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TechnoratiLieberman Twists the Knife
Is there a more hypocritical figure in American politics than Joe Lieberman? The Connecticut senator declared Tuesday that he would support a filibuster of any health care reform bill that has a public option—even the version with the “trigger” compromise accepted by Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe—because it might cost money.
“I think that a lot of people may think that the public option is free,” said Lieberman, one of the Senate’s big spenders, in a suddenly frugal mood. “It’s not. It’s going to cost the taxpayers and people that have health insurance now, and if it doesn’t, it’s going to add terribly to our national debt.”
This from a senator who, as much as anyone, helped run up the national debt since 9/11 by pushing to raise the military budget to its highest level since World War II. It is a budget inflated by enormous expenditures on high-tech weaponry irrelevant to combating terror, such as the $2-billion-a-piece submarines—produced in his home state of Connecticut—that he claimed were needed to combat al-Qaida, a landlocked enemy holed up in caves. The same week that he and others in Congress passed a $680-billion defense bill larded with pork of the sort he has always supported, Lieberman is worried about the impact of a very limited public option on the debt.
Lieberman, whose state is also home to insurance companies that are opposed to any consumer-friendly medical coverage alternative, boldly stated that his opposition to even the most limited version of a public option should not be surprising: “I think my colleagues know for a long time that I’ve been opposed to a government-created, government-run insurance company.” Perhaps during his filibuster to prevent a vote on the public option Lieberman can square that position with his longtime support of the massive government–run insurance programs Medicare and Social Security.
Maybe he can also take that time to justify his strong support for the government bailout of troubled banking and insurance companies that has tripled the federal deficit this year to $1.4 trillion. Is AIG not now a “government-run insurance company,” and doesn’t the $185 billion of taxpayer money tossed at that sorry enterprise add up to more than twice the yearly cost of the health reform package? And that’s without considering the trillions of tax dollars put into play to shore up Citigroup, Bank of America, GM, Chrysler and those other suddenly socialized sectors of American corporate life.
If a scant public choice in health care is so threatening to our way of life, because health care alone must be kept a pristine captive of the most destructive impulses of an unbridled free market, then why not privatize Medicare as well as the publicly financed health care programs for government workers—including those in Congress like Lieberman, veterans and the active military? And while we’re at it, why not revive that Republican fantasy, popular in their ranks just a few years ago, of privatizing Social Security by turning the most effective government program over to the vagaries of the stock market?
I do continue to begrudgingly respect the consistency, if not the wisdom, of libertarians like Ron Paul who oppose all of this big-government intrusion into the economy. At least their belief in the efficiency of the free market, affirmed in opposition to the banking bailout, is not compromised by a willingness to throw trillions in taxpayer dollars into backing the riskiest of corporate bets. But it is not possible to feel anything but loathing for those like Lieberman who vote for every big government program, no matter how wasteful, in support of big business, but draw the line at a program designed to cut medical costs for the ordinary citizens they have been sworn to serve.
Lieberman’s threat to thwart a vote on sorely needed health care legislation, complete with a public option that a majority of Americans have consistently supported, should spell the end of his connection with the Democratic caucus. It should also cost him the committee chairmanship he was granted in order to guarantee the 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster. But a filibuster, which would expose Lieberman and the others as irresponsible wreckers of essential reform, is not the worst outcome. The surrender by the Democratic leadership to this blackmail by the party’s disgraced former vice presidential candidate would be a blow from which the party would not deserve to recover.
63 Comments so far
Show AllAmericans:
Stop voting for them. Zionists represent 10% of your government. Lieberman is a vermin and need to be exterminated for good and he is very, very, very ugly. He hangs around with piggy preacher Hagee.
Zionists run your country - wake up.
To Surprise_Witness---
You got that right.
To loopless---
Are you suggesting that Israel is a socialist state on a permanent wartime footing? Could that not have been said of Sparta?
As for Joe Lieberman, who is he really working for? What does it really mean to be an Orthodox Jew in the U.S. Senate, from Connecticut who is by his alleged religion every Friday night prohibited from pressing the elevator button taking him up to the lofty whimsies of his local "Defense Industries"? Who is pressing that button for him?
