Reconcile the guy who wants to filibuster health care reform if he doesn’t get the bill he likes with the guy running for re-election who said all this:
WASHINGTON — After spending most of his Senate career advocating piecemeal health care reforms, Joseph I. Lieberman said Wednesday he strongly supports universal health care.
Lieberman devoted a conference call with reporters to an issue that his main rival in the U.S. Senate race, Democratic nominee Ned Lamont, has highlighted in recent days.
“I have long supported the goal of universal health care,” Lieberman told reporters. “Ned Lamont can talk about it. I’ve been doing something about it all the time I’ve been here.”
In reality, Lieberman has a long record of killing health care reform, opposing reform bills since the beginning of the Clinton Administration. But when his job security was threatened in 2006, he stepped up as a “strong supporter” of universal health care.
Lieberman has claimed that his rejection of health care reform has nothing to do with the fact that his home state of Connecticut has the highest concentration of insurance jobs in the United States. But he keeps going back to not wanting to add to the federal budget deficit, which is a complete dodge since even the President has vowed not to sign a bill unless it’s deficit-neutral. It’s a way for Lieberman to talk about his opposition without having to say he is protecting powerful interests.
A lot of this is posturing, of course. Lieberman wants to say he’s against the bill “as it stands now” to get some goodie or another out of it in the future. And if he allows the motion to proceed, we’re many weeks away from his ultimate decision. But make no mistake – Joe Lieberman has been an enemy of health care reform practically since his election to the US Senate.
UPDATE: And if the White House really has no quarrel with Reid and is four-square behind his strategy, they can prove it by leaning on Joe Lieberman to allow a final vote on the bill. After all, he owns the bill now, as Sherrod Brown said today.
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I wonder if Holy Joe mentored his Senate protege, Barack Obama, on how to run a blatantly deceptive campaign.
David, your “Update” was absolutely spot on! Maybe you should bold it.
As TBogg put it, Joe Lieberman’s main goal is promoting Joe Lieberman. As Steve Benen noted a while back, Lieberman has changed his explanation for opposing health care reform several times, and his current explanation doesn’t make any sense (Benen’s got a good post on this one today, too). And many folks have noted Lieberman’s fiscal hypocrisy. I am so sick of the guy. Maybe some MTP appearances or photo ops with Obama will stroke his ego enough.
BTW, I think the “he” in your last sentence refers to Obama, not Lieberman, yes?
I think the mantra for this plebian is “PROVE IT”.
I don’t believe anything liarman says, but I am totally for BO coming down on hojo if he really is behind Reid as dday suggests. What a great opportunity to prove sincerity. And take a punch at a loser dissembler like hojo.
Notice what Joementum actually said in 2006:
That’s right: he supported the GOAL of universal health care. Sort of like supporting the goal of democracy while enabling a dictatorship.
In reality, Lieberman has…
Good lord – how many blog posts could you preface with those words?
I am shocked, SHOCKED to learn that Joe Lieberman reneged on a campaign promise.
Shocking it is but you will get over it.
We have 3 more years of it.
Don’t suppose that there’s such a thing as a recall vote in CT?
(I think we’ve covered this, and the answer is that we’re stuck with the fuck).
doG, prove me wrong.
Maybe some public shaming, like showing up wherever he is with signs.
Yeah it got hashed over frequently at a time long ago and a blog far away (or not).
Connecticut does not have a recall law but it has no bearing as US House and Senate are considered “federal offices,” not subject to recall. Once seated for a Congress, they are there until the next election unless expelled by their peer. James Traficant was the last one expelled in ‘02. And please do not ask me for a link on this one as I’m too lazy to go looking but the info is out there I know (having linked to it in the past).
It should be made crystal clear that if he filibusters he will be stripped of all committee seats. Period. If Reed doesn’t do this it amounts to saying he doesn’t support the PO no matter what he claims to support.
heh – you’re assuming that the fuck has a conscience, or the capacity to even feel shame.
He’s a United States Senator, fer chrissakes.
We mere mortals, with a net worth less which comes in at fewer than 8 figures, fuck it – we’re cannon-fodder (if young) or just a pain in the ass (if past service age).
like this float
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/upload/2006/10/Picture%20325.jpg
Exactly. I forgot that I used to know about that. *g*
must get our artistic skilz going
Was he not courted as the 60th vote just a short 9 10 months ago? What is point of having this guy in the Democratic caucus?
Or perhaps Obama can nominate him for something and then ignore him once he’s in.
Was he not courted as the 60th vote just a short 9 10 months ago?
Sure he was – by fucking idiots.
this works fine
i got a truck
who has papermache?
http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/p/S/2/lieberman-forgive-lk1107bd.jpg
Ambassador to Maldives. Then Lieberman can take along his scuba gear for government meetings.
make him ambassador to Russia
Good one.
