Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn), center, is flanked by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, left, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada following a Democratic Caucus meeting. (Photo by Gerald Herbert / AP)
by Mark Silva
This isn't exactly like kissing and making up, but Sens. Harry Reid and Joe Lieberman insist they really don't hate each other.
Both the Senate majority leader from Nevada and that precarious independent vote who is key to the Democrats' 60-vote power-grip in the Senate from Connecticut issued statements today worthy of diplomatic talks at a G-20 summit.
This stemmed from a New York Times Magazine article published on its Website this week that described "Reid's distress, as related by associates,'' after learning that Lieberman had announced on CBS' Face the Nation that he would not support a Reid-made compromise to create a government-run "public option" to compete with private insurers.
The Times reports that Reid, after hearing that Lieberman had announced on TV that he would oppose a Medicare "buy-in'' for people 55 to 65 as part of that proposed compromise, exclaimed to associates: "He double-crossed me. Let's not do what he wants. Let the bill just go down."
In the end, Reid acceded to Lieberman's objections, and the Senate got its 60 votes to advance the healthcare bill to a final vote, 60-39.
"Sen. Lieberman and I have a very open and honest working relationship,'' Reid said in a statement issued by his office today. "On issues ranging from foreign policy to health care, even when we disagree, he has always been straight forward with me."
"I appreciate Sen. Reid's statement in response to the comments attributed to him in the New York Times Magazine,'' Lieberman said. "As Sen. Reid indicated in his statement, he believes, as do I, that we have always been honest with each other and any suggestion otherwise is simply false and contrary to the truth."
Comments
Lieberman has been a two faced back stabbing piece of garbage for a long time now. Harry Reid just figured that out? What a dim bulb...
Posted by: former Republican | January 14, 2010 5:45 PM
HAHAHA!!!
FROM THE "IT'S SO STUPID YOU CAN'T MAKE IT UP" FILE.
The Neocon loving/right wing nutbags at the Heritage Foundation want to send Bush to Haiti.
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"Clearly former President Clinton, who was already named as the U.N. envoy on Haiti, is a logical choice. President Obama should also reach out to a senior Republican figure, perhaps former President George W. Bush, to lead the bipartisan effort for the Republicans."
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/01/13/things-to-remember-while-helping-haiti/
It was such a fantastic success the last time W was in charge of helping out poor people suffering from a natural disaster. Who wouldn't want a repeat of that experience? This is the Republican disconnect from reality on full display.
Posted by: former Republican | January 14, 2010 6:20 PM
HEY SHEEPLES, LOOK OVER THERE AT HARRY REID!!!!
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DON'T LOOK OVER HERE AT REPUBLICANS DENYING HEALTHCARE REFORM TO AMERICANs FOR THEIR CORPORATE INSURANCE OVERLORDS, OR THE 10%+ UNEMPLOYMENT THAT THE BUSH ADMINSTRATION LEFT FOR OBAMA AND DEMS TO CLEAN UP, OR THE STAGGERING INCREASED DEBT LEVELS THAT REPUBLICAN THEMSELVES CREATED AND ARE NOW CRYING ABOUT, OR FAILED WANNABE TERRORISTS TRYING TO BRING DOWN PLANES WITH A BOMB IN THEIR UNDERWEAR, OR THEIR WEALTH TRANSFER SCHEMES (TAX CUTS FOR BILLIONAIRES) AND ALL THE OTHER HORRIBLE BUSH REPUBLICAN POLICIES THAT GOT US INTO THIS MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE.
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GOT IT?
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Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | January 14, 2010 11:56 AM
Posted by: K | January 14, 2010 6:33 PM
Lieberman doesn't care about his rock bottom polling numbers. He just dismisses all that stuff...his future is secured with some big health insurance lobbying firm, that's all he cares about.
Posted by: b-bob | January 14, 2010 7:04 PM
Lieberman loves fear, he likes to scare people about healthcare and terror (just like his Republican friends do).
Most likely Joe's going off to become a high-paid lobbyist for the HC and Finance industries in 2012.
Still, something to look forward to .... not having to see his idiotic clown face on TV every Sunday.
Posted by: Christine20 | January 14, 2010 8:10 PM
Lieberman has been a dead-man-walking ever since he won reelection. There was simply no way back from what he did. Some of his actions since then could be explained by resentment but I think that most of them can be explained by his need for a post-senatorial career. He is smart enough to know that he was not going to be re-elected so he has been floating his services to any and every lobbying/law firm he can find. He is desperate to pad his resume with as many Sunday Show appearances as he can before he announces his retirement.
I expect every policy-weakening tantrum and every tooth-pulling vote from Lieberman from now on to be a form of unpaid internship for his future employment in the corporate-lobbying-industrial complex.
Posted by: InBloom | January 14, 2010 8:15 PM
Traitor Joe LIEberman rears his ugly head. If Reid and other Democratic Senators had any backbone, they would move to have this two-faced liar stripped of his committee chairmanship. Who could forgot those pictures of the fearless 3 - Traitor LIEberman, dainty Lindsey Graham, and frustrated grandpa McCain appearing time and again with smirks on their faces under heavy guard in the slums of Baghdad telling us how great things were in Iraq. A picture is certainly worth a thousands words.
Posted by: Doug R. | January 15, 2010 1:45 PM