Is he expecting a Palestinian to shine his shoes?
Actually, that would not surprise me. For the likes of Joe Lieberman, after all, the Palestinians would be the "new Blacks."
I'm with The Dixie Chicks and their song, "Earl had to Die."
-30-
Ironic that Lieberman never found anything about Israel that he didn't support, but ignores that Israel's medical delivery system consists of four HMOs that are government supported and all Israeli citizens are compelled to belong to one of them. He's just opposed to such a system in the U.S. (Of course, Palestinians aren't covered by the Israeli system.)
Remove Congress's insurance plan and watch them squeal like stuck piggies.
The significance of Lieberman's public statements declaring his opposition to health care reform (even of a pathetically limited nature) is that he gives cover to Democrats who now have a handy scapegoat to blame-- which conveniently takes them off the hook for their own votes. This helps them keep close ties to their corporate contributors--which is essentially the main motive they have in this whole debate now. Thus, Lieberman is performing a valuable service to all the Democrats who really don't want meaningful healthcare reform to pass, but don't want it to look like it was their fault that it failed. Rather than hurting these Democrats, Lieberman is HELPING them.
Why don't the Republicans tolerate members of their party who defy their legislative leaders? Because they make no pretense of acting to help the public; they are proud to be the Corporate party. They have nothing to lose by expelling their rebels, and everything to gain. Most Democrats, on the other hand, need to pretend that they are working for the public--without actually doing that--so they often need political cover. Just consider the recent defense spending bill which passed with overwhelming Republican and Democratic support. Did the Republicans need any political cover? Not on your life! But the Democrats needed--and got--the hate crime amendment, allowing them to "justify" their vote. It's all about cover.
Don't look to the Democrats to challenge or disempower Lieberman any time soon. He is an essential part of their disingenuous political operation. To put it another way, if they didn't have a Lieberman, they'd have to create one. Outliers help them lie better.
Sioux Rose
SURPRISE: Fine analysis. I totally concur. Others in this forum have made a powerful case for the collusion of both parties who now serve corporations first and foremost, the public and its interests, be damned.
You are so correct in your comment above. It IS all about cover.
My question is. Why are there a thousand dupes chosen as our representive's, yet there is always one of them that can keep everyone else from over voting him? People like Lieberman are the reason Hitler went to their ass. But the Jewish people and the great corrupt U.S. won't tell the truth. They tried to take the control of the money and government away from the German people. Just as they do on Wall St.
A "rotten barrel" of rotten apples?
Yup.
Are distinctions really worth the trouble here?
Nope. With the possible exception of Feingold.
We'd probably be better off if the Brits had won the War of 1812...
-30-
as Henry CK Liu for Asiatimesonline wrote in another article:
about the US "economic model" or "banking system".....and the bailouts - this goes for the "heatlh care" and the so-called 2-party system:
""IT's not that it's a few rotten apples in the barrel....it's the BARREL of Apples that is Rotten".
Socialist,
Don't be too enthusiastic about Bernie Sanders' ethical standards. During the recent consideration of banking and financial regulations in his Senate committee, he made sure to block every single meaningful proposal to control the wild and reckless speculation by financial institutions that has crippled our economy. He is good on some issues, sure, but is still quite tolerant of this kind of highly profitable white collar crime. You can probably guess where a lot of his campaign donations come from--yup, banking and financial institutions.
I think CD recently posted an essay about this subject.
Bernie Sanders means well....Perhaps you are all correct about Sanders, but, I do not think he is the main issue here.
It is often due to institutional problems and long standing burueacratic stalling which creates many problems.
I agree. Wailing Bernie Sanders is always telling us about the trials and tribulation of the middle and poor classes (as if we weren't painfully aware of that). He is mostly talk and no walk. I think he is a token voice permitted to fool people into believing we live in a democracy. I wish it weren't so.
I'll ask my Governor if this state can 'opt out' as in SECEDE!
