An old New Haven political friendship broke into a cold war as U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro called for the “recall” of U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman over his role in torpedoing key liberal provisions of a health-care reform bill.
The two have served together in Washington for 20 years. They both lived here in New Haven until Lieberman moved to Stamford following his loss in a 2006 Democratic primary, in which New Haven supported his opponent. (Lieberman kept his seat that year by running as an independent and has been wreaking revenge on Democrats since.)
DeLauro, first elected to Congress in 1990, and Lieberman, sent to the Senate in 1988, showed up regularly at public and even private events in town all those years. At least by appearances they regarded each other as close colleagues and warm friends, even as DeLauro emerged as a leading liberal in the House and Lieberman emerged as a leading conservative and liberal-basher in the Senate.
That split turned personal Tuesday when DeLauro made the following remark to the news website Politico:
“No individual should hold health care hostage, including Joe Lieberman, and I’ll say it flat out, I think he ought to be recalled,” DeLauro is quoted as saying. Read the story here.
DeLauro’s call was more figurative than prescriptive.
“There is absolutely no recall in Connecticut,” Ted Bromley, a staff attorney with the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s office, stated Wednesday.
Instead, the personal gibe from a Congresswoman known for her comity with colleagues reflected the frustration Connecticut Democrats are feeling toward Lieberman.
She made the remark on the day that Lieberman’s maneuvering succeeded in pushing ruling Democrats to remove two key provisions from a health care reform bill: a “public option” government-run health insurance to cover the uninsured; and expanding the Medicare program to cover people under 65.
DeLauro spokeswoman Kaelan Richards said Wednesday that the Congresswoman “acknowledges that recalling Senator Lieberman may not be possible, but she was trying to make it clear just how passionate she is about this.”
Richards said Politico did quote DeLauro accurately when a reporter caught her on the fly at the Capitol Tuesday.
Through her spokeswoman, DeLauro offered a new quote paraphrasing her intended point, including the context: “No one should hold health care hostage, including Joe Lieberman, and I’ll say it flat out, I think he ought to be recalled — I know that may not even be an option in Connecticut, but 45,000 people die every year because they don’t have health care. We don’t have the luxury to hold up a bill that could make a difference in people’s lives. This is what we were sent here to do.”
Lieberman’s office — which has been inundated with media attention this week—6,418 current stories popped up for a Google News “Lieberman” search Wednesday morning — did not respond to requests for comment.
Leaders Of 2 Poles
What galled Democrats more than usual about Lieberman’s stand was that he had until Sunday supported the Medicare idea. That’s why Democrats included it in a compromise bill they thought Lieberman would support. Then he announced on public TV that he would move to kill the whole health reform bill if it includes the Medicare idea — something he can do as the party’s 60th filibuster-proof vote in the Senate.
Lieberman said the latest version of the Medicare proposal didn’t add up in the context of where health reform legislation now stood; he called it a back-door way for liberals to preserve a “public option” style government plan that he staunchly opposes. Click here to read about that episode.
From the outset of the health reform legislation debate this year, DeLauro and Lieberman have staked polar opposite positions. Click on the play arrows to watch what they’ve told the Independent early on about the roles they hoped to play in advancing or killing the public option plan. Read about it here and here.
Tell us about 2006, and how the Senate vote would be different today, Rosa.