joe Lierman - When will the Dems ever learn - oh never mind. To bad they don’t shoot themselves in the foot while it is still in their mouth.  Lierman is a perfect example of a traitor…... when one puts themselves above the constitution and the people, when they are sworn to protect both, then they are traitors.  Put the bastard on trial…. hopefully convict him and do what they haven’t done to a traitor in 60 years…

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By SteveL, December 14, 2009 at 4:57 pm Link to this comment

Cut the funding for Electric Boat (the submarine works we don’t need) and all of
the other Lieberman favorite pork barrel projects.  Bush did this to get
Lieberman’s attention and it will work again.

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By Wellescent Health Blog, December 14, 2009 at 1:44 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Though Reid may have known of the objections that Leiberman has to the bill, it still leaves him with little capacity to make changes to accommodate Lieberman given that doing so would alienate many Democrats who are pushing for something akin to a public option. It really is quite a difficult road that Reid has to follow in order to reach some consensus that appeases all of the different interests within the party.

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By Bud, December 14, 2009 at 1:16 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Hey Harry Reid,grow a set of balls,and tell “Joe the Ho” to go to hell and join his scum sucking friends on the other side of the aisle.Strip the SOB of his chairmanship,and all the funding for the electric boat contracts.(submarines)This BASTARD is single handedly destroying the democratic party.Use reconciliation NOW!!!!!

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G.Anderson's avatar

By G.Anderson, December 14, 2009 at 12:46 pm Link to this comment

Isn’t Lie bermans wife highly paid to lobby for the health industry?

So if reconcilliation is inevitable, why not go for it, and vote for a full public option?

The Corporate Right, i.e. the Republican party will never support anything but a big payday for their owners.

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By samosamo, December 14, 2009 at 12:31 pm Link to this comment

Why is lieberman running the senate? I know reid is a plate of grease and a load of crap but between the both of them they are doing fine just letting everything languish in limbo for the insurance companies to continue ‘raking’ in the profits with nothing in return for those who need medical care. Now congress must surely lead the nation as the worst run legislative body without a jot of intentions of helping or working for the people that elected them.

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By Baronscarpia, December 14, 2009 at 11:55 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

“Sen. Harry Reid and his cohort have their work cut out for them”

Yes, and he it is:

1)  Grow a set of balls and a spine.  Now.
2)  Throw that miserable rat turd Lieberman out of their caucus, take away his committee chairmanship, and tell the public that he’s been told to go play with his Republican friends.
3)  Tell the Republicans “If you oppose the health care bill the majority of Democrat Senators support, then do what you have to do.  Vote against it.  If you feel you need to filibuster, then filibuster, but it’s going to have to be done on the floor of the Senate.  If you don’t know how it’s done, watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”
4)  Tell the American electorate that the Republicans are holding up all of the business of government because they sleep with big business, and if they want government that’s on their side they’re going to have to elect more Democrats in 2010.

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