FIRE JOE LIEBERMAN!

Disingenuous Joe: The president didn't twist my arm enough

2009-12-22T06:24:00.000-08:00

Lieberman attempts to pawn off his war against the public option onto the White House:

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) insists that the White House did not pressure him to get in line behind either a public health insurance option or a Medicare buy-in compromise during the health care debate this year.

"Well, no. I think I got pressure from the president to be for health care reform," Lieberman said when asked by HuffPost about any pressure from the administration to support either the public option or the Medicare buy-in. "I'd have to think about this, but I didn't really have direct input from the White House on this."

He added that Nancy-Ann DeParle, a top administration health care aide, downplayed the public option's significance early in the debate.

"Early on, Nancy-Ann DeParle came in, I told her my argument, I said, 'Nancy, I don't remember this ever being in the presidential campaign debates -- or discussions. I don't mean just the debates. And she said, 'You know, it's interesting. We went back and checked and there's one mention in the bottom of a paragraph of an Obama presidential policy statement on health care where it's mentioned as an option.' But most of the negotiation I had on that was with Senator Reid."

When Obama addressed the Democratic caucus towards the end of the debate, as the public option was teetering on the brink, Lieberman said the president told him simply to work it out.

"When he came to the caucus he said, 'Just try to work this out as you get to the end here.' And I said, 'OK,'" explained Lieberman.

Your witness, Mr. Matthews:

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Lieberman fires back at 'Operation Hadassah'

2009-12-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

Firedoglake founder Jane Hamscher's brawl with Joe Lieberman got more personal this week, as the blogger launched a petition drive to get the Susan G. Komen for the Cure cancer foundation to fire Lieberman's wife Hadassah as a paid "global ambassador." yesterday, Lieberman fired back:

U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman's office responded to what it called false statements and smears against the senator's wife, Hadassah Lieberman.

"It is a sad day when a false guilt by association smear of a spouse of a public official by a notorious political operative and blogger is given so-called legitimacy in the press,'' Sen. Lieberman's Communications Director Marshall Wittmann said via email.

"For the record, Mrs. Lieberman is not now nor has ever been a lobbyist. These McCarthyite tactics are unfortunate and contribute to the poisoning of our public discourse."

And Lieberman was equally testy about the petition drive when asked about it outside the healthcare meeting in which he had just finished sticking up Harry Reid ...

One thing he wouldn't tolerate were questions about his wife's longtime connection to the health care industry, and whether she should keep her position with a breast-cancer advocacy organization.

"I just think that's over the edge and offensive to me. My wife is a private citizen and she's working for a movement that aims at reducing or finding a cure for breast cancer," he said. "It's just deeply offensive to me."

Well, at least they aren't trying to deny her options on healthcare...

Lieberman kills Medicare 55 AND public option

2009-12-14T21:27:00.000-08:00

After White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel reportedly went to Harry Reid and told him to capitulate to Lieberman's demands, Reid apparently did just that:

Joe Lieberman has forced his will on the Senate Democratic caucus and the nation as a whole. After the party reached a compromise last week to effectively drop the public option in exchange for allowing 55- to 64-year-olds to buy into Medicare, that compromise is now in doubt.

Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, told Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Sunday that he will block any bill that includes the buy-in. As the 60th vote needed to overcome a Republican filibuster, he can do that.

Following a caucus-wide meeting Monday evening, the measure was all but scuttled.

"It's looking like that's the case. I can't guarantee it. At this point, at this stage, that seemed to be the case," acknowledged Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.). Asked why it had been dropped, he said, "I didn't confirm that now. It's just a matter of getting support from 60 senators."

So much for that.

TPMDC reports that the White House is none too pleased that word of Rahm's dealing leaked, but that the stories broken by the Huffpo, TPM and Politico today turn out to have been essentially true: the White House pushed Reid to jettison anything Lieberman didn't like -- and Lieberman doesn't like much.

The only question now is, how will progressives respond to once again being thrown under the bus by Harry Reid and the White House?

Liberman to Reid: screw you

2009-12-13T16:50:00.000-08:00

Traitor Joe tells Harry Reid to his face he'll vote against the new health reform compromise if it has anything in it besides a legal requirement for people to buy private health insurance. And Lieberman's got a new excuse for why he's not supporting reform: Democrats haven't given Republicans enough yet.

Appearing on "Face the Nation" this Sunday, the Connecticut independent said he thought the chamber could pass legislation this week if it just took "a few things out" first. Those things: a public option for insurance coverage (which is already gone), a provision that would expand Medicare to those as young as 55, and a new national insurance program that would help finance long-term care (known as the CLASS Act.)

