Joe Lieberman vs. a public option
Democrats lose a key ally in the fight against a Republican filibuster. Is a government-run insurance plan dead?
Sen. Joseph Lieberman
(Corbis/Justin Lane)
Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman—a former Democrat who still sides with his old party on many key issues—said he would back a Republican filibuster to block a health-care reform bill if it includes government-run insurance as an alternative to private coverage. Does this kill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's newly unveiled proposal for a public option that would allow states to opt out? (Watch Fox News analysts talk about Lieberman's decision.)
Harry Reid's public option is dead: That didn't take long, says Philip Klein in The American Spectator. "Without Lieberman's support, Reid won't have the backing of 60 senators he needs to bring legislation to the floor for a vote." And this could cost Reid the support of moderate Democrats who don't like the public option but didn't want to anger party leaders by jumping ship—why would red state Democrats "risk a major backlash at home" over a lost cause?
"Momentum for Government Plan Stopped by Joe-Mentum"
Lieberman will 'cave,' but he's still a problem: Joe Lieberman just wants people to see "how maverick-y he is," says Nate Silver in FiveThirtyEight. Lieberman will "cave" once he's gotten some attention, and once Harry Reid has made pronouncements about how great Lieberman is. But Reid can salvage things by changing the "opt out" to an "opt in," or adding a "trigger" for public insurance if private premiums are too high, which would get moderate Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe on board and get the train rolling again.
"Somebody buy Joe Lieberman a puppy"
If he can, Lieberman will kill reform: Sure, Lieberman will probably vote for reform, said Jonathan Chait in The New Republic, if the Democrats "scale back" enough to "win over Olympia Snowe," because he "won't join a futile filibuster." But Lieberman's nonsensical objections—he says a public option would increase the national debt; it won't—make it clear that he's still furious over past snubs by his old party, and, given the chance, he'd "stick in the knife and kill health-care reform."
"It was Lieberman all along"
Now Democrats can't ram through their bill: Harry Reid's "opt out" idea deserves to die, say the editors of The Wall Street Journal. It's just a ruse that would distort insurance markets, drive up the cost of private insurance, and create a new entitlement by forcing states to adopt the public option. "Bravo, Joe," for "standing up to the Washington rush to rearrange 18 percent of the U.S. economy without carefully inspecting the cost and the consequences."
"Lieberman steps up"
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21 Comments
Posted by John Gault, Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 9:59 am Good job Lieberman. I have a little more respect for him now. The Dems are trying to ram something through for political advantage not what's best for the country. They know that they are going to loose the majority next Fall, so they are trying to get this passed to save their asses, not the country. This change needs to be carefully considered and implemented slowly. They claim there are all these problems with the system, so why no fix all the problems first? If it doesn't work, then let's think about the Government Option.
Posted by doug duker, Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 11:05 am I wish Republicans would offer an alternative. Something simple. For example, minimal Major Medical open to all, perhaps govt underwritten, but covering just catastrophic situations. Tort reform, open competition in all states, proof of citizenship required, and perhaps a national sales tax to fund this base program. Additional coverage can be offered by insurers but people don't have to sign up. The idea that we can make people pay to have coverage that takes care of everything brings too many unintended consequences in its wake.
Posted by Aaron, Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 12:55 pm Doug, if you were running for office, I'd vote for ya!
Posted by InsuranceAgent, Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 1:04 pm Thank you Mr. Lieberman you certainly have helped me make my decision!You can't even make up your mind what party to support and you continue to be so uninformed. I have now decided to vote against any republicans who do not support the public option and against any democrat who doesn't support the public option. I'm tired of this boys club running our country as if Mom and Dad are out of town and let's see what we can get away with.Grow the hell up!
Posted by A. Wagener, Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 1:15 pm Lieberman is clearly past his sell by date and in cahoots with the insurance scammers. What a fink! He should just be honest and switch back to his old party or better still quit.
Posted by InsuranceAgent, Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 1:34 pm Well put A. W.!Who says the public options have to be luxurious benefit plans, if they could basically cover copays for basic care, well care and child check ups witha , drug card of 15/35/100 and a annual cap of 50,000 that would be wonderful.
Posted by John F., Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 1:35 pm Independent, my rear. Let's do the math. Joe represents Connecticut. Connecticut is the headquarters for many insurance companies. Where does Joe get his money to run? So, who does Joe owe? His constituents? The Democrats that he sits with in caucus? The country? No. He belongs to the insurance lobby. And they want to make sure that the 30 overhead, most of which they pocket, is not threatened. Competition is the only thing that threatens it and the public option provides that competition. As I said, do the math.
Posted by Brett, Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 2:14 pm All these attempts to water down or outright kill something that the country needs and wants shows that many of our elected officials are working for someone other than the people who elected them! The republicans are all in the pockets of big business, and now we get to see which nonrepublicans have been bought and paid for as well. It seems that Congress is following the republican lead in taking this opportunity to require health insurance by law so their owners can cash in big on a captive client base without any real reform or competition
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