Joe Lieberman Must Go

     60 votes. 60 votes are all that stands in the way of Americans finally getting some type of health care reform. With the historic vote in the U.S. House late Saturday night, the fight now shifts to the Senate. 60 votes will make the bill filibuster proof so that it can come up to a vote on the Senate floor. The problem is that the person who stands in the way of getting to 60 votes is Joe Lieberman.

     The Democrats really only have 58 votes. There are two Independent Senators who usually vote with the Democrats but there are no guarantees that they will always vote with the Democratic block; which brings us to Joe Lieberman. He has already said that if the Senate version of the health care bill contains a public option, then he will join with the Republicans & filibuster the bill, which would in effect kill the health care bill.

     You may wonder where his animosity towards the Democrats has come from. After all, wasn’t he the vice presidential candidate back in 2000? Well, the seeds of discontent were sown in 2006, when he was running for reelection. The Democratic establishment refused to endorse him because he voted in support of the war in Iraq & they decided to back his opponent in the primary. Leiberman got trounced. However, rather than give up, he decided to run as an Independent & beat both the Democratic & Republican candidates.

     Lieberman then went on to endorse his very good friend John McCain for president. That was fine & even admired by most in the Democratic party because it showed bipartisanship. That feeling went out the window when, while speaking at the Republican Convention, Lieberman gave not only an antidemocratic, but an extremely antiObama speech. It was one thing to be for McCain but it was completely different to also be against Obama & that was where, in most people’s eyes, Lieberman crossed the line. I still remember watching the video of Obama pulling Lieberman aside on the Senate floor & completely dressing Lieberman down afterwards. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall for that one. Despite all of this, Harry Reid decided to forgive Lieberman & let him keep his committee chairmanship.

     That decision, among others, is now coming back to haunt the Democrats. In fact, Lieberman went out on the campaign trail this year & campaigned for Republican candidates. If anybody thought that Lieberman was going to vote with the Democratic Party on anything any more, those thoughts should’ve been put to rest with that announcement. Now, one of the most important pieces of legislation in our lifetime may not come up for a vote because of this man.

     I believe that Lieberman is of the opinion that he can not be defeated with he comes up for reelection in a few year. I have already decided that I’m going to put that theory of his to the test. I am putting aside money & will give freely to anybody in the Democratic Party who will run against him. I will also work on the candidate’s campaign. There is no place in the Senate for Joe Lieberman & he needs to learn this lesson sooner, rather than later.