Scarborough falsely suggests Lieberman is in line with public opinion on health reform

Written by Jocelyn Fong

Published

On MSNBC, host Joe Scarborough stated, “Yes, Joe Lieberman's holding up a piece of legislation, but Joe Lieberman is not standing in the way of a piece of legislation that America wants. I've yet to see a poll over the last two or three months that show Americans want health care reform in any form.” However, Lieberman has indicated that he will support the Senate health care reform bill after demanding that it exclude both a public health insurance option and an expansion of Medicare to uninsured Americans aged 55-64 -- two policies that are broadly popular among the American public according to recent polls.

Scarborough suggests Lieberman is blocking an unpopular bill, rather than individual policies

From the December 16 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (co-host): According to new polling, just 44 percent approve of the way the president is handling the issue. Fifty-three percent disapprove. Meanwhile, Senator Joe Lieberman apparently getting --

SCARBOROUGH: By the way -- I'm sorry.

BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.

SCARBOROUGH: Let's show that poll again.

BRZEZINSKI: Yes.

SCARBOROUGH: Because you can't overstate this too much. Yes, Joe Lieberman's holding up a piece of legislation, but Joe Lieberman is not standing in the way of a piece of legislation that America wants. I've yet to see a poll over the last two or three months that show Americans want health care reform in any form. It has been an ugly process over the past three, four, five months, and Americans have turned.

Lieberman: “You've got to take out the Medicare buy-in. You've got to forget about the public option.” The New York Times reported on December 13 that “Lieberman told the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, to scrap the idea of expanding Medicare and abandon any new government insurance plan or lose his vote.” Indeed, during an appearance on Face the Nation, Lieberman stated of the Medicare buy-in compromise proposal, “I don't know exactly what's in it, from what I hear I certainly would have a hard time voting for it because it has some of the same infirmities that the public option did.” Lieberman later added, “You got to take out the Medicare buy-in. You got to forget about the public option.”

Lieberman reportedly supports health care reform bill without public option or Medicare buy-in. During the December 13 edition of Face the Nation, Lieberman responded to host Bob Schieffer's question on “things that have to be taken out to pass” the Senate bill by stating, “From my point of view, no public option, no Medicare buy-in, CLASS Act which will add to our debt in the future. Don't take much more than that, and you got a great bill left.” Lieberman suggested that such a bill could pass “this week with more than sixty votes and it would be bipartisan.” During a December 15 press availability, Lieberman stated: "[I]f, as appears to be happening, the -- the so-called public option, government-run insurance program is out and the Medicare buy-in ... is out, and there's no other attempts to bring things like that in, then I'm going to be in a position where I can say ... that I'm ready to vote for health care reform."

Recent polling indicates majority supports policies Lieberman pushed out of Senate bill

CBS News/New York Times poll: 59 percent favor “the government offering some people who are uninsured the choice of a government administered health insurance plan.” When respondents were asked in a December 4-8 CBS News/New York Times poll if they would “favor or oppose the government offering some people who are uninsured the choice of a government administered health insurance plan - also known as a 'public option' - that would compete with private health insurance plans,” 59 percent said they would favor such a plan.

CNN/Opinion Research poll: 53 percent support “creating a public health insurance option.” When respondents were asked in a December 2-3 CNN/Opinion Research poll if they would “favor or oppose creating a public health insurance option administered by the federal government that would compete with plans offered by private health insurance companies,” 53 percent said they favored the plan.

Quinnipiac University poll: 56 percent support “giving people the option of being covered by a government health insurance plan.” When respondents were asked in a December 1-6 Quinnipiac poll if they “support or oppose giving people the option of being covered by a government health insurance plan that would compete with private plans,” 56 percent said they support the plan.

Wash. Post/ABC poll: 63 percent support “expand[ing] Medicare to cover people between the ages of 55 and 64 who do not have health insurance.” When respondents were asked in a December 10-13 Washington Post/ABC News poll if they “think the government should or should not expand Medicare to cover people between the ages of 55 and 64 who do not have health insurance,” 63 percent said the government should adopt such a proposal.

Kaiser Family Foundation: Polling shows “consistent support for expanding Medicare.” In a December issue brief, the Kaiser Family Foundation stated, “Polling over the past decade has shown consistent support for expanding Medicare to adults ages 55 to 64 without health insurance. A Medicare expansion for this population is one of many health reform options that are popular with the public.” A September 2009 Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Health poll found that 74 percent of respondents supported such a proposal.