Tuesday, December 15, 2009

That is rich: Joe Lieberman edition

What a dick.

“I don’t feel like a spoiler,” Mr. Lieberman said. “I feel like somebody who has wanted to be for health care reform. We have within reach — the core parts of this bill are a historic accomplishment. I mean, think about it, 30 million people who can’t afford health insurance in our country today are going to get it under this bill. The cost curve is going to be bent down.”


We're supposed to thank Joe Lieberman for all his work on reform? Fuck that. This obstructionist, sour grapes, vain drama queen has ostensibly done more than any Republican to block true meaningful reform since he's part of the block of 60 votes that are supposedly behind reform. And he's got the balls to say he should be hailed as a positive force in this?

Basically what getting 30 million of the 45 or 47 million uninsured people under some kind of insurance means is that those 30M will HAVE TO BUY INSURANCE out of their own pocket from a private insurer. That is reform? That is the liberal answer to this colossal clusterfuck? Digby:

Nobody's "getting covered" here. After all, people are already "free" to buy private insurance and one must assume they have reasons for not doing it already. Whether those reasons are good or bad won't make a difference when they are suddenly forced to write big checks to Aetna or Blue Cross that they previously had decided they couldn't or didn't want to write. Indeed, it actually looks like the worst caricature of liberals: taking people's money against their will, saying it's for their own good. --- and doing it without even the cover that FDR wisely insisted upon with social security, by having it withdrawn from paychecks. People don't miss the money as much when they never see it.


And don't let anyone say there are solid reforms sprinkled throughout the Senate's proposal that will actually mean something to a decent amount of people. Why? Because the forces of Washington will water them down and eventually strip them of any substance, especially if Republicans ever have power again, which they will.

Nice work Democrats. You let the likes of Joe "Elmer Fudd" Lieberman and Ben "Ralph Wiggum" Nelson derail reform (Although that may give those vanity whores too much credit; Obama and Harry Reid have been completely ineffectual for the liberal cause). And any so-called progressive in Congress, especially the Senate, has been walked right over.

Par for the course in 2009, the year of Obama. Maybe we should all write our congressman. I wonder what they would write back?

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