Lieberman playing defense on opposition to 55+ Medicare-badly

Forced to explain his sudden opposition to reducing the qualifying age for Medicare to 55 – after years of being for it- (see “Who’s Pulling Joe Lieberman’s Strings“) Joe Lieberman’s forces are stepping up to try and justify the discrepancy.

Lieberman’s first effort at an explanation came in a comment to CNN by the senator’s spokesman, Marshall Wittmann, who said that Lieberman had changed his mind as conditions changed over the years.

This is nine years later, and we have a huge national deficit and a program [Medicare] that analysts indicate is in dire fiscal straits in 2009, If anyone believes that the situation has not changed, they also believe that Tiger Woods is not a controversial figure at this moment.

Via CNN

And that might have done it – if it were not for that pesky interview Lieberman gave to the Connecticut Post just three months ago where he, again, supported the idea of a Medicare buy-in starting at age 55.

That brought a response from Lieberman spokesperson, Erika Masonhall, who, in an email to The Daily Beast, said -

Senator Lieberman’s comment reported by the Connecticut Post in September was made before the Finance Committee reported out the Baucus bill, which contained extensive health insurance reforms, including a more narrow age rating for pricing health insurance premiums and extensive affordability credits that would benefit this specific group of individuals. These health insurance reforms and affordability credits have been strengthened in Senator Reid’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and will provide even greater relief for those 55-65 years old. Any inclusion of a Medicare buy-in for that same age group would be duplicative of what is already in the bill, would put the government on the hook for billions of additional dollars, and would potentially threaten the solvency of Medicare, which is already in a perilous state.

Via The Daily Beast

I guess that would be an explanation, despite the fact that the subsidies have been on the table since the discussion began almost a year ago. It now turns out that Lieberman is so pleased with the Baucus Bill that he just doesn’t see the point doing anything more.

But, you know, there’s something about this that just doesn’t quite fit.

Oh..I remember…. Lieberman was opposed the Senate Finance Committee bill, wasn’t he?

IMUS: Do you support the Baucus bill?

LIEBERMAN: Not, not, no. I mean, not the way it is now.

IMUS: Ok, what about it don’t you like?

LIEBERMAN: Well, here’s my concern, as I watch the way it took shape. And it goes back to these two things we’re trying to do at once. I’m afraid that in the end, the Baucus bill is actually going to raise the price of insurance for most of the people in the country because most of the people in our country have health insurance, either private or Medicare or Medicaid or veteran’s benefits.

Here’s the video of Lieberman’s appearance on Imus’ show if you’d like to see the entire interview -

The senator can’t seem to give anyone much of a reason as to why he has taken this sudden turn. I don’t think it is asking to much of the man who is going to single-handedly block health care reform to just tell us the truth.

In the absence of that truth, many are coming to the conclusion that Lieberman is all about settling the score with the liberals who defeated him in the Democratic primary election in Connecticut. I hope this isn’t the case. But it’s up to Lieberman to step up with an explanation that reasonable and rational people can belief – something he has yet to do.