I like mine better than yours.
i meant Siberia……g
This is the type of creature we’re talking about:
“Lieberman Aiming to Weaken Climate Change Legislation” – headline, 9/21/09
“Lieberman: Climate Change Threatens National Security” – headline, 9/8/09
Or perhaps Obama can nominate him for something and then ignore him once he’s in.
I’m thinking that Franz Joseph Land is due for a new Ambassador.
(check your globes)
Yeah, that’d top mine if Siberia were a nation.
I say exile him to a hog farm in Manitoba
Everything is working exactly as planned.
Please resume your normal activities.
boy that is a sweet find David !
c’mon, thought we all agreed on Ambassador to Iraq
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2659/4050355137_8222793180.jpg
Honduras. US Ambassador to the administration of President of Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales of Honduras (which is right now in the basement of a Brazilian diplomatic building) ;-)
my contempt for Joe Lieberman, never in danger of waning, just got a huge boost today.
How about Mogadishu? He can sing pirate songs with the locals…
we could send him back to his roots in a hovel
That’d work. The sound torture would be perfect for Lieberman.
actually Zelaya is the good guy. why inflict Lieberman on him?
c’mon, thought we all agreed on Ambassador to Iraq
no – he might have acutal power there, and it’s too close, in several different ways, to Israel.
Franz Joseph Land, on the other hand, is within spitting distance of The North Pole (if spitting is even possible there).
I stand behind my nomination.
So is Harry going to strip him of Power and his state and campaign contributors of Cash? I think all Military bases in his state should be chopped as part of the budget bill which only requires a majority vote I believe.
Joe as Tevye
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/TOPOL-Tevye-002.jpg
If the final bill has anything less than a Medicare-rates-based public option, Lieberman will be doing us all a favor by opposing it.
No Medicare for all, no bill! I’m fine with that. Let the pressure build until the Congress and the White House find the balls to give the American people what we deserve.
Partial payback for all the times we’ve had to listen to him speak.
Reasons change Desire remains the same for Lizard Brains.
Joe and Haddasah
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dnyq0y-XG3g/SsITW9LDxqI/AAAAAAAAAM8/hc8NtFFe8O4/s320/Photo+1+-+Fiddler+on+the+Roof+-+Tevye+and+Golde.JPG
SO lieberman will say whatever he has to say to get out of the frying pan. he usually immediately gets right up to his old games as soon as the immediate threat is past.He fulfils every stereotype of the self serving, sychophantic, lying political worm.He could have been written in a holywood screenplay. I have always understood conn. to be a moderately well corrupt political district, somewhere between RI and NY on the high sleaze index. If rape gurney joe continues to enjoy the strong support of conn electorate I might say they have surpassed RI at least on the national lvl.
New production of Fiddler Is A Goof?
I predict that Harry won’t do shit. He and Holy Joe probably already cut a backroom deal whereby Harry gets some of that Insurance Money for his upcoming campaign in exchange for letting HJ keep his committee chairmanship.
I’m sorry. Was that cynical? Especially in these new era of transparency in government…
A small downpayment, actually.
Isn’t his wife a Lobbyist for the drug companies or something shouldn’t he recuse himself from this vote? Can the Senate make him recuse himself?
It seems to be part of Russia.
I thought for a second it was Bob and Sara.
Joe sings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBHZFYpQ6nc
Let’s just dump that a-hole from caucus, funds and respect. Treat him like the karmic dung heap he is.
I agree but then Harry owns it if Healthcare does not pass he becomes the Weakest Senate Leader in history.
My worry is that this will be used as pressure on the House Dems to give in!
All Harry needs is one vote its much easier to muscle one vote than a bunch of House Rep votes but I bet Rahm and Obama start calling House Members Friday.
If Obama wakes up to the fact that cotinuing to alienate folks like us is actually putting his second term in danger he may actually decide to get rid of Turncoat Joe. If he is smart and willing to get even he can easially lay a trap for him with somthing like Deputy Dir of Defences of something like that that he’ll have a hard time turning down. Then, once he’s in, move him to an office in the basement of the darkest coldest corner of the Pentagon.
We should all send Obama copies of “The Prince”
by the way ,iirc…the JEWISH Bible,expects people to attend the sick
So will any GOPers cross the line and vote with Harry he tried so hard to be inclusive lets see what exactly he has to show for it.
hmmm…. it *is* the same color on my globe – you could be right.
FWIW, it’s a long-standing ridiculosity at the annual jayt family X-mas gathering:
“What does jay want? – Get him a new globe”. (I need a new one every year)
Has Borneo been nominated?
Ot Togo?
Or Benin?
Here’s the wiki.
I guess the real question is “Why can’t laws against fraud be extended beyond the commercial into the spheres of politics and religion?” Because the post shows LIE-bermann’s campaign, indeed his whole career, to be one massive lie.
And I know it’s a rhetorical Q. — kind of answers itself, doesn’t it?
Gee, you don’t suppose that might be Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago?
