Go Joe Go!
When will Joe Lieberman caucus with the Republicans?
Given that the Democrats say they support the troops while simultaneously working to cut funding for them (yes, we live in Orwellian times), it may be sooner rather than later.
Joe Lieberman will certainly vote against cloture on the House resolution. He gave an impassioned speech earlier this week about the destructive nature of the non-binding resolutions, and explicitly promised to vote against cloture.
The AP’s Anne Flaherty reports that “several” GOP Senators will support the legislation, but that will probably only happen if the bill passes cloture. Reid once again will not allow competing amendments to come to the floor, especially not the Gregg bill, which pledges no unilateral Congressional decrease in funding for the Iraq war during this session. That bill splits the Democrats more than it does the Republicans, which is why Reid fears it. The Majority Leader said yesterday that even a failed cloture vote will put Senators on record. However, that’s exactly why he won’t allow a vote on the Gregg bill; it will put Democrats on record as supporting the war and reveal the split between the anti-war activists and the moderates, and it will put at least two Democratic presidential contenders in a tight spot, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Watch Lieberman carefully. He has no love for Harry Reid’s leadership after the last election, and he has made clear that the Democrats have angered him with their political grandstanding. He threatened to bolt the Democratic caucus if they started pressing for a cutoff of funds, but he may tire of his peers well before that stage, especially with this Saturday session.