Lieberman, Nelson Both Say They'll Vote Against Reid's "Medicare Option" Version of ObamaCare

And Claire McCaskill says she'll vote against anything that fails to bring down the deficit.

Lieberman continues talking like a man who's mind is made up.

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) both said a Medicare "buy-in" option for those aged 55-64 was a deal breaker.

"I'm concerned that it's the forerunner of single payer, the ultimate single-payer plan, maybe even more directly than the public option," Nelson said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Lieberman said Democrats should stop looking for a public option "compromise" and simply scrap the idea altogether.

"You've got to take out the Medicare buy-in. You've got to forget about the public option," he said.

If Democrats stick to relying primarily on the bill's subsidies, the legislation would pass easily and with bipartisan support, Lieberman argued.

Depends on the scale of the subsidies. This is a tremendously expensive thing, which is the primary reason it hasn't been done. (Other reasons: socialism doesn't work and socialized health care tends to be bad health care.)

I don't know what size subsidies he has in mind. I suppose if the Democrats went for that sort of thing, they might have their 60 votes -- maybe. They'd still be blowing up the deficit, without the cover of these fake "projected savings" to hide that fact.

Hopefully the liberals will resist all compromise and wind up with no bill at all. Edit: Although that seems doubtful; at some point, after proving to the netroots they tried and tried, they are going to want to sign the proverbial any-old-thing with the words "Health Care Reform" on the cover.

Via Hot Air's headlines.

posted by Ace at 03:15 PM

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