Lets just stick this on the budget bill straight up and down Majority vote right only since we don’t need Holy Joe lets stick it to him and go farther Left with the bill.
After all simple majority we only need 51 votes we could lose 8 more traitors.
The beauty of this is we show the Holy Joe, the Blue Dogs and the GOP what happens if you don’t cooperate!
Of course someone as skilled a Fixer as Rahm I’m sure knows all this stuff/s
BWAHahaha!
Greenspan,Rubin,Summers all agreed
Fraud ….not so bad
PBS Frontline THE WARNING
Any instant polls of what Holy Joe’s voters think funny how the News never has these polls when Joe or the GOP do something stupid.
Heh. Interesting thought, but according to wiki the term archipelago is a metaphor for the chain of gulags across the Soviet Union.
Okay. Anyone who thinks he’s pathetic, raise your hands.
Things, you count.
Just when you think he can’t get any lower, who shows up with a whaleshit hat?
;>)
jOES TOP 15 f YOUS
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/27/top-15-lieberman-betrayal_n_336024.html
Meanwhile, in the House…
Clyburn spokesperson Kristie Greco would only say: “We currently do not have the votes for a robust public option.”
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/exclusive-robust-public-option-lacks-votes-to-pass-house-internal-whip-count-document-shows/
PRETTY PLEASE…photoshop Joe and Haddasah…as Tevye,and Goldie…Fiddler on the roof…If I Were a RICHMAN
Oh, that big picture. Joe can sure laugh. Yeah. He’s a riot.
(Hiya Sadly, thanks.)
Joe Conason wrote an article that may provide a clue as to Lieberman’s motives:
http://archive.salon.com/opinion/conason/2006/09/01/hadassah_lieberman/index.html
Before this job, Lieberman’s wife worked for Pfizer as well. As always, and especially for Lieberman, FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!!!
Thanks, I probably should have known that but it has been over 30 years since I read it.
At least you’ve read it. All I’ve done is scan the wiki.
Joe sportin his beard…if he was a richman…like good buddy McNasty
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/3379/slide_3379_47915_large.jpg
Interestingly (to me anyway), the Graf Zeppelin visited Franz-Joseph-Land.
Robert Greenwald, as usual, hits it out of the park.
no one could have foreseen…
So much obscure information, so little time. However, if you play Trivial Pursuits, you might have a reason to use that information.
is this TPM headline suppose to be reassuring?:
Baucus Calm In Face Of Lieberman Threat To Reform
Hands raised:)
At least Joe is proud of Glenn Beck…It’s been said before by others, but if the price for not letting this corporate whore within a heartbeat of the Presidency was the ‘defeat’ of Gore (who, no doubt would have been undercut by Lieberman at every turn when he wasn’t looking), so be it…Of course, the following 8 years make a compelling case for a ‘lose/lose’ scenario either way.
On the Graf Zeppelin’s maiden flight across the Atlantic a section of the tail tore and workers were actually hanging out there attempting to repair it. Whenever the zeppelin got within about 200 feet of the water they’d scramble back inside so the engines could be restarted to provide some lift… And I thought I’d had some bad jobs.
‘He’s with us on everything but the public good’
;>)
Gore could have banished him to an undisclosed Joe-cation.
I AGREE….train wreck averted……….power monger
hahahahaha
it interests me too
Should it have been Dante’s 8th Circle of Hell (Fraud), or the 9th Circle (Treason)?
there’s a private circle reserved unto Joe himself.
think Agnew….the moon was the only safe place for him
The Devine Comedy
Wasn’t that a John Waters film?
Someone needs to take him out in a back alley and……
I dunno, I think he has to share McCain’s crevasse with fellow butt-gerbil Lindsey.
“to the moon,
AliceAlbert!”oy!
this works too
Bolgia 5: Corrupt politicians (barrators) are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, which represents the sticky fingers and dark secrets of their corrupt deals. They are guarded by devils called the Malebranche (”Evil Claws”). Their leader, Malacoda (”Evil Tail”), assigns a troop to escort Virgil and Dante to the next bridge. The troop hook and
Indeed, the 10th circle – ‘Gehenna for Lieberman’.
;>)
short ride is real evil
Who gets to throw the first pitch?
Satan/Limpballs sports teams in Hell
tar and feather the m*f*er
Hmmm.
Wall Street
Art students
9/11 snow job
Chicken hawks
Moving company
Propaganda media
DNC stealth neocons
Anti-semitism accusers
The chosen the superior
2-3% of the US population
Extortion blackmail bribery
By deception ye shall wage war
AIPAC’s Israel-first dual-nationals
For profit NotFederal NoReserve scam
~ Words are plentiful deeds are precious
Does anyone video or a link to video of Lieberman on the campaign trail and in debates speaking strongly for public health care? Saw some briefly on the TV this morning but can’t seem to get my hands on actual clips. Thanks.