Yes, Lieberman is an insincere, opportunistic, two-faced liar. But let's face it: at the end of the day the responsibility for the complete lack of any real progressive reform in the healthcare bill must lie squarely with the White House. Here's what Obama should have done this week, and maybe did in a parallel universe...
- Force Lieberman to filibuster in person on the Senate floor for weeks on end. Let's see how much appetite he has for a physical endurance test. I get the feeling his prostate might become problematic.
- While Lieberman is filibustering, flood the airwaves with talking points like “While Joe Lieberman read from the phone book today another 14000 people lost healthcare coverage” or “....another 900 people died from lack of coverage” etc.
- Go in hard with a media blitz campaign pushing the Medicare buy-in. It’s a winning argument – praise Medicare, remind people (even the Teabaggers) that they love Medicare, and then offer to expand it.
- Pay for above expansion with absolutely draconian taxes on investment bankers (e.g. 100% above $500K).
- Pay for above expansion with drawdown in Afghanistan & Iraq.
- Watch approval rating exceed 70%
- Get re-elected
Thoughts?