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– CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS
Nov. 16, 2008 – 10:25 a.m.
Senator Says Secret-Ballot in Private Meeting to Determine Whether Democrats Punish Lieberman
By Catharine Richert, CQ Staff
Senate Democrats will vote by secret ballot on Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman ’s fate this week, according to North Dakota Sen. Byron L. Dorgan .
The caucus is due to meet Tuesday to decide whether Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent from Connecticut, should be punished for his aggressive support of Sen. John McCain , R-Ariz., for president.
Dorgan, who is part of the Senate Democratic leadership, would not say what type of punishment he would support, or how he expects the caucus to vote.
“Joe is a friend of mine,” the Chairman of Policy Committee said on Fox News Sunday. “He’s a good American.”
But as for his actions on the campaign trail, “is that acceptable,” he asked. “The answer is no.”
Lieberman is expected to speak to the caucus during its first post-election meeting. If the vote follows the form of a leadership election, senators — with no staff — will sequester themselves, one Democrat will ask for a vote and another will second the motion.
Lawmakers will write their vote on slip of paper, those papers will be collected and counted, and the final tally will be read aloud to the caucus. Lieberman, then, will be able to know how many of his colleagues stood with him but will not know their identities.
What isn’t certain is the exact wording of what members will be voting on, though stripping Lieberman of his Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee chairmanship or taking away his spot on other committees, like the Armed Services Committee, have been discussed.
One punishment that is out of the question is booting Lieberman from the caucus; for the most part, he has voted and caucused with the Democrats since he became an independent in 2006, and the party expects to rely on his vote again in the 111th Congress.
“No one is going to suggest throwing him out of the caucus,” Dorgan said. “That is not on the table.”
Nevertheless, Republicans say they would welcome Lieberman to the caucus, even if he continued his largely Democratic voting record.
“[We] would welcome him with open arms,” said Minority Whip Jon Kyl , R-Ariz., said on the same television program. “It would be good to have him with us.”
Comments
This is a difficult topic in that Democrats want to have 60 members in the Senate, and therefore have him in their caucus. Also, he has voted for the most part along party lines except when it came to Middle Eastern issues, where he is very one-sidedly pro-Israel. The author says "should be punished for his aggressive support of Sen. John McCain , R-Ariz., for president." I disagree. He should be punished for attacking a fellow Democrat who became our President-elect and subscribing to the campaign of fear mongering and hatred!
At the very least, remove him from the chairmanship of the Homeland Security and GAC- he has done a dismal job in that position.
Lieberman is a neo-con who lost his 2006 Democratic primary because of his extreme support of Bush-Cheney, the immoral attack and occupation of Iraq, and his "palling" around with other neo-cons like McCain, Graham, etc. Lieberman refused to accept the fact that he lost his Democratic Primary and chose to run as an Independent funded by Republicans. He has trashed his original political party even after Al Gore honored him as a Vice Presidential nominee. He has continued to support Bush, the war, and is so pro-Israel's AIPAC neo con lobby group that he frequently urges attacks on Iran - and ignores the fact that Bush has bankrupted our military, has killed 5000, permanently disabled 40,000 or more American troops - based on fake intelligence provided by Cheney. Bush-Cheney, McCain, and Lieberman have financially bankrupted America through their incompetence and support of the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. Lieberman is a source of embarrassment to the Democratic Party. He should never have been named chair of Homeland Security; he does not deserve it. He has turned into a laughing stock just as Zell Miller; they are both traitors to the Democratic Party. Lieberman should not even have any say about what Democrats do; he was supporting Republicans against Democrats this election. He has no right to demand to keep the Homeland Security chair or any committee chairm at all based on his behavior. If Lieberman had any "class" at all, he should have retired when he was defeated by the Democrats in Connecticut in 2006.
Lieberman is just one gigantic ego whose ego stands out in a room with 99 other gigantic egos. He is a liar, a turncoat, completely untrustworthy and should be called out for his actions in the past election (note: just love that word, past,got a nice ring to it).. The Dems need his vote and politics is for the pragmatic when behind closed doors.
Though a staunch Democrat, I am glad that Lieberman's vote would not give the Democrats the 60 vote lock on the Senate. Obama pleged to form new alliances - a Democratic lock or near-lock on the Senate would remove any real incentive for this. As for Lieberman himself, I care more about loyalty to principal than persons. Unfortunately Leiberman's loyalty seems to be only to himself.
I'm with CDS. This should not be referred to as a punishment - it is a de facto rule - no one who has played on the other team, deliberately hurt one of our players, and actively played to defeat our team should be allowed to wear our jersey. Isn't accountability the new name of the game? The Law of Gravity doesn't "punish" you when you throw yourself out the window, does it?
I'm willing to give Lieberman a pass on stumping for McCain. Heck, I'll even concede his support for Collins, who was going to win anyway. But Lieberman's support for Coleman arguably was the difference between Democrats winning or losing that seat, given the closeness of the race. For Senate Democrats to allow him to retain his chairmanship in that context is absurd. It has nothing to do with whether Lieberman is conservative. Ask yourself; what would LBJ do?
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