Howard Dean to Lieberman: If You're Going to Block Health-Care Bill, Resign Your Chairmanship
By Susie Madrak Friday Nov 27, 2009 8:00am
I wonder: Now that Howard Dean's been the first person to say it out loud, will the media lemmings follow? We'll see:
Former DNC Chair Howard Dean called on Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn) to resign as chair of Senate Homeland Security Committee if he can't bring himself to oppose a Republican filibuster of health care reform legislation.
Appearing on "The Joe Scarborough Show" on WABC, Dean stressed that he had no problem with Lieberman opposing the bill on its philosophical merits, or lack thereof. But he insisted that it was irresponsible and unprincipled to not allow the legislation to come to an up-or-down vote.
"I think that is a very complicated guy," said Dean. "He does because he says he's a principled guy but there's nothing principled about holding up a bill... If he was a principled guy he'd resign his chairmanship."
"If you are with a caucus you don't owe the leader any vote on any substance," Dean added. "I have no problem with him voting against the public option... You owe it to Harry Reid to allow him to run the Senate. And if you're not willing to do that the proper thing to do is to step aside."
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Dr. Dean!
He would make a great President.
Dean 2012!
There I said it.
Lieberman wouldn't be in the Senate.
if the Dems would have put some serious support behind Ned Lamont then Lieberman wouldn't be in the Senate.
Obama supported LIEberman when LIEberman ran against Lamont.
the DLC / DSCC / DCCC are crap. I am glad Dean has unleashed himself. the (R)ahmocrats need to go.
So did Hillary.
voted against Alito for the Supreme Court, but he thought it was important that there be a vote, and thus didn't support a filibuster.
This time around, on the signature issue for the past 60 years of the party he caucuses with, he can't bring himself to make the same "principled" stand.
LIEberman is is worm. Reid is wormlike.
just slightly more slimey.
The whole crew
THEY ALL SUCK!!!!!!
They act more like republiCONs than Democrats. Rahm and all the other DINOs need to go!
Why would he resign? The only thing that makes sense to call for, that could potentially impact Lieberman would be to call for Reid to TAKE away his chairmanship.
LIEberman will start investigating Obama's 'czars'.
by Reid, Obama or anyone else.
He is AIPAC's man in the Senate.
Case closed.
Until the electorate and current members of Congress are serious about reforming the funding of our elections, no truly effective or necessary legislation will be passed by Congress for years to come.
The only reason to coddle Lieberman is if it gets you something in return. If Lieberman's not going to play ball, then he should be stripped his Chairmanship and regarded as the Republican in Democratic clothing that he is. Better to act as party that has 59 seats in the Senate and build that sort of strategy than to have a 60 seat strategy constantly undermined by that worthless turncoat.
Don't you remember when the Democrats in his state sent a clear message that they didn't want Lieberman to run for office (probably because he stood against the Dems so often) so he ran as an independant, sticking his middle finger in the eye of all of his Democratic constituents and in turn the entire Democratic party.
Lieberman is a Republican and has been for a long time now. He is just fine with lying to the very people who would vote for him and he has no principles when it comes to anything of any value to the American people.
"Better to act as party that has 59 seats in the Senate and build that sort of strategy than to have a 60 seat strategy constantly undermined by that worthless turncoat."
I agree with you completely. But does Harry Reid have even a portion of Dean's guts to do something about Lieberman? Would we even be having this conversation if Dean were Senate Majority Leader or -- better yet -- the President of the US?
What Lieberman is showing me is that in the Senate, one can fight against the leadership -- the authorities, in other words -- and still be richly rewarded. There are no doubt a lot of dudes behind bars who would give anything to live in that kind of world.
And I also agree with another poster: Dean in 2012! It would be so nice to have a REAL Democrat in the White House.
Every time Dean says something, it sounds right. It would be great to have his leadership in the government. It was Dean's strategy that got the Dems in control...and it's the old, appeasing, centrist strategy currently being followed by ObamaRahma that is going to get them back in to the minority.
Hell the bloodline had to go somewhere when their first folly finally and totally disintegrated.
I'd actually watch the teevee if the Sunday bobblehead shows will put Lieberman and Dr. Dean on the same program.
Still, I'm glad *somebody* finally said it (within the beltway).
Lieberman could care less what Howard Dean says. We know Republicans could care less about Dean and, sadly, having been successfully demonized by Rightwing media years ago, most Democrats distance themselves from Dean.
Unfortunately, that's entirely true. The rabid obsession of the Dean scream, including the non-stop replays pretty much destroyed him. It's says more about the majority of the American public who allowed themselves to be convinced that Dean was a nut just by seeing an isolated clip played over and over again. It really was one of the easiest hit jobs popular news media ever pulled off.
This guy drives me crazy. Sometimes he says everything right that needs to be said and other times he seems a bit , well, nutty. This is the former. Lieberman is going to stay bitter forever over the last election. Cut him out or he will cause trouble for the caucus whenever he finds it advantageous to do so.
I agree but with one caveat
Dean would have a stronger case if liebermann's chair was on some kind of health care comnmittee.
However, liebermann should get 0, bupkus, nada help from the Democrats next time he stands.
I really wish we had President Dean in the White House.
Ha! Took the words right out of my mouth! I've got nothing to post here now :)
he has constituencies.