"We've got to stop adding to the bill," said Lieberman. "We have to start subtracting some controversial things. I think the only way to get this done before Christmas is to bring in some Republicans who are open minded on this like [Sen.] Olympia Snowe..."

How does one do that, asked host Bob Schieffer?

"You have to take out the Medicare buy-in," said Lieberman. "You have to forget about the public option. You probably have to take out the CLASS Act, which was a whole new entitlement program that will, in future years, put us further into deficit. And you have to adopt some of the cost containment provisions.... If you did that, you'd have an enormous accomplishment. Thirty million Americans who can't afford insurance today would get it. Insurance companies would be more aggressively regulated and costs would be bent down. It's time to get reasonable."

Lieberman failed to mention anything Republicans should do to be "reasonable."

Chickenhawk Lieberman uses Fort Hood shooting to continue his neocon jihad

2009-11-09T05:32:00.000-08:00

Surprise, surprise ... Traitor Joe will use his ill-gotten Homeland Security Committee chairmanship to go after Muslims serving in the United States military. From the Wall Street Journal:

A senior U.S. senator on Sunday said the shootings at Fort Hood could have been a terrorist attack, and that he would launch a congressional investigation into whether the U.S. military could have prevented it.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who heads the Senate's Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said initial evidence suggested that the alleged shooter, Army Major Nidal Hasan, was a "self-radicalized, home-grown terrorist" who had turned to Islamic extremism while under personal stress

So what does Joe, who has never served in the U.S. military, know that the generals don't? Nothing. He got his "information" from the news (probably Fox):

Mr. Lieberman, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," cautioned that it remained too early to draw any definitive conclusions. He said his comments were based on "reports that we are receiving" about Mr. Hasan's actions and comments.

The Army's top officer, Gen. George Casey, wouldn't rule out that the shooting was an act of terrorism, but cautioned against speculation at this point. "We all want to know what happened and what motivated the suspect, but we need to … let the investigation take its course," he told ABC News's "This Week."

In other words, Joe knows nada. But that didn't stop him from speculating:

Mr. Lieberman said that if news reports were true that Mr. Hasan had turned to Islamic extremism, "the murder of these 13 people was a terrorist act and, in fact, it was the most-destructive terrorist act to be committed on American soil since 9/11."

"We don't know enough to say now, but there are very, very strong warning signs here that Dr. Hasan had become an Islamist extremist and, therefore, that this was a terrorist act," Mr. Lieberman added.

The lawmaker said he would begin a Senate investigation aimed at uncovering Mr. Hasan's motives and asking "whether the Army missed warning signs." He also called on the Pentagon to begin an independent investigation to determine whether "warning signs were missed."

Mr. Lieberman said preliminary evidence suggested that Mr. Hasan had denounced the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "In the U.S. Army, this is not a matter of constitutional freedom of speech," the senator said. "If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance. He should have been gone."

And if it turns out Hasan was just a lone nut? Then what, Joe? Maybe we should just bomb Iran or Syria before the investigations are complete, just in case, right?

And from his comments, it appears Joe also wants to make it a court martial-worthy offense for a member of the U.S. military to oppose his pet wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Interesting, from a guy who is as much a neoconservative as Bill Kristol, and just as much a chickenhawk: Lieberman received multiple deferments to get out of fighting in Vietnam. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

Lieberman continues to shill for Big Insurance

2009-11-09T05:29:00.000-08:00

Joe Lieberman told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday that he still intends to block healthcare reform int he Senate if the public option is included. Watch:

Why does he still have his gavel???

Say it isn't so, Al! Gore defends Lieberman

2009-11-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

... on Rachel Maddow's show. Bad look, Al. But on the up-side, he does use the word "denouement" in a sentence.

Gore: The short answer is no. We were very close friends in the Senate. We're still friends. He was right and forceful on many of the issues I felt were central, including global warming. He's been of the leaders on that issue. On women's right. On a whole range of issues. I disagree with him on a lot of the issues that have become more prominent since then, but I would urge people to wait until the denouement of this health care debate to see where it falls out because I do believe that Harry Reid is going to be successful in passing it very soon.

