Connecticut Independent Senator Joe Lieberman proudly displayed his free agent status on Sunday when he declared on CBS' Face The Nation program Sunday that he feels so strongly against "another government entitlement" that he will use his power as a single member of that august body to vote against any health care bill that includes a government run public option.
When asked by host Bob Scheiffer that given all the issues with health care in the U.S. going on, he'd prefer nothing to having the public option, the former Democratic Party nominee for Vice President gave more ammunition to the liberals who loath him by answering, "Nothing is better than that. " Lieberman then invoked the Hippocratic oath in justifying his threat to filibuster, saying the government should 'do no harm' on something like health care.
Lieberman then referenced the fact that the Congressional Budget Office last week reported that the public plan (which the CBO says might only actually insure 6 million people, which, if accurate, means we've all been spending too much time on this one aspect of health care reform) would charge higher premiums than the average premiums being offered by insurance companies. Lieberman asked in his distinctive nasal tones, "Why would we want to do that?"
Lieberman strongly denied Scheiffer's question that because his home state is also the business home for much of the insurance industry, such a coincidence had any bearing on his opposition to the public option.
When asked if his intransigence on the public option had anything to do with the fact that he represents the insurance capital of the U.S., Connecticut, in the Senate, Lieberman said absolutely not.
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader John Boehner said over the weekend that the Republicans will soon unveil their own health care legislation this week, that would propose new limits on medical malpractice lawsuits and make it easier for individuals and small businesses pool resources to purchase insurance.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2009.