HuffPost reporter Sam Stein was a guest on The Ed Show tonight to discuss the latest news about health care reform, including Senator Joe Lieberman's announcement that he would join a GOP filibuster to torpedo a reform bill that includes a public option.
Host Ed Schultz asked Stein what Lieberman wants out of all this. Stein replied,
Relevancy? I mean that would be the first start. You know this was sort of bound to happen; you could sense it coming up. Once Harry Reid went with the opt-out provision we knew that there were 57 senators roughly who would support it, and we were waiting to see who the other three were. Lieberman was the first out of the gate and I think what he's done is essentially put himself in a position where he can make demands. It's what you do when you're someone who sits on the fence. You're gonna move the legislation in a direction that he wants.
Schultz noted that since Lieberman has been on the record for awhile now against any kind of government run plan, why is he just not a Republican. Stein said there is an argument to be made that when Lieberman was welcomed back into the party it was understood that he would be a more reliable vote than he has been, but that has not been the case: "I think a lot of people are sort of kicking themselves when they look back at the rationale for letting him retain his committee chairmanship. It doesn't really make much sense now."
WATCH: (Skip to 10:43 in the video for Stein's segment)
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