Lieberman Out Too?

Tomorrow Sen. Joe Lieberman may become the third incumbent to choose retirement over another election campaign:

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman — deeply unpopular with voters in his home state — is unlikely to seek reelection, a knowledgeable source tells POLITICO ahead of the senator’s announcement on Wednesday…

“After many thoughtful conversations with family and friends over the last several months, Sen. Lieberman made a decision about his future over the holidays which he plans to announce on Wednesday,” said Erika Masonhall, a Lieberman spokeswoman who declined to comment further…

Lieberman’s announcement comes on the heels of Tuesday’s declaration by Susan Bysiewicz, the former Connecticut secretary of state, that she plans to enter the 2012 Democratic primary field for Lieberman’s Senate seat. Rep. Chris Murphy also has expressed interest in the Democratic primary…

A Public Policy Polling survey conducted in late October put Lieberman’s approval rating among Connecticut voters at 33 percent.

Lieberman has had a stormy few years. He first came to national attention when he blasted Bill Clinton's behavior in a Senate speech. In 2000 he had the misfortune of being Al Gore's running mate and the subject of the "Sore-Loserman" signs that popped up during the Florida recount. In 2006 he lost his party's nomination to somebody far more liberal than him, but managed to win election as an independent with the support of Republicans and Independents. His endorsement of John McCain in 2008 probably finished him off as far as Connecticut politics were concerned, and he also was a vocal critic of the public option part of Obamacare, even threatening a filibuster over the issue.

Personally, I like Lieberman. He's a lefty on many issues but not a disagreeable personality like so many on the Democrat side.  The seat is almost certain to stay in Democrat hands, though perhaps by 2012 the Tea Party in that state might be able to come up with a better candidate than they did in 2010.

Joe Lieberman (R?-CT)

I hadn't really thought about this possibility:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) could have the power to decide who controls the Senate after the midterm elections.

Polling suggests Republicans could pick up as many as nine seats this fall, making a 50-50 split between the two parties a distinct possibility.

A nine-seat gain for the GOP would give Democrats the slimmest possible majority: a caucus of 50, made up of 48 Democrats and two independents, Lieberman and Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.). Vice President Joe Biden would become the crucial tie-breaking vote in the Democrats' favor.

But that one-vote majority would hinge on Lieberman continuing to caucus with the Democrats. Under that scenario, the Democratic Party's love/hate relationship with Lieberman could reach a critical juncture.

Lieberman is facing a tough reelection fight in 2012 and could be tempted to caucus with the Republicans — or switch parties outright — during the next Congress.

The senator has never definitively ruled out becoming a Republican, but has instead stuck to declarations of independence. Asked this week about the senator's political affiliation, spokesman Marshall Wittmann said: “Sen. Lieberman is happy where he is in the Senate and has no other plans.”

I don't think Lieberman will switch parties or caucus with the GOP. With the exception of the war he's just too far from most GOP positions. And if he did switch parties I can guarantee you the GOP would run a much more conservative primary challenger against him and he'd be in the same situation he was in during his last election when he ended up leaving his party and running as an independent.

He'll stay an independent and will probably continue to caucus with the Dems.  And Joe Biden will be breaking a lot of ties.

Cap-and-Tax Back From the Dead

Lurch and Lieberman are still intent on destroying what's left of the economy:

On Wednesday, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) plan to introduce legislation designed to inflate the cost of energy, strain family budgets, and decimate America's manufacturing sector -- all in the name of supposedly saving the climate.

Kerry and Lieberman have been revamping legislation that narrowly passed the House of Representatives last year. The House bill imposes oppressive limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and establishes a complex cap-and-trade scheme in which the federal government determines how much CO2 a business may emit. If a business exceeds its allowance, it may purchase additional "carbon credits" from an exchange, where the credits will be traded like a commodity. Rules for the exchange of carbon credits, including the trading of carbon derivatives, are addressed in the House bill, and my sources tell me that the Senate version will include these same stratagems.

