First, because of so-called moderate Senators like Lieberman, liberal Senators compromised on a Medicare plus 5% public option down to one with negotiated rates, and were willing to entertain stupid policy ideas such as state-based exchanges, state-based pilot public programs, state-based co-ops, the OPM private exchange within an exchange of private insurers in which Blue Cross Blue Shield would likely be "competing" against other Blue Cross Blue Shield plans and other insurers, and now down to the Medicare buy-in.

Which Senator Lieberman rejected after first giving it his support. He's been stringing Democrats in the Senate all along with the help of other conservative Democrats. He and Senator Ben Nelson have their own ransom demands, such as restrictive abortion language that goes far beyond Hyde amendment, and here's what Lieberman said below with his ransom demands:

On Sunday, Lieberman said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the Senate could pass a bill this week if Democrats agreed to take “a few things out of the bill,” including the Medicare expansion and public option. “It doesn’t take much more than that,” he said. Lieberman’s road map to success entails giving in to almost all the moderates’ demands — a scenario that would infuriate liberals.

That means that Senator Lieberman only has one goal in mind---to make sure insurance companies get what they want--a mandated bailout thanks to our bodies feeding them in their golden trough and subsidies from our taxpayer dollars as well. We've seen loopholes appear in the bill such as the annual limit on insurance policies which goes against President Obama's promises to American voters, and now comes the news that there's another massive loophole in the Senate bill:

Another problem with the Senate bill is that it doesn’t plug a loophole that a lot of junk insurance plans use: not counting deductibles or co-payments for doctor’s visits or prescription drug payments toward a plan’s annual out-of-pocket maximum. That can be a catastrophe for people who are seriously ill. And it’s one of the things we recommended legislators fix. The Senate bill does say that the stingiest plans must cap consumer’s out-of-pocket payments at around $6,000 (at least in the first year after reform goes into effect; the cap could go up in succeeding years based on inflation). But it fails to specify that ALL out-of-pocket expenses-- deductibles, coinsurance, co-payments, and similar charges--would count against that out-of-pocket-maximum. The House bill does. It’s not too late for the Senate to follow suit.

Jon Walker also pointed out the similar pattern of Democrats giving in to the conservaDems' demands and there are two paths left to us---the nuclear filibuster and reconciliation.

This pattern has been repeated for like the tenth time. Liberals in Congress create a “compromise,” their supposedly left-wing media apologists rush to say how great it is, and the conservative Democrats move the football again. No one should be surprised by the rapid death of the Medicare buy in idea. It seems the only choice left for progressives in Congress is reconciliation or the nuclear option. Joe Lieberman, Blanche Lincoln, and Ben Nelson have so completely gutted the bill that there is almost nothing of value remaining in it. The few remaining pieces worth passing are quickly being picked apart at the request of industry lobbyists. What is remains is only one of the biggest corporate give-aways in history.

There's also a third path. That means giving into what Senator Lieberman and other conservaDems want. Strip the Medicare buy-in, the triggered public option, and other provisions like the CLASS Act which was Senator Kennedy's last huge legislative work, and that ensures their vote for the passage of the Senate bill that's riddled with loopholes like the annual limit, the out-of-pocket costs, a weak high-risk pool, and has an individual mandate to buy private insurance with subsidies.

We can't let a bad bill like that be ping-ponged to progressives in the House without a conference process. It'd be the wrong thing for the Democratic leadership to do in getting their Christmas PR photo op. They only have themselves to blame for enabling Lieberman and conservative Democrats in their obstruction of the legislative process.

It's why we're taking the step of calling out Senator Lieberman's actions through his wife, who also lobbies in the health industry, and nyceve has her petition up in her diary, so please sign that if you can!

I'll end this with my thought---"F**K You, Senator Lieberman!"

MAJOR UPDATE: WHITE HOUSE TO TELL REID TO CUT DEAL WITH LIEBERMAN!

http://www.politico.com/...