A quick trip over to "Opensecrets.org" shows that Mr. Lieberman, during his last campaign received the following:
Insurance industry $427,644
Health Professionals $359,370
Pharmaceuticals/medical $297,090
Of course, I'm sure that these monies have nothing to do with the stance that "turn-around Joe" is taking on this issue, but again, it of interest to see. These were the seventh, eighth and tenth largest contributers respectivly.
What they are not listing there is the several Million that Rove dumped into the campaign and the hundreds of Republican ground troops brought into CT from all over the country to defeat Lamont. The Democrats in CT had rejected Lie berman and voted almost unanimously against him. The Republicans put up a very badly compromised candidate, a rabid dog, so that the Republican voters wouldn't feel any hesitation voting for Joe. Since more than half of CT voters are "UnAffiliated", the Rove strategy worked. He picked up enough Republican and UA votes (and there may have been a bit of vote rigging) to prevail.
Joe Lieberman is a JERK!!!!!
Rahm Emanuel is a JERK!!!!!
The Democrats plan is an INSULT!!!!
And the Healthcare Bill still SUCKS!!!!
Lieberman is a spineless wimp with a defunct intellect, a shame to all Jews.
Connecticutniks really goofed when they sent him back to the Senate. They could have had Ned Lamont.
Connecticut should be expelled from the US, sawn loose and set adrift into the Atlantic.
Bye-bye!
Does Lieberman also support revoking the 2003 Medicare giveaway to pharma? Why not authorize Medicare to negotiate drug prices if Lieberman is concerned with cost. Why not put a windfall profits tax on healthcare companies? They all claim that profits are not the problem, so a tax on non-existent windfall profits shouldn't be a problem. Why not enforce monopoly laws, ban corporations who are found to have engaged in Medicare fraud from further government payments and pursue real consequences instead of Corporate Integrity Agreements? There are a lot of ways to go after the extraordinary cost of our system if saving taxpayer's dollars is what concerns him.
Once again, a "progressive" author is so deep inside the belly of the beast he cannot see out. Cannot see the forest for the trees once again.
Lieberman is not the problem, it is the entire Senate (which is un-democratic to begin with, the House should be the only Legislative body), the winner takes all electoral system, the legal framework that is rigged for the rich and corporations, and the corporate oligopoly propaganda machine are the real culprits here.
Lieberman is only operating the way a Senator can, legally. So if you don't like the system, either change it or quit whining. Liberman is a loathesome immoral person, however he is no diffferent than every other Senator (with the possible exception of Bernie Sanders)
The author falls into the trap of blaming a few "bad apples" and supports the corrupt system. Intellectually lazy and short sighted in my opinion. It aint a few bad apples, the whole barrel is rotten!
You are right.
I just got an e-mail from Senator Leahy. He was crowing about the hate crimes bill which just passed attached to the 130 billion dollar war funding. The hypocracy of these cretins is breathtaking. We live in an oligarchy. Our democracy, what little we had, received the real knifing when the CIA was born. It was over in 1947. Until the CIA is eliminated, there is no hope of reigning in the bought or blackmailed congress. They work for Wall street. The enforcers for Wall Street work at the CIA.
Sioux Rose
AGG: I'm about halfway through "JFK & The Unspeakable," and never realized that the CIA and its "sister" organizations truly do operate like their own secret government, answerable to no one. The premise of plausible deniability is equivalent to nobody's held to account for ANYthing, thus an anything goes foreign policy, see no evil, hear no evil, project it all onto the enemies du jour, exists instead. I can hear Dana Carvey's character, Church Lady saying "How convenient!"
When I was compiling data for a book on the planet Pluto (it rules secret organizations and is the astrological upper octave to Mars, god of war) I used resource books at the Athens, Georgia library. I don't remember l947 being cited for the beginning of the CIA, and yet that was the year that Saturn, lord of karma (and ruler of Capricorn, the sign OF corporations and government controls) met with Pluto, the only time the pair would meet in Leo across 248 years. Noting this conjunction (as above, so below style) I was searching for evidence of how it manifested on the mundane plane. To any who understand the cosmic alphabet as written through the planetary principles, its "letters," the convergence of Saturn with Pluto spells out a secret government or organization aligned with the dark side.
