Joe Lieberman should have been exiled from the Democratic caucus long ago. He should be kicked out now. After bolting the Party and not respecting the will of Connecticut Democrats in 2006's primary loss to Ned Lamont, he got re-elected to the Senate with big Republican help. Then he endorsed John McCain last year. Then he went to the Republican Convention. Then he gave a speech at that convention blasting Barack Obama. The Democrats still invited him back this year, gave him a committee chairmanship and now are letting him run their Party. What would Republicans do to one of their members who acted this way? Would we ever find the body?
There is no benefit to having him as "the 60th vote" if he is not going to support the majority, but is going to bend the majority to his will. Not only should the Democrats say "no" to more Joe, they should realize they are destroying their base and the President has lost his mojo.
The President has also lost his perspective. So desperate to make a deal, any deal, on health insurance, so that he can declare "victory", he is telling all the Democrats to do whatever Lieberman wants. And they are going along with it. On Sen. Byron Dorgan's prescription drug re-importation amendment, 30 Democrats voted "no" and the amendment still passed - 51-48. But it didn't pass. Why? It didn't reach the filibuster-proof magic number of 60. The President made a deal with the drug companies (they still support the bill, and we still don't have negotiated prescription drug prices in Medicare) and that is why he asked the 30 Democrats to vote against the Dorgan Amendment. They went along with the President, damaging their constituents for $19 billion dollars per year and working for the drug companies.
Senators Bernie Sanders and Russ Feingold (at least) should turn the tables on the President and Mr. Lieberman by making their own demands - or else they will join the Republican filibuster! Two can play this game! Senators Sanders and Feingold should demand a real public option, plus a Medicare buy-in for those 50 and above, plus no subsidies to private insurers (if insurance is unaffordable, enroll the people in Medicare and Medicaid; the rules of capitalism do not say 'pay with taxpayer dollars to make an unaffordable product affordable' - if anti-abortion people can say they don't want their tax dollars going to abortion, I don't want my tax dollars going to insurance company corporate welfare) plus negotiated prices for prescription drugs in the Medicare program, plus re-importation of prescription drugs. Or else filibuster.
The President has forgotten who put him into the building where he lives and works. He has also forgotten that the bigger they are, the harder they fall. He got so many people so energized, that the fall into disappointment and bitterness is a long ride - and the base, once burned this badly, will no longer respond when the President and Democrats, playing 'Lucy with the football' in Charlie Brown comics-style, says 'Come on, kick the ball, I won't pull it away this time'.
The first rule of politics is "punish your enemies, reward your friends". Even George W. Bush knew this rule. The President and his fellow Democrats have forgotten this and will pay the price.
Can victory be snatched from the jaws of defeat? Yes, in at least two ways.
First, the President can rescue his Presidency - and Democrats can rescue their Party - by immediately using reconciliation to pass a real public option plus a Medicare buy-in immediately after the President signs the turd that Congress is about to pass on health insurance. A second bill. By using the reconciliation procedure (which requires only a simple majority vote - no filibuster) Mr. Obama and the Democrats in Congress can say to their base "See? We were playing chess all along - we got what we all wanted but couldn't tip our hands in the first bill because Joe never would have voted for the first bill."
Second, the filibuster should be abolished. We already have one anti-democratic branch of government - the federal courts. Lieberman is using this antidemocratic rule to leverage himself into the real leader of the Democratic Party - a party he left over 3 years ago! Wait for alleged Democratic Senator Ben Nelson to say the price for his vote is abolishing all abortions - will the President say "do that too"?
With the filibuster gone, we can say "No More Joe" and pass what real Democrats want - leaving Blanche Lincoln and the rest behind. We are so close, yet so far - all because of the silly, anachronistic filibuster rule. Let democracy rule - for good and for ill.
At least I can still dream.
Follow Norman Goldman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@normangoldman
Just saying....
I still advocate single payer. If you take the annual federal budgets of the Schip and Medicaid programs of $223 billion that would more than offset the cost of single payer. If you add in the VA budget, that's another $41 billion a year. It's a no brainer...
If the states didn't have to budget for their portion of Medcaid they could use those budget dollars for other things, like education. Where are the states on this issue? They are very quiet.
Strong advocate for a public universal health care reform bill who has worked tirelessly for at least a decade to bring real reform to fruition.
Sen Joe Lieberman:
Has strongly and publicly opposed this president and meaningful reform at every turn.
The White House:
Gets mad at one of them and publicly dismisses him as a crank while publicly and privately catering to every petty whim of the other.
What's wrong with this picture?
Who will be the “Joe Lieberman” from the progressive side who takes a stand in the Senate and refuses to support a bill that makes buying insurance and medications from corporate criminals mandatory?
If the public option is out, then mandates must come out too.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/16/815264/-Strip-the-mandate,-and-put-GOP-on-the-spot
As Cenk Ungyr and Miles Mogelescu have stated in HuffingtonPost blogs before, health care "reform" was never anything else other than a chance to trade a mandate to buy for-profit insurance in exchange for an ocean of corporate campaign cash.
We do not have to ascribe good intentions to the President or pretend that the President is anything else other than a corporate shill for Wall Street just so the delusional Obamabots can kid themselves about their political hero.
Just wait until tens of millions of Americans who are struggling just to make their mortgage payments and cannot afford to buy for-profit insurance now are forced BY LAW to spend hundreds of dollars a month (at least) on for-profit insurance, at the expect of food, clothing and other necessities, lowering their standard of living even further, under heavy tax penalty if they don't.
Conservatives and teabaggers will have a field day. Progressives and liberals will stay home in droves or vote for third parties in numbers not seen for decades.
This trillions of dollars on the back of those least able to pay it might as well be called the "Republican Resurrection Act".
This is not over yet!
And the President thinks he deserves a B PLUS on his report card! Hello? Do they think we're stupid?
This is not what we voted for!
Obama promised a transparent administration, so far it's transparent only if you are Super Man and able to see through thick steel. Way too many back room deals behind closed doors. Not one single thing has been transparent by the Obama administration.
Obama was elected after making many promises and so far he has kept none, Joe Lieberman was elected to represent his constituents and he is keeping that promise yet you want to keep Obama and toss out Lieberman, have you lost your marbles?
And you want to get rid of the filibuster, why? just because in the past it has worked for the Democrats (always threatening to use it) and now the shoe is on the other foot?
No matter what, this is a win-win for the Republicans, if it fails the Republicans claim victory for stopping it, if it passes, then here in eleven months there wil be such a high turnover in Congress that the Republicans will claim victory and start doing all they can to kill this crap on the vine.
Way to go Joe, keep up the good work!