Putting Lieberman in Charge of Health Care

The health care deal the Senate and president are so excited about would scrap a public option in favor of a plan administered by the Office of Personnel Management. Guess who oversees the OPM? Joe Lieberman, unless Democrats take away his chairmanship, which they’ve shown no inclination of doing.

Congressional Quarterly via DailyKos: The plan emerging from negotiations among moderate and liberal Democrats would put a key part of the planned health insurance exchanges under the supervision of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). And jurisdiction for oversight of OPM falls to the centrist-dominated Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Lieberman chairs. [Link]

Let’s recap. We’ve gone from not even talking about “single payer” to a public option, a public option that covers about 11 million people, a public option that covers 4 million people, a public option that covers 4 million people unless states opt out to a private plan overseen, ultimately, by Joe Lieberman, senator from Aetna. This isn’t the art of compromise, it’s the art of getting screwed.

[Thanks, George and James]

— PZS