Watch:

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Protesters arrested outside Traitor Joe's office

2009-11-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

From the Connecticut Post:

Nine people were arrested Thursday during a sit-in at the office of Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., to protest his opposition to proposals to create a government-run health insurance program.
The protesters marched into Lieberman's office around 10 a.m. and demanded to meet with him. After their request was denied, nine demonstrators staged a sit-in and declared they would not leave until they had met the senator.

Capitol police removed them from the office in the Hart Senate Office Building and charged them with unlawful entry.

Lieberman was not in the office at the time.

The protest was organized by the Mobilization for Health Care for All, a group that supports proposals for a government-run health insurance plan. The group's Web site claims that Lieberman is one of the leading recipients of political contributions from the health insurance industry, having collected more than $2.6 million since 1989.

Lieberman's office later issued a statement that said the protesters had "rejected repeated offers for meetings with both the senator's chief of staff and legislative director to discuss their concerns."

Meanwhile, Lieberman's staff is denying a TPM report that he has struck a deal behind the scenes with Harry Reid to allow an up or down vote on health reform. Surprise, surprise. Either Lieberman is stabbing Reid in the back (again) or he's lying to the public.

Fire this dirtbag

2009-10-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

Joe Lieberman has a long history of betrayal of his friends in the Democratic Party, from being the first to turn on Bill Clinton, to cozying up to George W. Bush, to supporting Republican John McCain against Barack Obama, AT THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION in 2008. Now, it's time for Harry Reid to take away his committee chairmanship, and for Democrats to begin making plans to show him the door in 2012. Holler if you're with me!

Over at the Huffington Post, Robert Scheer agrees: it's time for Democrats to bail on Lieberman ... and Rachel Weiner outlines the top 15 Lieberman double-crosses, from killing Bill Clinton's universal healthcare plan, to his latest stunt: killing Harry Reid's healthcare plan.

At TPMCafe, the question on everyone's mind: Why didn't the Dems kick Joe out long ago?

WSJ: Lieberman ''doesn't much care' about Dems' displeasure anymore

2009-10-28T10:27:00.001-07:00

The Murdoch "serious paper" says the "Independent" from Connecticut has thrown his former party fully overboard (no kidding...)

A Lieberman defection on ObamaCare would, of course, send the Netroots around the bend -- those ultra liberal activists who agitated successfully for his defeat in the 2006 Connecticut Democratic primary. But Mr. Lieberman, having faced them down to win reelection in the general election, doesn't seem to much care about their displeasure anymore. Worse for his party's liberals, his stance might prove an attractive example to many swing-state Democrats who still aren't sure they want to support such a big government takeover of health-care.

And as if on cue...

The centrists, a loose-knit group of as many as 12 Democratic senators, are crucial to the success of any health care bill, because it takes 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to shut off a filibuster -- an extended debate to prevent a decisive vote -- and Democrats control 60 seats," add McClatchy Newspapers' David Lightman and Margaret Talev.

"After Democrats met privately for about an hour Tuesday, the moderates were largely unenthusiastic about Monday's proposal from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to include a public option in the pending health care overhaul legislation, while allowing states to opt out of it.

"While the Democrats, including Lieberman, are expected to vote with their party leadership at least to allow debate to begin, there are serious questions about whether they'll provide the votes needed to end debate over specific parts of the bill or, in the end, to approve the legislation.

"Reid said he was unconcerned, calling Lieberman 'the least of Harry Reid's problems.'

"Moderate Democratic senators long have voiced reservations about the public option, the cost of overhauling the health care system and other issues. Their informal roster includes Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, Louisiana's Mary Landrieu, Virginia's Jim Webb and Mark Warner, Montana's Jon Tester, Nebraska's Ben Nelson, Indiana's Evan Bayh, North Dakota's Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Delaware's Thomas Carper."

"[L]awmakers said that if moderates' concerns do not prevent the Senate bill from advancing next month, the opt-out provision could be ditched on the floor," write the Washington Post's Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery. "Some moderate Democrats are more comfortable with the 'trigger' approach that Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) has advocated, saying that a variant of a public plan is more likely to win 60 votes. Under Snowe's approach, a public plan would be available only in states where private companies do not offer policies at broadly affordable rates."

As rage spreads across the land...

2009-10-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Joe Lieberman's decision to stab Democrats in the back (again) on behalf of insurance companies has touched off anger all across the country (and online).

To quote somebody called "wheelimus" on Daily Kos:

"Joe Lieberman should have been kicked out of the caucus a long time ago. But, damn it, we as a party and a majority have no backbone if his gavels are not ripped from his hands once he makes history by filibustering with the opposition."

But will Harry Reid act?