November 24, 2009
Lieberman digs in heels over public option

Posted at 3:56 pm, in: Health Care
Tags: Connecticut, Joseph Lieberman, Public Option

This makes me almost want to move back to CT just so I can vote for the guy:

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, speaking in that trademark sonorous baritone, utters a simple statement that translates into real trouble for Democratic leaders: “I’m going to be stubborn on this.”

Stubborn, he means, in opposing any health-care overhaul that includes a “public option,” or government-run health-insurance plan, as the current bill does. His opposition is strong enough that Mr. Lieberman says he won’t vote to let a bill come to a final vote if a public option is included.

Probe for a catch or caveat in that opposition, and none is visible. Can he support a public option if states could opt out of the plan, as the current bill provides? “The answer is no,” he says in an interview from his Senate office. “I feel very strongly about this.” How about a trigger, a mechanism for including a public option along with a provision saying it won’t be used unless private insurance plans aren’t spreading coverage far and fast enough? No again.

So any version of a public option will compel Mr. Lieberman to vote against bringing a bill to a final vote? “Correct,” he says.

Come on, I said almost. I wouldn’t really vote for this guy.

My mom wonders if this means that Lieberman doesn’t plan on running again, theorizing he doesn’t care what the voters think and so he is free to vote any which way he wants. The only problem with that is it doesn’t explain why Lieberman, the former Democrat VP nominee, is dead set against a public option…unless, he realizes, like many of us do, that a public option is a bad idea and will put the insurance industry out of business.

Some speculate that this is because CT is a huge insurance state and that Lieberman is in their pockets. That would be my guess. Although, he might actually see the folly in a public option. I’m not sure what his reasoning is or his motivations. Do I really care? No. This health care bill is bad for America and will hurt Americans. I don’t care how we get the votes against it as long as we get the votes against it.