Joe says "Whoa!"

Is the Obamessiah's church of cards collapsing?

Lieberman Suggests Putting Off Parts of Health Care Reform Until After Recession
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent senator counted on by Democrats in the health care debate, says there's "no reason" Congress has to completely overhaul health care while there's still a recession.

WASHINGTON -- An independent senator counted on by Democrats in the health care debate showed signs of wavering Sunday when he urged President Obama to postpone many of his initiatives because of the economic downturn.

"I'm afraid we've got to think about putting a lot of that off until the economy's out of recession," said Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman. "There's no reason we have to do it all now, but we do have to get started. And I think the place to start is cost health delivery reform and insurance market reforms."

The Senate requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and advance a measure to an up-or-down vote. Senators from both parties said that Democrats might use a voting tactic to overcome GOP opposition, abandoning the White House's goal of bipartisan support for its chief domestic priority.

Democrats control 60 votes, including those of two independents, but illness has sidelined Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. The party's leaders also cannot be assured that their moderate members will support every health care proposal.

"I think it's a real mistake to try to jam through the total health insurance reform, health care reform plan that the public is either opposed to or of very, very passionate mixed minds about," Lieberman said.

Talk about resorting to this maneuver comes as Republicans dig in against the idea of a government-run insurance program as an option for consumers and a requirement that employers provide health insurance to their workers.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Republicans would like to start over "with a genuine bipartisan approach."


Hmmm,..no wonder the DNC tried to oust him in 2006!