Lieberman votes with religious right on church-state issue

Jesus Christ, CaptCT! (4.00 / 1)

Are you TRYING to give me a stroke?!?  

Can I just have ONE pleasant evening without hearing about something outrageous that Lieberman has pulled off? Is THAT too much to ask?

Somebody give me some Excedrin...I have a doozy of a headache now!

Connecticut Bob

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by: Bob Adams @ Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 00:28:15 AM UTC

yeah, maybe a bit much (0.00 / 0)

You need to keep this handy.

I was just reading the corporate media's coverage of the Senate version of the stimulus bill, and whenever I see people like Lieberman and Ben Nelson of Nebraska referred to as "centrists," it almost gives me a stroke. Lieberman is a Liebertrist, about as centrist as Rasputin.

Did you see the amendment Lieberman got passed? It doubles the tax credit for home purchases from $7500 to $15,000, presumably to make it easier for ^[wealthy] people to buy ^[scarf up] a ^[foreclosed] home. With home prices plummeting, do we need more INCENTIVES for people to buy a home? Give people jobs and they'll start buying homes.  

Bottom line, Lieberman supported a package that cut ...

$19.5 billion slated for school and higher education construction and half of a $79 billion fund to help states with education spending.

Also trimmed were dozens of other programs, including Superfund, Head Start and Early Start, energy loan guarantees and historic preservation.

... all while voting with Democrats just 62% of the time on the stimulus bill, including for a measure to strip away chuch-state protections.

If Nancy DiNardo was waiting for an answer from Joe to her "letter of disapproval," this is Joe's answer.  

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by: CaptCT @ Sun Feb 08, 2009 at 13:51:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Nothing new here (4.00 / 1)

Holy Joe's vote shouldn't come as any surprise -- he has always held this position.  What is surprising is that, for so many years the Democrats of Connecticut were so blissfully unaware of their Senator's true colors, and returned him to office time and time again simply because he had  D-CT following his name.

Lieberman isn't pandering to the Hagee crowd for political reasons.  This is simply another manifestation of his core beliefs.  Joe was pretty clear on where he stood way back in 1988:

Mr. Lieberman said: ''The American people are fundamentally religious, and religion is a source of values in our society. I'm not saying that you have to be religious to have values, nor am I saying that everybody that is religious has values. But by and large, religious experience is a source of values which I think that government ought to encourage.''

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/f...

 

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by: chele @ Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 17:12:21 PM UTC

is this the same joe who wouldn't campaign on Sat (4.00 / 1)

but was somehow magically given approval from G-d to vote for George Bush's stuff in the Senate on a Saturday?

Lying hypocrite and sack of absolute bullshit in a soulless bag.

The question is not what you are, we already determined that, we are now negotiating price.
electrealdemocrats.com Online since 3/07 -- TimetogoJoe.com Online s

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by: Met00 @ Sun Feb 08, 2009 at 06:51:24 AM UTC

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What's even more astounding (0.00 / 0)

is that Joe is showing absolutely no remorse for his back-stabbing of Obama during the campaign -- and that even after Obama saved his ass, this miserable piece of crap STILL shits on both Obama and the Democratic party.  Joe continues to actively support the failed Republican policies that have brought us to the deplorable state we're in.

We know what Joe is and we know we can't expect anything better of him.  But what can we say about those who refused to censure him:  Obama, Reid, our own state Party?  I just don't get it.

It's simply not acceptable that Joe continues to be given a pass, and our criticism has to extend to everyone who continues to coddle and enable him.  

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by: chele @ Sun Feb 08, 2009 at 14:35:45 PM UTC

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He's orthodox when convenient (0.00 / 0)

I hesitate to call out Joe for his hypocrisy because generally I consider it bad form to address a person's choice of religion when discussing politics.  But he makes such a big show of his religion when it's convenient that I don't see how we can't include it when talking about his character.

If anything, Joe Lieberman is the perfect example why we need to keep religion and the state completely separate. There's no form of government less tolerant than a theocracy.  

Connecticut Bob

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by: Bob Adams @ Sun Feb 08, 2009 at 14:41:33 PM UTC

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Sabbath (0.00 / 0)

I think Joe has voted on the Sabbath other times in his career.  Discussions on this (how did we live before teh google?) seem to say that if he walks to the Senate and votes with his hand rather than electronically, he's within the law.  He apparently sleeps in his office when this situation might come up.  Notably, Gore once lent him his parents' apartment so he would not have to sleep on a cot in his office.

Maybe Holy Joe justifies his Shabbat votes by claiming Pikuach nefesh -- saving a life.  But the law seems pretty clear that this only counts when a specific life is in immediate danger.  Some rabbis, including Joe's rabbi in DC, extend it beyond a specific life and specific danger which allows Joe to claim it.

Lord knows I'm not trying to make excuses for Lieberman.  I've always found Jewish law incredibly interesting, in large part because of the historic debates about issues such as this.  And while I've no doubt Joe will seek out the interpretation of the law that most benefits his ambitions, the fact remains that he does have rabbinical support for what he does.  In light of that I, as a heathen recovering Catholic, don't feel comfortable judging him on how he deals with his religious beliefs personally.

On the other hand, when he drags religious belief into secular lawmaking, as he has done in this instance of voting for DeMint's amendment, he crosses the Constitutional line and deserves all the criticism we can heap on him.

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by: chele @ Sun Feb 08, 2009 at 15:13:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]