Lieberman Pushes Back on Lieberman

by: Chris Bowers

Tue Aug 25, 2009 at 11:26

Via grannyhelen. After making national headlines for suggesting that health care reform "may have to wait" until after the recession, Senator Joe Lieberman is now facing some strong pushback from one of his Senate colleagues. Interestingly, the Senator leading the pushback against Lieberman was also Senator Joe Lieberman.

On Sunday, Senator Joe Lieberman said that health care reform "may have to wait" until after the recession. Emphasis mine:

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut on Sunday urged the Obama administration to consider postponing overhauling the health care system and instead work on smaller chunks of the issue until the economy improves.

"I'm afraid we've got to think about putting a lot of that off until the economy's out of recession," Mr. Lieberman said on CNN's "State of the Union." "There's no reason we have to do it all now, but we do have to get started. And I think the place to start is cost health delivery reform and insurance market reforms."

In response, Senator Joe Lieberman sent out an email to his supporters last night, rallying them to the cause of immediate health care reform. Here are some excerpts:

Americans today are faced with greater uncertainty than ever before when it comes to their health needs. These concerns often focus around rising medical costs, access to coverage, and quality of care. With more than 45 million uninsured Americans and health care spending levels that exceed any in the world, our current health care system is unsustainable and one where we reward quantity over quality. The need for health care reform has been evident for quite some time. We cannot afford to wait any longer to provide Americans with the high-quality, affordable health care they deserve, even though doing so will require making some difficult decisions.

As of this writing, there has been no response from Senator Lieberman's office to this rebuke from Senator Lieberman. However, other Democrats have not been so quiet. Many high ranking Democratic officials have criticized Senator Lieberman for rebuking Senator Lieberman. A senior White House advisor who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Open Left that "I don't understand why the left has decided to attack Joe Lieberman." Also, in a meeting with liberal groups, multiple sources have confirmed to me that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel called the rebukes of Lieberman "f*cking stupid."

Chris Bowers :: Lieberman Pushes Back on Lieberman