In an e-mail sent to the media last week regarding their plans, Kerry and Lieberman said, "We can no longer wait to solve this problem which threatens our economy, our security and our environment."

Of course, that's complete nonsense.  The lack of massive new taxes is not threatening our economy, security or our environment.  Even significant reductions in carbon emission won't begin to change the environment, nor will it offset the increases in emissions from China and India.  It's all symbolic nonsense.

Lurch and Lieberman lost Lindsay Graham's support, so as of right now there are no Republicans on board. I think they still have hopes of getting one of the Ladies of Maine or perhaps even Scott Brown.  Given the state of the economy it's hard to believe that they'll even be able to hold all the Dems together on this, let along add any Republicans.

There's more at American Thinker.

2010 Senate Map

Karl Rove's organization has posted an updated map of what the Senate races for 2010 look like right now:

It's a little hard to read this size, so click here to see the large version.

Bottom line, as Rove looks at it now we could end up with 48 Dems, 2 Independents, and 47 Republicans with three that are too close to call.  Even if all three toss-ups went GOP the Dems would retain control because the 2 independents include a Socialist (Bernie Sanders-VT) and Joe Lieberman, both of whom will vote for Dem control.  With 50 voting for Dems and 50 voting for the GOP Joe Biden becomes the tiebreaker.

Still, this scenario is a heckuva lot better than what we have now, and it would certainly make it nearly impossible for Obama to continue to pass his leftist agenda.

Voters Hate the Idea of a Gas Tax

Imagine that:

Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman are getting ready to introduce a bill in the U.S. Senate that will impose dramatically higher gas taxes, which 7 in 10 Americans oppose according to a new American Solutions poll.

71% of respondents oppose higher gas taxes (sometimes called “linked carbon fees”) in order to limit greenhouse gases, while 78% believe that higher gas taxes will either kill jobs or have no effect on job growth.

Meanwhile, 84% of all adults and 61% of independent voters have very little or no confidence that a fuel tax will lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

The poll also found that 64% of all adults are less likely to support a candidate for Congress who supports a gas tax, and 67% of independent voters are much more likely not to support a gas-tax candidate.

Gas prices are already rising, and now Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman want to increase the price of a gallon of gas with a new tax that Americans overwhelmingly oppose.

Lindsay Graham ought to know better than to hook up with Kerry and Lieberman on anything, let alone a bill that purports to fix a problem that doesn't exist. We'll have to hope there's at least one Democrat who won't vote for this bill so a filibuster can be upheld even with Graham's vote.

The Three Stooges Plan New Climate Bill

Leave it to John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham to try and solve a problem that doesn't exist:

Three senior US lawmakers are piecing together a sweeping bipartisan energy and climate bill, which looks set to include sweeteners to galvanise support among Republicans and industry groups.

The proposed legislation, encouraged by President Barack Obama, dilutes a climate bill that stalled last year in the Senate. The senators have hosted meetings with industry groups over the past two weeks, revealing details about their plan that would cap carbon emissions while expanding offshore oil drilling and nuclear power generation.

Nearly six months have passed since the Senate’s last climate bill failed to win over conservatives and moderates, a political stalemate that cast a shadow on America’s presence at the Copenhagen climate summit. But some Democrats say the passage of healthcare reform has opened the door for climate change legislation, while acknowledging tradeoffs will be needed to secure 60 Senate votes. “They know that to pass a comprehensive bill they will have to ease concerns of some special interests and mid-western senators whose states have manufacturing-oriented economies,” said Daniel J. Weiss, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a liberal think-tank....

The bill’s sponsors – John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat, Joseph Lieberman, the Independent from Connecticut, and Lindsay Graham, the South Carolina Republican – said the new sectoral approach would begin imposing carbon caps on utilities in 2012 and manufacturers in 2016.