Pluto represents Hades, the zone of the dead. It is also associated with the "underground," and it has always fascinated me that criminals are regarded as underworld or underground characters. Much of the Logos has found its way into our lexicon, but too many bypass these powerful not just cosmic cues.
I wasn't born in 1947 but I have a brother born in 1944 who is the embodyment of everything underworld and shifty. He colluded with my father to deny my inheritance from my mother's portion of a rental property valued at just over one million. Now, with my father deceased, he occupies the property and refuses to sell it. Meanwhile he collects and keeps the rent. He's a real prize.
But getting back to the subject of Pluto, does this 248 year conjunction mean that most people born in 1947 would be attracted to the corporation + underworld type of secret government? If so, we are in really deep doo doo. Do you realize how many baby boomers were born that year? It was a tital wave of babies! They are 62 now. They are in corporations, the government, the CIA and, let's not forget, the media. Astrological signs are not cast in concrete. We can break out of them but having this propencity for secret government on so many born in 1947 doesn't bode well for us.
Orthodox jewish pork for Israel.
None for us neo-Palestinians here in the U.S.
-30-
"It’s going to cost the taxpayers and people that have health insurance now, and if it doesn’t, it’s going to add terribly to our national debt.”
Yea - it's gonna cost a whopping dollar-a-f@#king-day, you lying, turncoat, corrupt POS!
As opposed to the $90,000 you helped force each American into rewarding Big Bankster with for a super-robbery well done!
To review, Joe F#$king Lieberman: 'Public Option' costs via the CBO: $330/year x 10yrs per American. Big Bankster 'bailout' costs per American (that we know of): $9,000/year x 10yrs per American.
$330/year for cheap health 'insurance' v $9,000/year for... not a f@#king thing.
And we can't f@#king afford what again?
Well said. Liar-man must think that war funding and Israeli "aid" are free. But health care is (shriek!) not free, not free ,not free. Senator Lieberman is a first class traitor.
And to think, this tool almost became vice president.
Imagine 9-11 and THIS guy in power. Worse than Cheney? A darn good chance.
(More) proof-positive there's no difference between democrats and republicans.
No doubt a slimeball, however blaming everything on him, serves to deflect attention from the fact that our system does not produce democratic process. The vast majority of politicians can largely ignore the preferences of their constituents and get away with it. The candidates are selected by big-money interests, mostly corporations. It is not democracy, it is The Best Democracy(TM) Money Can Buy.
Do not be fooled into thinking this is just about a few bad apples like Lieberman, the entire barrel is rotten.
Obama and Reid could put a political shiv in Lieberman's back anytime. He has deserved it for years. Obnoxious and vile as Lieberman is (and he does set the standard), his Dem enablers are in fact far worse, because they know better but will not act. But what about the millions of Connecticut voters who ditched Lamont and voted for this snake? WTF is wrong with these people? They're not all millionaires!
It was a shock when Obama made up with Lieberman after he backed McCain and was with him constantly. Why why why....
They decided to move on and join together to fight their real enemy -- the common people.
BINGO!
lieberman does not understand economics
and he will only not spend money to help regular people
but he will spend billions on the military industrial complex
the statements that public option will cost the american people more is a LIE!!!!
lieberman does not understand economics
and he will only NOT spend money to help regular people
but he will spend billions on the military industrial complex
the statements that public option will cost the american people more is a LIE!!!!
I wouldn't consider Lieberman a hypocrite. His actions are fairly consistent. He supports bills that will help the bottom lines of major corporations, and he doesn't support bills that will help the population. Increasing the military budget has great effects for the wealthy. The public pays for creating new technology (under the auspice of national security) that will eventually be privatized and put into the hands of the wealth of the nation. Increasing the military budget keeps 3rd world countries - who we depend on for cheap labor and resources - in line. Increasing the military budget is a boom for private companies like Lockheed-Martin, or Halliburton, or any number of defense contractors... Now a public option? That really just helps the population; thus it is not politically feasible or something Lieberman would support. I bet we could create a mathematical simulation of a politician that would predict where he would vote based on which sectors of private power he supports.
"There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning." <--- Warren Buffett.
The population remains oblivious to the obvious.
