Kabuki Theater: White House Now Instructs Reid to Cut Deal with Joe Lieberman
Meh Update: White House Denies Pressure

Pic via Drudge

Wow, the guy who's not up for reelection until 2012 is now telling the people who are up for reelection in 2010 to cut a smaller deal with the Traitor Lieberman. To take heat on behalf of the guys up for reelection in 2010.

And Dingy Harry, who really needs the fightin' fighting nutroots on his side next year, is of course so angry with Lieberman that why he's not really in a compromising mood at all! Why he wants to fight, fight, fight, and he's just so goshdarn upset with ol' Joe he just can't bring himself around to accept this betrayal quite yet!

It's almost as if they've scripted this, almost as if they've calculated who is best able to withstand nutroots disappointment at this time.

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.”

If they do cut a deal -- which I　expect they will -- there still will be a lot of additional spending and a lot of new debt and a lot of harm to the economy. I guess we're just hoping now that the damage is kept to as low a level as possible. But that level will not be all that low, either.

Via Just Karl.

HuffPo: Liberal Poll Says 81% of Democrats Want Lieberman Stripped of Committee Assignments in Retaliation for Knife in the Back Surprise Betrayal Which Was Clearly Announced A Month Ago: Why is this interesting?

Because you will not find a single opinion piece decrying the "purity tests" and "loyalty oaths" the nutroots wishes to impose on its members. It seems only one party's more independent-minded members are praised for their maverick free-thinkingness.

Obligatory... Leak the story that you're pressuring Reid and then immediately deny the story you just leaked. Maintain plausible deniability; you want the idea out there, but you don't necessarily want it proven.

Almost pointless to link this, as they'd say this either way.

Via Gabriel Malor.

posted by Ace at 02:23 PM

| Access Comments