The bill includes a new petrol tax, which would be passed on to consumers, though this could be vulnerable in the efforts to reach a compromise. By mentioning investment in conventional energy, the senators have elicited favourable responses from industry leaders, including BP executives and lobbyists from the US Chamber of Commerce, who opposed the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill passed by the House of Representatives last spring. After meeting the senators, Bruce Josten, the chamber’s top lobbyist, said their efforts were “largely in sync” with industry targets.

Mr Graham, distinguishing his legislation from last year’s bill, told reporters this month “the cap-and-trade bills in the House and Senate are dead” and would be replaced.

He hopes his sector-by-sector approach to regulation, unlike Waxman-Markey’s economy-wide cap, will help him save face among conservatives. His role in the bill’s formulation was itself in doubt after he said the Democrats’ handling of healthcare reform “poisoned the well” for bipartisan co-operation.

This bill needs to die. Imposing carbon limits on business will not "fix" the climate but will only further damage US business. They're trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist, but will instead create new problems that didn't exist.

Bipartisanship Breaks Out in the Senate

Obama is bringing Republicans and Democrats together:

Several senators announced legislation Tuesday that would cut off funding for the federal trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four accused accomplices, saying the five should be tried in a military court.

"We believe we're at war," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, who stood with a number of senators that included Democrats and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent.

"The law enforcement model being used by the Obama administration should be rejected," Graham said. "We're not fighting a crime, we're fighting a war."

Yes we can...stop this silliness.

Senator Franken Has a Snit

How peeved is the left with Joe Lieberman? Take a look at what happened today on the Senate floor:

Liberal anger toward Sen. Joe Lieberman boiled over to the Senate floor this afternoon when Sen. Al Franken denied the Connecticut independent a routine request to extend his remarks.

Sen. Lieberman was speaking out in favor of an amendment he is offering along with Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Sheldon Whitehouse to strengthen the proposed Medicare advisory commission as a means of reducing health care costs.

After Lieberman spoke for 10 minutes, Franken, who was presiding over the Senate, informed him that his time had expired. Lieberman asked that he be given "an additional moment" to finish up -- a request that requires the consent of all Senators, but something that is typically granted without objection.

But before he could continue, Sen. Franken speaking from the presiding officer's table, snapped, "In my capacity as Senator from Minnesota, I object."

A suprised Lieberman laughed. "Really?" he said incredulously. "Okay, I don't take it personally."

Sen. John McCain then took the floor and came to Lieberman's defense.

"I've been around here 20 some years, it's the first time I've seen a member denied an extra minute or two finish his remarks," McCain lamented. "I don't know what's happening here in this body, but I think it's wrong."

Frankly, comity in the Senate (that's "comity" not "comedy") is part of the problem with that body. Guys like McCain are so busy trying to get along with the Democrats - a courtesy that's often not returned - that they forget that we're in an ideological war here and cooperating with the enemy is not the answer.

Breast Cancer Suddenly Becomes Politically Incorrect

I did several posts earlier this year on the politically correct diseases like breast cancer and AIDS which gain tremendous attention and funding while a disease like pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which kills just as many as does breast cancer every year but has no survivors or cures, gets very little attention. Nobody painted their race cars a special color for IPF, or draped ribbons in honor of IPF over the White House. It is not a politically correct disease. (You can click on the "Pulmonary Fibrosis" label below to see the other posts.)

However, breast cancer, for which the color pink is now almost synonymous, has suddenly run into a bit of political opposition, at least among lefties who are upset that Joe Lieberman's wife, Hadassah, is a global ambassador for the Susan G. Komen For the Cure organization. You see, Joe Lieberman has run afoul of the lefties who desperately want socialized medicine in this country and Lieberman is refusing to cooperate. Some on the left are now calling for an end to donations to the organization until they dump Hadassah from their roster.

Don Surber has the details.

I never thought I'd see breast cancer funding used as a weapon against a liberal, but when one strays from the reservation, I guess anything is possible.

