Joe Lieberman's Health Care

Joe Lieberman's Health Care

All members of Congress who are planning to vote for the newly Lieberman-affected health care are essentially putting the attractiveness of passing a bill over cost-effective and productive content. This bill currently has no viable option as an alternative to private health care insurance, it does not extend Medicare to those over 55, and it does not seriously limit the powers of insurance companies, rather, it imposes weak regulation upon them and forces all Americans to purchase over-expensive private insurance.

The simple math of it is that the Democrats need sixty votes to pass health care reform in the Senate- their entire caucus. Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, and Kent Conrad are some of the few final senators needed to support the bill. Nelson and Conrad seemed willing to vote for the trigger public option and the extended Medicare bill, but Lieberman said he would vote with the Republicans against cloture. Because of Lieberman, the bill was watered down to its current, completely unproductive form.

If Lieberman proves unwilling to support the old bill- the one with extended Medicare and a public option, then he needs to be removed as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.