That's it, in a nutshell. Excellent summary of the tyranny we are under.
And everytime some brave soul tries to bring these facts to the fore in a mainstream media publication, the ridicule, slander, threats begin and, finally, if that doesn't work, the "involuntary suicide" (See the Church committe report of CIA methods and CIA gallows humor about said methods) makes them disappear.
While I appreciate Robert Scheer's news and commentary on Joke Lieberman, I want to add that your additional analysis is so correct, tarheel77!
The title is so appropriate for JL who "twists the knife" with yet another betrayal of our lower and middle class population who would benefit from the public option, but homies Obama and Harkin et al will hear nothing of it.
At Daily Kos, JL was pilloried Tuesday for ignoring the fact that his state of Connecticut benefits from government health care provided by Medicare but also from its own state public option for lower and middle classes. The sentiment was someone should inform Joke about these government-provided health care programs that aren't breaking the budget.
"The population remains oblivious to the obvious."
The corporate media does not help, but they have at least admitted in their reporting over the years that the US government has supported tax breaks for companies offshoring operations, including moving factories offshore. It is pretty much impossible for such offshoring to benefit the general population or to be in the interests of the future of the USA as a whole. It is naked class war. I would think anyone who could add two plus two could see that, but apparently not.
Thanks once again to Al Gore for picking this INSIPID LITTLE PRICK as his running mate, thus giving him a national platform!!! Talk about SPINELESS DEMOCRATS!!!! (Both of them!)
CV_____ Don`t feel too bad about your Senator Lieberman, you could have Sen Mike Johanns and Sen Ben Nelson. We ordinary citizens everywhere seem to have the same problem, our representatives have sold us out for big donations.
We in Connecticut apologize for the embarrassing Joe Lie berman. We tried very hard to rid US all of this pest, but a pile of illegal money (and a distinct lack of progressive support for LaMont) and a battalion of GOP footsoldiers swamped us in the last three weeks of the campaign. He's a walking example of why we need Recall in this sorry state.
Scheer missed one glaring detail about our Joe: His wife is a lobbyist for pHarma. Not only does he represent the home of the Insurance Companies and drug manufacturers, his wife professionally represents the Drug pushers. He's literally in bed with the Drug Industry!
We had a mass call-in to his office the night before last and jammed his message board with constituents urging him to support Public Option. The NEXT DAY, he made this statement. Kind of a slap in the face, but no surprise from this little creep.
Does Connecticut have any kind of recall?
The 17th amendment ended any hope of recall. Prior to the 17th, senators were selected by the governments of the states. Those bodies could recall senators, although I don't believe that ever happened. Once senators were elected by the public there was no viable means for recall, other than the next election.
No recall? Guess we can hope for a severe case of H1N1.
Several analysts of the "public option" varieties on tap in the Senate and the House point out these these POs will be so heavily burdened by a much too small and too risky group of participants that they all will fail financially within a number of years. If these analysts are correct then the current PO proposals should be defeated and Lieberman is doing us a favor. Sound health insurance demands the largest possible risk population. In other words "single payer".
The same criticism can be leveled against "competition" by an increasing number of private insurers. The "best" solution again is a single private insurer with the largest base of insured! The fallacy of "health insurance competition" is that the principle is borrowed from the sale of products. Sickness is not a product.
You are correct to be concerned about a public option that only includes the sick and poor, but excludes low risk individuals. I too fear we will pass a "public option" that is destined to fail. On the other hand, I don't know how myself and others will be able to continue paying for private insurance where premiums increase by 15%-20% each year. Mine went up 20% this year and when I called repub. Sen. Burr's office, the reply was that "more competition" will save the day. When I asked which private companies in other states offer lower rates than BCBS of NC, the line fell silent--followed by a "I haven't researched the subject." When I asked if Sen. Burr would take to the floor to denounce the rate increase as he would a similar tax increase, the silence became more deafening.
The Dems and Obama need Leiberman. He's part of the cover NOT to do what the American people want and need. They're all intent on serving the same corporate ideology as Republicans. Dems will never take away Leiberman's chairmanship.
The entire health "care" legislation has been a cruel set up by the White House.