Lefties Want to Kick Lieberman to the Curb

Lefty blog Talking Points Memo has pretty much had it with Joe Lieberman:

It's starting to seem like it may just be better for Dems to try to make a deal with Olympia Snowe, kick Joe Lieberman out of the party and be done with it. The leadership in the senate thought that Lieberman was on board with the latest compromise. But in an appearance on Face the Nation and later in a sit-down with Sen. Reid, Lieberman said he'd join the Republican filibuster if the Medicare buy-in remained in the bill.

What's most telling about Lieberman isn't his positions, which are not that much different from Sen. Nelson's and perhaps Sen. Lincoln's. It's more that he seems to keep upping the ante just when the rest of the caucus thinks they've got a deal.

If it happened once, a misunderstanding might be a credible explanation. But it's happened too many times. Sen. Nelson has driven Dems to distraction on this bill. But his demands have been fairly consistent over time. Lieberman just doesn't seem to be negotiating in good faith. He keeps pulling his caucus to some new compromise, waiting a few days and then saying he can't agree to that either.

It's coming to a breaking point.

There are a couple of problems with that strategy. For one thing, Lieberman's not a Democrat, he's an independent. They can kick him out of the Dem caucus but they can't kick him out of the party.

Secondly, this strategy still doesn't get them to 60 votes. Even if they get Snowe, without Ben Nelson they're stuck at 59.

And finally, I don't think Snowe is willing to be the only Republican vote for the bill. Defying her entire caucus, not to mention the majority of voters, isn't all that likely when it comes to final passage. They'd have to craft a bill that would at least gain one additional GOP vote - probably Snowe's fellow Maine Senator Susan Collins - and that would likely hurt them with the lefty Democrats.

At this point every analysis indicates that passing this bill will be worse than doing nothing. It's time to kill the bill and start over, concentrating on a number of relatively minor changes that could be made to the health care system that would solve most of the problems Obamacare was supposed to fix. For instance, allowing policies to be sold interstate could make a huge difference in costs, and that's a pretty minor fix.

UPDATE: Here's another article on the various punishments the left would like to inflict on Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman/Nelson Won't Vote for Harry Reid's Bill

At least as it's now written:

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) both said a Medicare "buy-in" option for those aged 55-64 was a deal breaker.

"I'm concerned that it's the forerunner of single payer, the ultimate single-payer plan, maybe even more directly than the public option," Nelson said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Lieberman said Democrats should stop looking for a public option "compromise" and simply scrap the idea altogether.

"You've got to take out the Medicare buy-in. You've got to forget about the public option," he said.

If Democrats stick to relying primarily on the bill's subsidies, the legislation would pass easily and with bipartisan support, Lieberman argued.

Of course, you can't count on these guys sticking with those positions. Any change in the bill...ANY change could cause them to decide that all is forgiven and it's too important to America to let it fail.

We'll see.

Joe Lieberman: "No."

The word "no" is my favorite word coming from Joe Lieberman these days:

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, speaking in that trademark sonorous baritone, utters a simple statement that translates into real trouble for Democratic leaders: "I'm going to be stubborn on this."

Stubborn, he means, in opposing any health-care overhaul that includes a "public option," or government-run health-insurance plan, as the current bill does. His opposition is strong enough that Mr. Lieberman says he won't vote to let a bill come to a final vote if a public option is included.WSJ's Jerry Seib discusses his exclusive interview with Sen. Joseph Lieberman, in which the lawmaker says he will stubbornly oppose any public option for U.S. health care.

Probe for a catch or caveat in that opposition, and none is visible. Can he support a public option if states could opt out of the plan, as the current bill provides? "The answer is no," he says in an interview from his Senate office. "I feel very strongly about this." How about a trigger, a mechanism for including a public option along with a provision saying it won't be used unless private insurance plans aren't spreading coverage far and fast enough? No again.

So any version of a public option will compel Mr. Lieberman to vote against bringing a bill to a final vote? "Correct," he says.

