Posted by
Billy on Thursday, November 19, 2009 11:42:09 AM
Sen. Joe Lieberman’s threat to filibuster any health care bill with
a public option could kill
health reform this year — and embolden Democratic challengers who’d like to send him packing in 2012.
But Lieberman doesn’t seem worried.
“I don’t think about that stuff,” Lieberman told POLITICO this week. “I’m
just — I’m being a legislator. After what I went through in 2006, there’s
nothing much more that anybody [who] disagrees with me can try to do.”
Lieberman left the Democratic Party in 2006 after liberal Ned Lamont beat him in
Connecticut’s Democratic Senate primary. Lieberman defeated Lamont in the
general election and returned to Washington as an independent, where he
continues to caucus with Democrats — even though he accuses them of engaging in
a bit of bait and switch when it comes to the public option.
“It’s classic politics of our time that if you look at the campaign last
year, presidential, you can’t find a mention of public option,” Lieberman said.
“It was added after the election as a part of what we normally consider health
insurance reform — insurance market reforms, cover people, cover people who are
not covered.
“It suddenly becomes a litmus test. I thought Democrats were against litmus
tests.”
Despite the strong words against some in his old party, Lieberman still
entertains the idea of a reunion. Asked this week if he might run again as a Democrat in 2012, Lieberman smiled and said, “Yeah, sure.”
“I’m for health care reform,” Lieberman told POLITICO. “And, of course, this
will all be over by then, and I hope we will be strongly supporting health care
reform. I haven’t changed my thoughts about 2012, which is, I’m keeping all my
options open.
(Good for Lieberman. We must stop forced government health care! Read more of this story by clicking right here.)