@BoneyD, we're talking about "tweaks" to the Senate bill, which thanks to Joe Lieberman doesn't have any kind of public option in it at all.

There's a push to have the reconciliation bill add the public option back in, and there's 35-ish Democrats signed on to the effort so far. I doubt that will bear fruit, but if you have a Democratic Senator in your state, it's worth the phone call to their office to ask them to sign on to that effort.

>> ^Ornthoron:
Hamstring Joe Lieberman. He's useless now that he's no longer the 60th vote.


Lieberman was useless when he was the 60th vote. I think Jon Stewart put it best when, speaking about the effects on health care legislation if Brown won, said "Democrats will only have an eighteen vote majority in the Senate, which is more than George W. Bush ever had in the Senate when he did whatever the fuck he wanted to." But Democrats can't stand for anything on principle, because even making a motion to debate something that doesn't have the support to move forward without a possibility of filibuster is political suicide! Idiots.

Hamstring Joe Lieberman. He's useless now that he's no longer the 60th vote.

>> ^NetRunner:
I suspect Joe Lieberman will join the Republican party no later than 2012.
politics
waronterror


I'll take that bet. $20.

Why should he join? It would make no difference.

I suspect Joe Lieberman will join the Republican party no later than 2012.

*politics
*waronterror

Your video, Joe Lieberman On Why He Will Filbuster To Kill Public Option, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Joe Lieberman, Filibuster, Public Option, Health Care' to 'Joe Lieberman, Filibuster, Public Option, Health Care, the young turks' - edited by NetRunner

Title seems kind of *obscure, so in case you don't get the reference: Public Image Ltd.

Also, that was an awesome Joe Lieberman / Deputy Dog impression.

>> ^demon_ix:
What happened to the filibuster-proof majority?

It's dependent on Democrats sticking together to the last man, and we essentially have about ten Democrats who're afraid to admit publicly that they actually support the Democratic platform because they're afraid of being perceived as "liberal" in their usually-conservative states.

They need to get over it.

You guys should move to Canada or something. Your politicians don't work for you, it seems.

There are lots of reasons for that. Part of it is that there's about 30-35% of the American population who don't think politicians should stick up for people in any other way than cutting taxes, dismantling regulation, fighting endless wars, deporting all the Mexicans, banning abortion, and keeping gay people from being able to have a legal marriage.

Part of it is because that 35% was more like 50-60% for most of the last 3 decades, and a lot of the regulations that kept corporate bribery in check got dismantled (along with a lot of other things).

Also, the Democrats in the post-1968 era have refused to organize the party in a way that would enforce some party discipline. Joe Lieberman was Al Gore's running mate for the Presidency in 2000. In 2008 he campaigned for John McCain. He's one of the people who make up that "60" number, and as an aside, he's from a deep-blue state.

There are a lot of Democrats who think the only way they can win elections is to essentially be moderate Republicans. That time has passed. This will be a good test to see how many Democrats realize it.

Every party has its loose cannons (like Joe Lieberman & Zell Miller). But most of the time when a politician diverges from his 'party line' they have only two choices... (A) Quit the party. (B) Sell out. It's only a RARE few who can thumb thier nose at the party and stay part of it.

Well, the Republicans have douchebag Joe Lieberman, so the Dems can have Specter. Doesn't change much.

I think I can fill out most of the list:

#1. The House Sergeant at Arms (left), and I think he's accompanied by the Senate Sergeant at Arms.
#2. Special guests
#3. From left to right, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Chuck Shumer (D-NY), and in front of them looks like Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito.
#4. From left to right, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner, and HRC herself (Secretary of State).
#5. In the middle is Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY), I'm guessing he's with other House Representatives from NY.
#6. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) currently also Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee (kinda important atm)
#7. From left to right, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH). These two are the current Republican House leadership.
#8. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).
#9. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), who had a brief flirtation with being Obama's Commerce Secretary.
#10. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). He's the current Republican Senate leadership.
#11. Earl Devaney, the new Inspector General Obama was talking about seconds before (who helped bust Jack Abramaoff)
#12. Not sure who the guy picking at his ear is, but the other two are Housing and Urban Development Secretary (HUD) Shaun Donovan, and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.
#13. Juggs magazine. Or the text of the speech he's listening to. Oh, and it's Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), who's the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee (and former chair).
#14. The infamous Joe Lieberman (I-CT), former Democrat who campaigned for John McCain.
#15. Senator Arlen Spector (R-PA), one of the 3 Republicans to vote for the Stimulus bill.
#16. Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN), and Roland Burris (D-IL) the latter of Blagojevich fame.
#17. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in the middle, not sure of anyone else. He's the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
#18. I'm forgetting his name, but he's a House Republican, and most likely so is the woman next to him.
#19. Peter Orszag, new Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), formerly Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel is to his left.
#20. Chuck Shumer again.
#21. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Eric Shinseki
#22. Not sure, I think he's a House Republican.
#23. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
#24. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
#25. Don't know.
#26. Don't know. I'll wager a guess it's a House Democrat though.
#27. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI)
#28. Don't know.
#29. Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN)
#30. Don't recognize him, but he must be an Obama cabinet member, since that's who he's sitting amongst.
#31. Evan Bayh (D-IN) again.
#32. On the left is Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), not sure who's next to him.
#33. Don't know.
#34. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), buddy of John McCain.
#35. From left to right, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Defense Secretary Bob Gates, Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner, and Hillary something or other.
#36. I only know the one on the left, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but those are the *cough* Joint Chiefs of Staff; the heads of the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marines (in that order unless I've misidentified the uniforms).
#37. No clue, but it's likely they're part of the JCS organization.
#38. Dunno, but he's sure to be on this list somewhere. To his left is Ted Strickland, Governor of Ohio (D).
#39. Don't know. I think that's the Republican House section, though.
#40. Don't know.
#41. Captain Sully Sullenberger. Pilot of this plane.
#42. Mayor Bob Dixon, from Greensburg, Kansas; the city Obama's talking about.