Lieberman should have never been given that plum committee chairmanship. The Dems were fooling themselves if they really thought that Lieberman would support their reform efforts if he got that chair. The man is a sleaze. Boot his ass from the dem caucus. Strip him of his seniority since he's now an independent and tell him to stuff it if he doesn't like it. He's an albatross on the democratic party anyway.
If the Lieb is actually able to kill these horrible bills, he should be promoted.
There is entirely too much "Dems. vs. Repubs" idiocy in the bloggysphere. They're all establishment assholes. Geez, I don't even know why I'm wasting bandwidth here.
Why do politicians always like waving their booger finger around?
I won't confirm my thoughts until President McCain is on one of the Sunday shows this weekend.
There is an excellent message from one of Lieberman's college friends on BuzzFlash calling him out for this foolishness, but I don't think that Lieberman cares. IMHO and speaking from an AA perspective, I think the true basis of Lieberman's opposition to President Obama is not political. I truly believe that his main objection is to having an AA in the White House. I'm basing this on having lived through segregation and the civil rights periods in American history. I have lots of experience dealing with humans like Lieberman. He is deceptive. His reasons for opposing hcr change on an almost weekly, sometimes daily, basis. He has no principle except the one to which he has dedicated himself: the total destruction of Obama's presidency, and the promulgation of the myth that only white men can be president. If Obama were to be successful, he's afraid it might open the door to LGBTQ persons, other persons of color, atheists, women, etc, and lead to the destruction of the myth the republicans/conservatives have been pushing about these groups' inability to lead our government. Lieberman will never say this out loud, he'll just let his actions speak for him. He's the worst kind of coward. I'd appreciate him more if he just said that Obama being POTUS is his main reason for cooperating with republicans to oppose Obama's (and our) vision for creating a more just society, one not based on corporate greed.
Just get out of public service for good. We already have enough self serving phonies as it is.
Aye, there's the rub. LIEberman has no principles except how much fame can he get or how much money is in it. If Harry Reid had any principles, he would can LIEberman's ass and get on with the business of the Senate with lawmakers who give a damn about their party and the people who elected them.
Especially considering Reid can't seem to do anything with that "magical 60" anyway. Might as well let Lieberman defect to the Republicans where he belongs, work with 59, and give Lieberman's chairmanship to a real Democrat.
His real salary is really being paid by all the Insurance companies in Conn. He is a weasel and an easily bought off traitor that should be stripped of everything.
I'm sure he has a limp dick too.
is ALL anyone needs to know about this vile slimebucket.
I agree that Lieberman should have never been given his chairmanship, and at the very least, it should have been taken away when he decided to go Independent a few years ago. The fact that Dean is having to say this outloud instead of Democratic Senate LEADER Harry Reid, tells me that Reid MUST go. The whole party is in desperate need of an overhaul.
Alas, for those of us that supported Howard Dean back then, it's no surprise that he is standing alone showing real backbone. And for those of us that supported Obama this last go round, it is terribly disappointing to have a spineless President. Obama, the spineless wonder has not reformed Wall Street, our financial sector, health care, and is not prosecuting those that raped our constitution and trampled on civil rights.
Question, just what is he doing besides throwing lavish dinners, visiting with any and every lobbyist and ignoring "We The People"?
He held such promise.
Such a waste!
Just kick him out.
One of the reasons I stopped giving money to the DNC (other than the fact I couldn't afford it anymore) was that they dumped Howard Dean as head of the DNC. When they won't listen to the man that delivered more votes to the party and won the back the House and Senate in 2006 and 2008, then they don't need my money. It's just a crime that they spent DNC money on assholes like Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu and Blanche Lincoln and the rest of the Blue Dog insurance company boot lickers.
"if you're not willing to do that the proper thing to do is to step aside"
That would leave 98 senate seats and 400-odd house seats vacant.
Dean supports this crappy legislation?! We're doomed.
Egotistical gasbags like Lieberman don't cede the power they accumulate. The power has to be taken from them. Lieberman is not a sacred cow nor should any Democrat who would defy its own party's majority power given to it by the people. If Lieberman wants to vote against the final bill, that is his perogative. Allowing any member of the party to play politics with procedural votes is a threat to every Democrat in Congress. Talk about going rogue!
Why isn't Gov. Dr. Howard Dean the President of the United States of America? WHY?!?
He is not part of the elitist establishment. Member of organizations like the Council on Foreign Relations.(CFR) etc.
When people like Howard Dean are pushed out of the party and people like Russ Feingold often are ignored by the media and the party elites, you can understand why the DNC is the party of Do Not Care. Don't get me wrong. I love the ideals that I have come to except from liberals and what the Democratic party should be and while they pay good lip service, they don't have solutions that benefit the common man anymore. Once the Democratic Party started taking money from the same places the Republicans got their money from, it became the United States of Corporate America. Those in elite positions have their own set of ideas and any ideas that don't fit that mold won't be listened too. The Democrats don't know how to stand up for liberalism anymore. As Bill Maher said once, we don't need a third party, we need a FIRST party.
When you ignore your voting base, your voting base will ignore you.
The more the Democrats act like republiCONs, the more they are setting themselves up for defeats next year and the 2012 Presidential election.
The days of "where are they going to go? What if there is a President Palin" are no longer worthy of a respond.
To get my vote, you have to earn it. Lips service does not work anymore.
Which lobbying group can pay Lieberman the most: the defense industry or the insurance industry? This might actually be a good thing for the little rat.
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