JOE LIEBERMAN BLOCKING

Once upon a time he was the Vice-Presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.  A few years later he left the Democrats to become an independent. A few years after that, he was branded a turncoat for backing Republican John McCain for President.  Soon afterwards, when Barack Obama won the election, he was rescued by the (then) President-elect from a pack of Democratic wolves who smelled blood and sought revenge.  You’d think Joe Lieberman owed President Obama and Senate Democrats a bit of a favor.  So why then is Lieberman the latest poster boy dead set on blocking health care reform?

On Monday, Senate Democrats struggled to move forward on a sweeping healthcare overhaul sought by President Barack Obama.  But their old nemesis, Joe Lieberman, was right there, standing in the way of progress. This is a make-or-break week for healthcare, yet old man Joe has threatened to join Republicans in blocking the health bill, which complicates Democratic efforts to gather the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican opposition. Liberals have rarely been as furious as they are now at Joe Lieberman for threatening to withdraw his crucial vote for health reform over a Medicare policy point he’s previously supported.  “If you think you are sick of Joe Lieberman now,” said Harford Courant columnist Jim Shea,  “…just wait until you get sick.” Liberal bloggers have attacked Lieberman as “a joke,” a “mass-murderer,” not to mention, “petty, sanctimonious, childish, vindictive, thin-skinned, and monstrously self-impressed.”  Even so, it appears Democrats are reluctantly prepared to drop the disputed part of the bill just to appease him. But why?  Without the public having a health care option, it’s not health care REFORM at all!

President Obama invited all 60 members of the Senate Democratic caucus to the White House on Tuesday to discuss a way to reach agreement. But Democrats have no margin for error. They control exactly 60 of the 100 Senate votes and cannot afford to lose Lieberman (who usually caucuses with Democrats), or any other member for what is Mr. Obama’s top domestic priority.

“We’ve got to stop adding to the bill. We’ve got to start subtracting some controversial things,” Lieberman told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.  “You’ve got to take out the Medicare buy-in. You’ve got to forget about the public option.”  But if those things are removed, then we’re right back to what we already have in our current health care — which would be a waste and nothing new.  Word on the Washington streets is that Lieberman may be in the pocket of insurance companies, many of whom are located in his state who would stand to benefit from the failure of this bill. Democrats have worked hard to find a bipartisan compromise to get health reform passed, and until now, this seemed to be it.  But if Joe Lieberman turns out to be the deciding factor to defeat passage, there will most certainly be hell to pay.  Lieberman has the upper hand right now and is openly wielding it.  But payback is powerful.  So, look out, Joe!  Even President Obama won’t be able to keep vengeful Democrats from one day whipping your independent behind!