Matter of Record
Help me out. Does anyone have a quote from Senator Lieberman that states as follows: "No matter what, if re-elected I will abandon my status as independent and in all respects support the Democratic Party in the United States Senate, especially by voting for all leadership positions in accord with the Party's Senate leaders. If I were to change my mind on this topic, I would, if re-elected, resign my seat rather than go back on my word."
I don't consider the statements of the Senator's spokespersons to be an adequately binding promise and nor should the voters of the Nutmeg State.
In addition, the Senator should state as follows: "I do not agree with the current majority of the Republican Party members in Congress on choice, the environment, the estate tax, tax cuts for the top one percent, and stem cell research. I reject the Republican Party's views and President Bush's views on all these topics." As far as I understand, the above states his position, but the rampant support he is drawing from the White House calls for clarification on these topics.
Given that Bush does not support the Republican candidate for the senate in Connecticut, that polls show that less than 10% of the voters in a state divided about 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, support the Republican candidate, that the winning Democratic candidate, who got over 50% of the primary votes of Democrats, gets less than 50% of the state voters support today, and that Lieberman gets the remainder of the GOP voters support, then it should be abundantly obvious that Connecticut voters view Lieberman as a Republican. So, why should anyone disagree with them? Lieberman certainly hasn't that I know of.
Hoppy in Sacramento
August 17, 2006 7:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Quit apologizing for the jerk. Thanks.
Sincerely,
A humble Connecticut voter who is quite sure this is about changing the status quo.
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August 17, 2006 8:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who would vote for someone who would say anything as ridiculous as that?
You might as well have him say, "if re-elected I would divorce my wife and become an atheist before defying my beloved Democratic Party again."
Get real.
August 17, 2006 8:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who would believe him? Honestly. Who would believe anything that Lieberman says?
What fool out there would bank on Lieberman's integrity?
It's true that Lieberman is in the lead, the Republican is in the basement and Lamont is a close second.
But so what? Lamont overcame a handicap of over 40% to overturn Lieberman in the primary.
Joe will not be running with the support of the Democratic Party. Joe will not be running on anything but his own fading ass.
Didn't he tie for third place when he ran for the Presidential nomination? The race has officially begun. We'll see how it ends.
August 17, 2006 8:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hadn't known Connecticut was the Nutmeg State, but it seems appropriate. Nutmeg contains the hallucinogenic alkaloid, myristicin, on which monkeys get very, very stoned.
--
Howard
*equal opportunity offense to both extremes*
August 17, 2006 8:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think that prior to the Lamont phenomenon, the Republican candidate was just cannon fodder for a race with Lieberman because the Republicans had no other viable candidate, thanks to former Governor Rowland and his sticky fingers. I suspect now, that they like Lieberman so much, that their nominal candidate is taking a dive in this race for the party so the R votes will go to Lieberman giving him the victory. Actually, on further thought, I think they're supporting Lieberman to keep the aggressive Lamont out of the Senate.
August 17, 2006 8:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Reed,
Please stop. It's over and you need to move on. Joe is never going to be what you thought he was. You might want to concern yourself with how many more Joe-like Cylons are hiding in the wings.
August 17, 2006 9:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think Reed is asking for Lieberman to be the Dem he thought he was. He's giving Lamont a line of attack. If Lieberman affirms what Reed mentions, he loses his Republican support. If he doesn't, he loses his Democratic support.
Prying away the Republican support is very useful--and a very easy trap for Lieberman to fall into, as his ego will force him to show how he's a Real Dem. The Republican support is far more reliable than the Democratic support. After all, it has no viable alternative. On the other hand, most Democrats will inevitably fall to Lamont, given the Cheney-esque behavior of Lieberman and his dishonest staffers.
August 17, 2006 10:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
"...especially by voting for all leadership positions in accord with the Party's Senate leaders."
No senator would ever commit to that.
The sons of the prophet are noble and bold,
and quite unaccustomed to fear.
But the bravest by far in the ranks of the Shah
was Abdul Abulbul Amir
August 18, 2006 5:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Since Joe Lieberman hasn't been challenged in years, I'm hoping that he got fat and lazy about his finances and his recordkeeping in the last few years.
I took a quick look at Lieberman's financial disclosure reports and noticed that he is an executor of the Bernard L. Manger estate, a trustee of the Manger Family Trust and the president of the B. L. Manger Foundation. I think H. B. Manger may have been Hadassah's father.
I looked at the 990s filed by the Manger Foundation for the five years ended 2005 and I had questions about the foundation's operations right off the bat.
