Mon 14 Dec, 2009
I thought everyone knew Joe Lieberman was going to do this:
Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in a face-to-face meeting on Sunday that he will vote against a health care bill that includes a public option or a provision that would expand Medicare, a Democratic Senate aide tells the Huffington Post.
The two senators had a discussion in Reid’s office shortly after Lieberman appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday morning. The Connecticut independent discussed with Reid some of his concerns about the legislation, elaborating on issues he had raised during the show. According to the source, who was briefed on the exchange, Lieberman punctuated the discussion by telling the majority leader directly that he will vote against the bill if the Medicare buy-in and public option provisions remain in it. Roll Call reports that Lieberman said he would also support a Republican filibuster of legislation that included these provisions.
Joe Lieberman has been screwing over Democrats ever since Al Gore picked him to be his running mate in 2000. So why is this a surprise? I mean, you’d think the Democratic leadership would have anticipated this from the guy that smeared Obama during the campaign .
But regardless of how stupid the Democratic leadership is for not seeing this move, I hope they force Joe Lieberman to follow through with the filibuster. Why? Two reasons: I’ve never seen a live filibuster and I want this health care bill to die.
Now I know this may come as a shock to you, but I’ve never seen a live filibuster and I’m curious to see how long Joe Lieberman can speak. Because when I saw him on Face the Nation yesterday he sounded like a fat man struggling up a flight of stairs. And that was just during a 21 and a half minute show. I can only imagine how difficult it will be for him to speak for four, five, or six straight hours.
The second reason I want to see Joe Lieberman go through with the filibuster is because this health care bill needs to die a slow, painful death. Because it’s a bill written by the health insurance industry for the health insurance industry.
As the bill stands right now the health insurance industry gets to keep the inexpensive, healthy young people while forcing the government to take the expensive, sick old people. Which means the health insurance industry will make hundreds of millions of dollars in profit each year because they won’t have to spend money of things like heart surgery, life long diabetes medicine, knee replacements, hip replacements, and other things old people need. (How is that fair? And how is the government capable of taking care of people 55 and older but incapable of taking care of people 54 and younger?)
But I know Joe Lieberman’s not going to go through with the filibuster because Democrats are sackless, corporate shills who are going to give in to his demands and pass a health care bill that benefits the health insurance industry while fucking over every one else.
Tags: And I want to see Lieberman pass out from exhaustion, Democrats, Health care, I want to see a fucking filibuster, Joe Lieberman
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