Lieberman: "I'm Going to be Stubborn" on Opposing Public Option
Lieberman has said he will join a Republican filibuster of any health care bill that includes a public option. He is one of a handful of senators who Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will have to placate in order to get all 60 members of the Democratic caucus to support his health care overhaul.
Given that Lieberman and a few other Democrats are wary of the public option plan Reid included in his bill, it is possible the Senate could try to replace the provision with a type of "compromise," such as the so-called "trigger" plan put forward by Snowe. Under that plan, a public option would only be enacted after certain number of years if the private industry failed to meet certain goals.
Lieberman told the Wall Street Journal, however, that he would not support a trigger plan, or any other "compromise" version of the public option.
"I'm going to be stubborn on this," he said.
Lieberman repeated his assertion that he objects to a public option for fiscal reasons: "Once the government creates an insurance company or plan, the government or the taxpayers are liable for any deficit that government plan runs, really without limit," he said. As pointed out on the Hotsheet, however, the public option is crafted so that it would be paid for entirely by premiums. In the House bill, at least, it would be prohibited from getting a federal "bailout."
"As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tries to solve the Rubik's Cube that is health legislation, Mr. Lieberman just might represent the hardest piece to flip into place," Gerald Seib of the Wall Street Journal wrote.
With that in mind, it may come as no surprise that industries with a stake in the reform process are putting pressure on Lieberman to back Reid's bill. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is running an ad asking Lieberman to support the reform package, Politico reports. The ad specifically calls for his support of the Senate reform package, as opposed to "some proposals" that could raise Medicare premiums -- a charge the drug industry has leveled against the House bill.