W.H. to Reid: Cut deal with Lieberman The White House is encouraging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to cut a deal with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and eliminate 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.” Lieberman threw health care reform into doubt Sunday when he told Reid that he would filibuster the bill if it allowed Americans ages 55 to 64 to purchase coverage in Medicare. His comments on CBS’s “Face the Nation” set off a series of private meetings Sunday between the Senate leadership and top White House aides, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who encouraged Reid to cut the deal with Lieberman, the official said. The White House declined to comment.

UPDATE 2: WH Press Secretary Gibbs' quote on the story:

Can Gibbs confirm POLITICO's report that the White House wants to cut a deal with Lieberman? "The president is anxious to see progress and will continue to work with Democrats and Republicans and independents and everyone in between," Gibbs says. And with another exchange on the bankers, that's all. (2:29 p.m.)

UPDATE 3: WH Spokesman Dan Pfeiffer On Politico Story:

The White House denies the charge. Spokesman Dan Pfeiffer tells TPMDC, "The report is inaccurate. The White House is not pushing Senator Reid in any direction. We are working hand in hand with the Senate Leadership to work through the various issues and pass health reform as soon as possible."

UPDATE 4: This story has been confirmed by mcjoan, and is credible according to her source involved with the Senate negotiations.

Politico is reporting, and a source familiar with the Senate Gang of Ten negotiations has confirmed for me, that the White House has told Reid to cut a deal with Lieberman. The White House is encouraging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to cut a deal with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and eliminate 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." Remember that Reid invited Lieberman to be a part of those Gang of Ten negotiations, and that Lieberman punked Reid by telling him that he was open to a Medicare buy-in. What's more, according to my source, Lieberman had staff in the Gang of 10 negotiations and they never raised objections on the part of their boss to the compromise.

UPDATE 5: Did The Medicare Expansion Proposal Originate With Lieberman In Early September?

David Dayden at FDL reports on this and included a video of Lieberman on his support for the Medicare buy-in program in early September: My proposals were to basically expand the existing successful public health insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid. In the case of Medicaid, to allow people who were above the eligibility level to buy into the Medicaid system, under the theory that it would be up to a certain income level, under the theory that they would buy into it at less than the market rate of health insurance. When it came to Medicare I was very focused on a group — post 50, maybe more like post 55. People who have retired early, or unfortunately have been laid off early, who lose their health insurance and they’re too young to qualify for Medicare. What I was proposing was that they have an option to buy into Medicare early and again on the premise that that would be less expensive than the enormous cost. If you’re 55 or 60 and you’re without health insurance and you go in to try to buy it, because you’re older, although to me still young and vital, you’re rated as a risk so you pay a lot of money.



UPDATE 6: TNR's Jonathan Cohn confirms the Politico story with their own sources. Jonathan says that the leak came from Rahm Emmanuel.

http://www.tnr.com/...

Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown is reporting that the White House is encouraging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to cut a deal with Joe Lieberman. The White House is denying the report, in fairly strong terms: "The White House is not pushing Senator Reid in any direction," spokesman Dan Pfeiffer says. "We are working hand in hand with the Senate Leadership to work through the various issues and pass health reform as soon as possible." But one of TNR's Capitol Hill sources is saying the same thing that Politico's is. According to the source, the message came directly from Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel: Lose the Medicare buy-in, reach an accommodation with Lieberman, and pass legislation as soon as possible.

UPDATE 7: It looks like the Medicare buy-in deal is dead thanks to Lieberman.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) just walked walked into the Democrats all-important caucus meeting tonight sounding defeatest about the chance that a Medicare buy-in or public option trigger will survive Sen. Joe Lieberman's (I-CT) decision to block the compromises this weekend. Asked by a reporter if the Medicare buy-in will be pulled out, Harkin said "looks that way," before praising a Democratic health care bill without the two public option compromises. "There's enough good in this bill that even without those two, we gotta move," he said. "All the insurance reforms, all the stuff we wrote so hard for prevention and wellness in there, the workforce development issues that we have in there, the reimbursement based on quality not on quantity -- there's good stuff in this bill. It's a giant step forward, changing the paradigm of health care in America."

UPDATE 8: WH and Senator Reid CAVE INTO Lieberman's Ransom Demands: