Schumer and Durbin Want Lieberman Stripped of Homeland Security Chair

[IndianaGreen]

Schumer and Durbin Want Lieberman Stripped of Homeland Security Chair

Newsweek's Howard Fineman on Keith Olbermann:

(Obama's) going to leave it up to a vote I think. What my sources tell me is that there's likely to be a vote next Tuesday. The Senate Democrats will caucus when they come back for the lame duck session. They'll all go into a room, Joe Lieberman will make his case for maintaining his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, then there will be a secret ballot vote.

Obama's opinion is sort of on record via Harry Reid, and we'll see how it goes.

Interestingly, people like Dick Durbin who is the first Democrat in the Senate -- the first Senator, and from Illinois, to support Barack Obama -- is really loaded for bear about Lieberman, he wants to kick Lieberman off that Chairmanship. Chuck Schumer, the head of the Campaign Committee likewise.

So it could be a very close vote, and it'll be left to the secret ballot of the Senators. You've got Evan Bayh and you've got Chris Dodd who are supporting Lieberman, but there are a lot of other people who are still angry at him for the very comments you were talking about just a little while ago.

One point I think needs to be made. This isn't about Joe Lieberman maintaining membership in a country club as a matter of feel-good "bipartisanship." There's actually a job that needs doing here, and when Chris Dodd and Evan Bayh say that they want Lieberman to retain his chairmanship, they are saying that the extraordinary waste, graft, greed and cronyism that have built the Department of Homeland Security to a bloated, ineffectual taxpayer-funded behemoth under Joe Lieberman is just fine.

http://firedoglake.com/2008/11/11/schumer-and-durbin-want-lieberman-stripped-of-homeland-security-chair/

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I will be VERY disappointed if LIEberman is allowed to keep his chairmanship.

He can caucus with the Dems...and stay on the committees,..but NO CHAIRMANSHIP!!!!
He is a traitor...and should not be rewarded for it.

[IndianaGreen]

2. I already e-mailed to Evan Bayh regarding that issue

I didn't push Bayh to kick Lieberman out of the caucus, but made it plain that he should be stripped of the Chair at Homeland Security.

[LiberalFighter]

9. I wasn't as nice expressing my opinion to Bayh

Regarding your position that Senator Joe Lieberman keep his chairmanship position of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

HELL NO! Are you crazy? Lieberman did not run as a Democrat. Lieberman refused to pursue any accusations of wrongdoing against the Bush administration. Lieberman spoke at the Republican National Convention in support of Senator McCain. AND he was at McCain's side during most of his campaign.

And he broke his promise not to attack Obama during the Republican National Convention.

Lieberman cannot be trusted. The Senate does not need Lieberman.

If he wants to go to the other side with him! We won't suffer with his defection and he won't gain anything going to the other side. He made his own bed. Let him lay in it.

[IndianaGreen]

14. Axtually, I want Lieberman stripped of the Chair to Homeland Security

Bayh is among those that want to keep Lieberman in the caucus. It's the old boys club thingy!

[Salviati]

4. I'm definitely going to be email my Senators about it...

There needs to be a price for his conduct. This isn't about ideology, it's about party discipline.

[BootinUp]

3. It would be an absolute travesty

for Lieberman to chair that committee. I am crossing my fingers that the Dems and Reid stick together on that point. Meanwhile, we still have a good shot at 59 seats without Lieberman.

[BrklynLiberal]

6. I am still not so sure that we would need him. There are a few moderate Republicans

that could vote with the Democrats on some vital measures...Snowe, Collins, Hagel, Spector, and perhaps even McCain...

[bigwillq]

5. Good for them.

Kick Joe OUT!

[IndianaGreen]

7. List of senators to call

We have included a sample script and phone numbers below for you to use, and we ask that you be polite when you explain why Lieberman Must Go.

Senator _________, my name is _________. I'm a registered Democrat and a resident. I urge you to vote to strip Joe Lieberman of his committee chairmanship when the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee meets to discuss his future. A man who spent the entire election season demeaning Senator Obama's patriotism and his qualifications for office cannot be trusted with oversight authority over the Obama administration. Joe Lieberman is not a Democrat, and he should not enjoy the privileges of being a member of the majority party. Will you vote to strip Lieberman of his committee chairmanship?

Senator Debbie Stabenow, Michigan, Chair
[phone]

Senator Harry Reid, Nevada
[phone]

Senator John Kerry, Massachusetts
[phone]

Senator Daniel Inouye, West Virginia
[phone]

Senator Robert Byrd
[phone]

Senator Edward Kennedy, Massachusetts
[phone]

Senator Joseph Biden, Delaware
[phone]

Senator Patrick Leahy, Vermont
[phone]

Senator Christopher Dodd, Connecticut
[phone]

Senator Tom Harkin, Iowa
[phone]

Senator Max Baucus, Montana
[phone]
Senator Richard Durbin, Illinois
[phone]

Senator Kent Conrad, North Dakota
[phone]

Senator Carl Levin, Michigan
[phone]

Senator Herbert Kohl, Wisconsin
[phone]

Senator Barbara Boxer, California
[phone]

Senator Hillary Clinton, New York
[phone]

Senator Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico
[phone]

Senator Mark Pryor, Arkansas
[phone]

Make the call today, then let us know you did and send this e-mail to your friends and colleagues (and don't forget to Digg it!). Let Democratic leaders know Lieberman represents an impediment to real change in Washington, and that is why Lieberman Must Go!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-greenwald/do-you-want-lieberman-to_b_142998.html

[Zombie2]

8. K & R

:kick:

[Poiuyt]

10. Go to liebermanmustgo.com/

http://liebermanmustgo.com/

Call your senators!

[TheKentuckian]

11. haha...I'm going to write Stupid and Evil

ahem...I mean Bunning and McConnell and tell them we don't want the "Commie sympathizer" and "Anti-American" Lieberman anywhere near "our conservative caucus".

[mascarax]

15. Oooh! What a great idea!

Anyone with Repub Senators should play them too!

[IndianaGreen]

16. Great reverse psychology there!

GOP senators will welcome Lieberman to their caucus and then offer him nothing of substance!

[political_Dem]

12. I hope Schumer and Durbin get their wish.

I've asked since the beginning of the DHS, what exactly is its purpose. The elimination of the DHS could have saved the government a lot of money. Furthermore, the money spent could have been put to better use elsewhere.

I mean, doesn't the DOD work in the same way as the DHS?

[moondust]

13. The right idea.

At this point I don't know that it matters whom he caucuses with, but his judgment is much too shaky to chair a committee.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. DLCers stick together. I'm not surprised at Bayh's stance. I hate the DLC!!!

[mucifer]

18. Durbin is the SENIOR senator from IL he should have more say over the Junior senator from IL.

:rofl: just kidding.

Did I mention I'm proud to be from Chicago?

We can survive with Lieberman there. I'd love to see him publicly humiliated, but unity, unity honeymoon get stuff done in congress I get it.

[David Zephyr]

19. I stand with Schumer and Durbin. He should not chair this critical committee.

Period.