Add to Lieberman potential opposition from Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and Blanche Lincoln, and Harry Reid has a tough job ahead to craft a bill that can get out of the Senate. And without a public option, passage in the House is iffy too.

The GOP can't really do much of anything except hold together in opposition to the whole thing. Any defections in the Senate could end up getting this monster passed.

Praying for Obamacare

Various members of the religious community are hoping that Sen. Joe Lieberman will answer to a higher power:

Connecticut's Joe Lieberman is a unique figure in Washington. He's an independent who caucuses with the Democrats but campaigns for Republicans like Arizona's John McCain.

He's also an observant Jew who honors the Sabbath. The senator makes an exception for work when the Senate is in session on Saturdays.

Now, an interfaith group of clergy is lobbying him to drop his plans to filibuster any healthcare bill that contains a public option. Their strategy: prayers.

During a Sunday night vigil, a crowd walked from Stamford High School, Lieberman's alma mater, to his condo building across the street. According to the Stamford Advocate's Devon Lash, residents went out on their balconies to listen to rabbis, ministers, priests and imams speak from behind a sidewalk pulpit.

"We are praying for the senator to change his heart and his mind," said the Rev. Tommie Jackson, of Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Stamford.

Now I know how Harry Reid will get Obamacare passed - he'll schedule the vote for a Saturday.

Political Correctness Helped Make Fort Hood Possible

Major Malik Nadal Hasan was a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment, and lots of people could hear the timer counting down and were afraid to confront the problem lest they be considered religious bigots:

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the gunman who killed 13 at America's Fort Hood military base, once gave a lecture to other doctors in which he said non-believers should be beheaded and have boiling oil poured down their throats.

He also told colleagues at America's top military hospital that non-Muslims were infidels condemned to hell who should be set on fire. The outburst came during an hour-long talk Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, gave on the Koran in front of dozens of other doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington DC, where he worked for six years before arriving at Fort Hood in July.

Colleagues had expected a discussion on a medical issue but were instead given an extremist interpretation of the Koran, which Hasan appeared to believe....

Fellow doctors have recounted how they were repeatedly harangued by Hasan about religion and that he openly claimed to be a "Muslim first and American second."

One Army doctor who knew him said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim soldier had stopped fellow officers from filing formal complaints.

Another, Dr Val Finnell, who took a course with him in 2007 at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Maryland, did complain about Hasan's "anti-American rants." He said: "The system is not doing what it's supposed to do. He at least should have been confronted about these beliefs, told to cease and desist, and to shape up or ship out. I really questioned his loyalty."

Sen. Joe Lieberman promises an investigation into this guy and the warning signs that were ignored. There are a bunch of officers in the Army that will have some explaining to do.

UPDATE: Now it comes out that Hasan had tried to contact Al Qaeda.

And as a side note, according to Don Surber, Mr. Pious Muslim frequented a strip joint near the base:

“Major Nidal Malik Hasan came into the Starz strip club not far from the base at least three times in the past month, the club’s general manager, Matthew Jones, told FoxNews.com. Army investigators building their case against Hasan plan to interview Jones soon,” reported Fox News.

I am not that familiar with the Koran, but I am pretty sure that Muslims are supposed to avoid alcohol and joints that serve alcohol.

The manager told Fox News: “The last time he was here, I remember checking his military ID at the door, and he paid his $15 cover and stayed for six or seven hours.”

Six hours in a strip joint? Am I missing something here?

And that prohibition on alcohol?

Jennifer Jenner, 31, said Hasan bought a lap dance from her, and Fox News reported, “he brought in a six pack of light beer, took only a few sips from one can and gave the rest to the strippers.”

He's not going to find his 72 virgins there.

Joe Lieberman - Standing Between Us and Socialism

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) says he won't let an Obamacare bill with a public option get a vote in the Senate:

Given that Lieberman is not always a reliable vote, and is certainly a liberal on many issues, I'm hoping the whole thing doesn't come down to just him. I'd like a bit more cushion in stopping Obamacare.

