Not such a good Joe

We've been carrying on about sanctimonious disloyal Democrat Joe Lieberman for quite a while here. Now Connecticut voters have caught on, too, and Holy Joe is in a world of hurt in the Democratic primary race as he battles political neophyte Ned Lamont. According to print and broadcast media outlets the race is all about Iraq and Joey's unflagging support of Bush in everything he does and unstinting criticism of anyone who disagrees with Bush. But Iraq is only a part of the anti-Joe sentiment in Connecticut. Our posts have dealt principally Joey's equally unstinting support of Big Pharma and his giveaways in the Bioshield II legislation he sponsors with hard right Republicans Orrin Hatch and Sam Brownback. Now Joe Conason has some of the dirty details.

Now Mr. Lieberman has long been known to cultivate the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, which provide jobs in his home state and contributions to his campaign fund. But he has literally been sleeping with one of their Washington representatives ever since his wife Hadassah joined Hill & Knowlton last year. The legendary lobbying and P.R. firm hired her as a "senior counselor" in its "health and pharmaceuticals practice."

This news marked Mrs. Lieberman's return to consulting after more than a decade of retirement. "I have had a life-long commitment to helping people gain better health care," she said in the press release announcing her new job. "I am excited about the opportunity to work with the talented team at Hill & Knowlton to counsel a terrific stable of clients toward that same goal."

It would be uplifting to imagine that Hill & Knowlton--after spending the past decade as a defendant in tobacco class-action lawsuits because of its role in propaganda disputing the deadly effects of smoking--is now devoted to improving everybody's health. More likely, the firm remains devoted to improving the profits of its clientele, which has historically included Enron, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the Saudis, the Kuwaitis, American International Group and Boeing.

[snip]

Mrs. Lieberman signed up with Hill & Knowlton in March 2005. The firm's clients included GlaxoSmithKline, the British pharmaceutical giant that manufactures flu vaccines along with many other drugs. In April 2005, Mr. Lieberman introduced a bill that would award an array of new government "incentives" [Revere note: this is the Bioshield II legislation we have posted on here, here, here, here, and here . . . ] to companies like GSK to produce more vaccines--notably patent extensions on other products, at a cost of billions to governments and consumers.

That legislation provoked irritated comment by his hometown newspaper, the New Haven Register. In an editorial headlined "Lieberman Crafts Drug Company Perk," the Register noted that his bill was even more generous to the pharmaceutical industry than a similar proposal by the Senate Republican leadership. "The government can offer incentives and guarantees for needed public health measures," said the editorial. "But it should not write a blank check, as these bills do, to the pharmaceutical industry that has such a large cost to the public with what may be an uncertain or dubious return." (Joe Conason, New York Observer)

Yes, there is a lot more to the dump Joe movement than Iraq, although that alone would be enough. Liebberman is rotten, corrupt, selfish and unprincipled. I hope the good folks in Connecticut get rid of the SOB.