For example, the foundation incurred $1.1 million in losses on the sale of stock between 2002 and 2003. To put those losses into perspective, the foundation only donated $1.2 million in the same period.
The Manger Foundation did not disclose whether the shares of stock were purchased or contributed which is a 990 requirement.
The only contributor to the Manger Foundation during the four year period ended 2004 was the Estate of Bernard L. Manger. Contributions of $600k and $545k were made in 2001 and 2002, respectively.
My question is whether the executors of the Manger Estate donated stock to the foundation at cost even if the value of the stock had been or was going to be diminished.
I don't know what financial benefit would accrue to the estate though without knowing the terms of Bernard Manger's will.
I suppose the heirs would benefit if the estate was required to transfer X amount of dollars to the foundation every year and the estate dumped worthless stock on the foundation rather than the heirs.
I haven't had time yet to look at the recipients of grants made by the Manger Foundation so I can't make any comments other than to say all of the recipients are Jewish organizations.
According to the foundation's 990s, Joe Lieberman devotes an average of five hours of his time per week to the foundation's operations every year including the one with 9/11 in it.
Frankly, if Joe Lieberman were my senator, I'd strongly recommend to him that he spend those five hours on the nation's business rather than worrying about how the H. B. Manger Foundation was going to donate a paltry $500k each year.
On a more positive note, Joe Lieberman can answer any and all questions about the operations of the foundation since he has devoted so much of his time to it.
I hope the people running Ned Lamont's campaign have the same interest in Senator Lieberman's finances as I do. I definitely think it would be worthwhile to look through them.
August 18, 2006 6:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
As long as we're thinking wishfully here, he should also say, "I believe in the Democratic Party and hope for my party to regain majorities in Congress. It is my belief that if I am returned to the Senate this fall, I will be casting my vote for Harry Reid as Majority Leader and caucusing with my party as we put forth a new agenda through the Senate's committees. In addition, I fully endorse Democratic candidates Joe Courtney, Diane Farrell and Patrick Murphy, and encourage Connecticut voters to send them with me to Washington.
I regret deeply that the Republican Party is covering up its record of failure by trying to exploit the debate within our party."
Come to think of it, here's an idea. How about Lamont signs his own version of this pledge (maybe without the "resign" language) - I'll support Democrats for Senate leadership, I hope to caucus with them, I oppose the Republican agenda on the aforementioned items, I endorse a Democratic majority in Congress. He signs that pledge very publically, saying it's necessary to ensure unity in the Democratic Party, makes a big media deal of it, and asks Lieberman to sign it. The longer Lieberman holds off, the more obvious it will be that he is the de facto GOP candidate. Every few days Lamont's supporters should send a letter to the editor in their local paper requesting that Lieberman sign the pledge.
It's a win-win - he signs the pledge, the GOP is put in a very awkward position vis-a-vis their majority and their candidates; he doesn't sign, Joe is put in a very awkward position vis-a-vis the majority of CT voters who support Dmocratic candidates for federal office.
Anybody know somebody in the Lamont campaign who might want to take a shot at this?
August 18, 2006 7:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
It really strikes me that this whole line of thinking is largely a waste of time.
This sort of petty gamesmanship might be useful for scoring 'points' of some sort at beltway cocktail parties or in certain salons.
I can just imagine Reed regaling a small circle of upper middle class, middle aged, white people around a round of cocktails, with his subtle maneuver and being gratified by their knowing chuckles.
Out in the real world? Forget it. It's brass knuckles time, baby. Joltin Joe ain't going away and he's called out the forces of darkness to his side. They don't care about cocktail parties bon mots, they care about bonfires and bombs away. So lets put the knowing chuckles and sophisticated tactics for subtle points away. This is the big fight, the hard rockin', the winner take all, eat the loser and rape his children contest. It's caveman time!
August 18, 2006 8:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Lieberman said he has spoken with Reid by phone since his primary defeat.
"Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader of the Senate, called me after the primary. And we had a good talk, we're friends," Lieberman said. "He said, 'Look, I've heard some of the statements that people have been making, but I'm the Democratic leader and if you get elected, you've got your seniority, you've got all your committee assignments, nothing is going to change.' And I appreciated that very much."
Joe isn't going to lose his seniority-the Lamonistas are wasting their time in trying to get him pulled down, as a matter of fact, all they're doing now is just POing people with their foam-at-the-mouth rantings.
August 18, 2006 9:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Go, go, go, Mrs. P!!!!
Keep up the good work!
Jan Knaus
August 18, 2006 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I smell BS.
No link?
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August 18, 2006 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink