Ever painful Joe Lieberman, who has had taxpayer funded health insurance for most of his adult life, is threatening to filibuster any Senate bill that includes a public option. Of course, no one in the traditional media or punditry would ever question Lieberman's hypocrisy. No, not Joe. He's one of their favorites.
On the other hand, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) isn't promising to support a bill that leaves the public option out:
Asked if he will support Democrats on procedural votes once the healthcare bill hits the Senate floor, Sanders was repeatedly noncommital, twice telling The Hill that he intends to push for a bill that includes a government-run, public-option insurance component and refusing to guarantee his support on cloture votes.Here's hoping Sanders will play hard ball. But, the conventional wisdom is that the liberals in the Senate, like those in the House, will ultimately cave. The White House sure expects that. The pundits expect that -- and it's even true for Sanders:
“All I’ll say for now is that I want the strongest public option possible in the bill,” Sanders said. “Beyond that, we’re going to have to look at what develops.”
Yet since Sanders usually follows the lead of Democratic leaders, other observers say he is likely simply being stubborn as part of an effort to win some kind of concession for his state, as many senators do.See, inside "the Village," it's only a threat if Lieberman does it.
“I'd be surprised if Sanders decided to be a thorn in the leadership's side on healthcare,” said Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor who covers the Senate for The Cook Political Report. “On the big issues, he is generally with them.”