Phew.

Eff joe lieberman. He chose the worst moment in history to jump ship to the republicans. This guy seems to be talking more out of fear of the volativity of Joe's position than actually feeling like he's a responsible politician. Joe is a republican now, not an independant, not a democrat. Treat him as such as far as what you are to expect from his votes.

The reporter has the best point: why the eff does JOE get the higher ground in this situation? Oust his ass and send him back...

From YT: http://liebermanmustgo.com

Joe Lieberman has launched consistent, deeply partisan attacks on President-elect Barack Obama, questioning his patriotism and fitness to lead. While Lieberman campaigned for John McCain and spoke on his behalf at the Republican National Convention, he spread some of the GOP's nastiest smears. Think Progress has provided thorough evidence of Lieberman's partisan politics. Lieberman should not be allowed to have subpoena power to investigate the Obama administration as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In fact, he should not be allowed to remain chairman of this or any other committee.

Lieberman has proven he cannot be trusted to hold a high rank within the Democratic caucus. That is why we launched Lieberman Must Go last summer, a campaign that caught Congress' attention when we delivered a petition with over 43,000 signatures. Now, we ask you to help us escalate the pressure by contacting members of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee. Tell them to strip Lieberman of his chairmanship in the Democratic caucus.

We have included a sample script and phone numbers below for you to use, and we ask that you be polite when you explain why Lieberman Must Go.

Start making calls: http://liebermanmustgo.com

>> ^thepinky:
^ Oh, wow. Do the results of Bush's presidency have anything to do with whether or not the election was rigged? No, they don't. I am happy to hear you criticize Bush's Reign of Stupidity anytime you want, but I find it unhelpful and childish for people to whine about rigged elections. We've had much better things to complain about in the last 8 years.
The whole argument annoys me, though. It is incredibly easy for Democrats to sit back and say, "I told you so," but unless you're all-knowing, NetRunner, you have NO idea whatsoever what things would have been like under Gore. We could very well be at war in Iraq right now. Even Democrats supported the war in 2002. Of course I am just as unhappy as you are with the state of the nation and the world, but I'm not sitting around blaming other people and whining about a "rigged election" that ocurred 8 long years ago. Bush won fairly within our established electoral system. Please, if you're going to whine, whine about something else.


Boy what a straw man you put out there.

It'd be whining if Bush's presidency was like his dad's. I didn't like a lot of what he did, but he didn't violate the ethical and legal core of what I think America stands for, and then treat anyone who tried to stop him like a petulant child.

It's sort've like telling Al Qaeda to "quit whining" about troops in the Middle East.

I'm not sitting back and saying "I told you so", I'm campaigning to change what's happening every way I can, including trying to reach out to people like you who think there weren't any consequences worth getting mad about from having an election stolen like this.

As for Democrats supporting the war in 2002, I'm as pissed about that as anything else, and it's why I was dead-set against Hillary and her refusal to seek repentance for that vote during the Primaries. I think this country would have to be nuts to elect someone who still is one of the war's biggest cheerleaders.

As for parties themselves, yes, they do tend to encourage people to be more dogmatic, but who're these "intelligent Republicans" who opposed the war when we "ALL discovered that things weren't what they seemed"?

Democrats can't seem to find even 10 Republican votes to help them put an end to the war. Hell, they can't even get Joe Lieberman to vote to end the war.

There's just no factual evidence that the Republican party has learned from their mistakes over the last 8 years.

As for your self-righteous proclamation that I shouldn't be raising my voice -- just somehow "working" to fix it -- don't you think to fix it we need to be able to convince people like you to stop thinking of the two parties as being "euqally wrong"?