This seems to involve a certain ignoring of recent history.
I don't get the opportunity to say this much lately, but I'm with Harry Reid here. Cutting a deal with Lieberman is like Charlie Brown getting Lucy to promise not to yank away the football. Any "deal" cut with Lieberman should involve a lot of swearing, a lot of yelling, the words "I talk, while you shut the hell up," and the prospect of finding himself out of his committees. If he balks -- even for a second -- fire his ass out the caucus so fast he gets whiplash. There's no reason not to.
The man is completely untrustworthy. You can't make a deal with him, because he'll go back on his word. Guaranteed. I'm not sure what the White House is thinking here, but they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. By that definition, thinking you can cut a deal with Lieberman is insane.
UPDATE: Greg Sargent reports that the White House is denying Politico's story. WH senior communications adviser Dan Pfeiffer sent the following to him in an email:
So is it true? Who knows? Doesn't really make any difference -- there's no point in working with Lieberman.
Politico:
The White House is encouraging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to cut a deal with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), which would mean eliminating the proposed Medicare expansion in the health reform bill, according to an official close to the negotiations.
But Reid is described as so frustrated with Lieberman that he is not ready to sacrifice a key element of the health care bill, and first wants to see the Congressional Budget Office cost analysis of the Medicare buy-in. The analysis is expected early this week.
"There is a weariness and a lot of frustration that one person is holding up the will of 59 others," the official said. “There is still too much anger and confusion at one particular senator’s reversal.”
I don't get the opportunity to say this much lately, but I'm with Harry Reid here. Cutting a deal with Lieberman is like Charlie Brown getting Lucy to promise not to yank away the football. Any "deal" cut with Lieberman should involve a lot of swearing, a lot of yelling, the words "I talk, while you shut the hell up," and the prospect of finding himself out of his committees. If he balks -- even for a second -- fire his ass out the caucus so fast he gets whiplash. There's no reason not to.
The man is completely untrustworthy. You can't make a deal with him, because he'll go back on his word. Guaranteed. I'm not sure what the White House is thinking here, but they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. By that definition, thinking you can cut a deal with Lieberman is insane.
UPDATE: Greg Sargent reports that the White House is denying Politico's story. WH senior communications adviser Dan Pfeiffer sent the following to him in an email:
The report is inaccurate. The White House is not pushing Senator Reid in any direction. We are working hand in hand with the Senate Leadership to work through the various issues and pass health reform as soon as possible.
So is it true? Who knows? Doesn't really make any difference -- there's no point in working with Lieberman.