Political Photo of the Day

From Drudge:

"Dear Lord, please smite Joe Lieberman for threatening to filibuster my health care bill."

Lots of Trouble for the Public Option

Two stories that spell trouble for those liberal Democrats desperate for socialized medicine. First, from the House:

The House Dem leadership has conducted its preliminary whip count and has tallied up less than 200 likely Yes votes in support of a health care reform bill with a robust public option, well short of the 218 needed for passage, according to an internal whip count document I’ve obtained.

The document — compiled by the office of House leader James Clyburn — was distributed privately at a meeting between Clyburn and House progressives today where the fate of the public option was the subject of some contentious debate, with liberals demanding that House leaders push harder to win over votes.

Clyburn spokesperson Kristie Greco would only say: “We currently do not have the votes for a robust public option.”

At this point I don't think there are any Republicans in the House willing to vote for a public option.

And from the Senate:

(Sen. Joe) Lieberman did say he's "strongly inclined" to vote to proceed to the debate, but that he’ll ultimately vote to block a floor vote on the bill if it isn’t changed first.

"I've told Sen. Reid that if the bill stays as it is now I will vote against cloture,” he said.

“I can’t see a way in which I could vote for cloture on any bill that contained a creation of a government-operated-run insurance company,” Lieberman added. “It’s just asking for trouble – in the end, the taxpayers are going to pay and probably all people will have health insurance are going to see their premiums go up because there’s going to be cost shifting as there has been for Medicare and Medicaid.”

Lieberman said he “very much” wants to vote for health care reform but that he’s worried about stifling “the economic recovery we’re in” or adding to the federal debt.

The only hope Harry Reid had of getting a public option bill through the Senate was to hold the entire Dem caucus together, and that includes Lieberman. No Republicans (even the Maine RINOs) have indicated a willingness to support government health care.

If the public option was a 70-year old, they'd be calling the death panel together.

Support for Public Option in Obamacare Fading

Another Dem (or at least an independent who votes like a Dem) is withdrawing his support from nationalized health care. Joe Lieberman doesn't care much for it:

“I don’t favor a public option,” Lieberman told Bloomberg News in an interview broadcast this weekend. “And I don’t favor a public option because I think there’s plenty of competition in the private insurance market.”

Lieberman’s decision joins several other centrist Democrats’ decision to have publicly refused to back the plan, derided as a “government-run” plan by Republicans.

Centrist Democrats like Sens. Mary Landrieu (La.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.) have also been skittish to back the public option, which is favored by liberal Democrats and the Obama administration. If Republicans are able to pick off enough Democrats, they may be able to muster enough votes to filibuster any legislation that includes the public option.

I'm beginning to think this thing can be stopped, and it won't take many more defections to kill the public option altogether.

Lieberman Keeps His Leadership Post

The Democrats couldn't bring themselves to punish Joe Lieberman for campaigning for John McCain and speaking at the GOP convention:

(CNN) — Senate Democrats have voted to allow Sen. Joe Lieberman to retain his chairmanship of the powerful Homeland Security Committee.

The secret-ballot vote was 42-13.

Lieberman is losing his chairmanship on an environmental subcommittee.

I think they felt that spending all that time with John McCain was punishment enough.

Seriously, though, I think Obama saved him. He didn't want him leaving the Dem caucus and pushed Dem senators to leave Lieberman alone.

That popping sound you hear is the noise made by the head of lefty bloggers exploding. They'll be in a rage all day.

Lieberman Booted From Dem Party Lunches

Joe Lieberman will have to have lunch with someone else on Capitol Hill:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has decided that Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) — one of Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) top supporters — can no longer attend Democrats’ weekly caucus lunches or the biweekly chairmen’s lunches used to formulate policy, senior Democratic aides said Tuesday.

Harry Reid is a vindictive little jerk.