That sneaky bastard Harry Reid pretends to try for an inept plan called the Public Option, but he's so full of shit. Until Obama came along, a more two faced politician was hard to find. Reid will say what he always says, I really tried, but "we didn't have the votes."
Come the mid terms, Democrats and Obama will be asking voters to reward failure. Now, why would anyone vote Democratic again? To avoid Republicans? Not good enough anymore. Excluding the stupid rhetoric for the last fifteen years, we've ended up with devastating pro corporate legislation down the line.
Rewarding the Dems will confirm they have us over a barrel.
They all must be punished.
"freepressmyass"
You are correct that it is all rigged. I would add a couple of observations.
1. When Israel viciously attacked Lebanon a few years ago and, again, in the vicious slaughtering and destruction in Gaza, the Senate of the United States of America overwhelmingly and unnecessarily ENDORSED the aggressions. Nowhere else in the world (other than in Israel) did any "government" take such delight in their own indifference to war crimes.
2. Until so-called progressives, such as some of the dimwitted "lesser of two evils" democrat mouthpieces at the "Nation" wake up and see that Joe LIEberman IS the face of the one party sytem in Washington, we are doomed.
Hear, hear!
Well put, cheers!
My daughter is in the hospital this morning, waiting to find out of she needs a bowel resection, the day after her insurance company denied her coverage due to a "pre-existing" condition.
That "pre-existing" condition is Crohn's disease, which is potentially life-threatening and has landed her in the hospital 4 times this year alone. She lost her job and with it her previous insurance due to this illness, and the gap in coverage was virtually guaranteed by the mandatory 90 day waiting period for her husband to get insurance through his employer.
I truly hope there is a Hell so everyone enabling this deadly hypocrisy can burn there for all eternity in 10 times the pain my daughter was in when she woke us up screaming this morning. Lieberman and his ilk should get special dispensation. Maybe everyone who dies from lack of proper care due to being uninsured or underinsured should be said to have died of "Lieberman Syndrome."
Support Medicare for all!
Keeping your daughter and your family in my thoughts. Best wishes and hopes and prayers for her speedy recovery.
I can tell you are so deeply concerned. Though an adult, your daughter is ever your child. Speedy healing to your child, and yes, Medicare for all.
He's the evil twin of Howdy Doody all grown up. I wish Froggie would appear and tell us to plunk our Magic Twangers and make this evil man vanish forever!
When our children are suffering and dieing in poverty we will know whom to thank.
The fatal blow(s) to the party happened long ago,Lieberman should have been stripped of his chairmanship the second he went behind teh Connecticut dems backs and ran independent, and then of course when he supported McCain. The Dems don;t play by the basic rules of politics because the dems are middle class pacifists who think that fighting and revenge and punishment are beneath them when they are the most fundamental rules of politics. I can't stand libs and their "avoid conflict at all costs" ways. Proudest moment of my "life" in politics was not voting for the fraud Obama. I would vote for Dick Chaney before I would ever vote for anyone who ran as a Democrat ever again. The Democratic Party is a party of wussies.
And the republican party is a party of liars, thieves, and whores.
Anoyone who could vote for Dick Cheney under any circumstances cannot expect to be taken seriously as a human being.
q
Brilliant comment.--Let the philabuster proceed. Let it go on for months so we all can see what a corrupt and undemocratic institution the Senate is. Then full of popular revulsion for the Senate let us pass an amendment to eliminate it.
But no one likes Liberman. Never heard of Lantos.
[Is there a more hypocritical figure in American politics than Joe Lieberman?]
How about Tom Lantos? He was the 'holocaust survivor' that orchestrated the Kuwait incubator hoax. You can google - lies of tom lantos - to read a Wayne Madsen article that gives the full rundown.
Lantos, congressman from the San Francisco bay area, died in 2008 - he was eulogized in the San Francisco Chronicle as 'An Angel Without Wings'. Really.
Compared to Lantos, Lieberman is the soul of integrity.
It aint just Lantos or Lieberman, the entire Senate is a corrupt, eltitist, un-democratic body. The Senate ought to be abolished, with the House as a unicameral legislature.