Lieberman praises GOP colleague’s demands of House and Senate leaders

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) praised a colleague’s demands that House and Senate leaders not tamper with any bipartisan deal on healthcare Wednesday.

Lieberman seemed to back Sen. Mike Enzi’s (R-Wyo.) demand for assurances from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that they not water down the reform proposals crafted by the Senate Finance Committee when the bill reaches conference.

“What Mike Enzi is doing is a sensible and classic legislative stand, which is, ‘I’ll agree to this, but not if you take me along and suddenly spring something larger,'” Lieberman said during an interview on MSNBC.

“I’d say it’s good that Mike is making that position clear,” added Lieberman, who’s said he opposes the public (or “government-run”) option at the center of Finance committee negotiations. (The committee has reportedly done away with the plan in favor of healthcare cooperatives.)

“I think ultimately he and every senator knows that if they’re worried about stuff being put in a conference committee with the House, it takes 60 votes to take up a conference committee,” Lieberman coyly suggested. “So every one of us can block it if there are some surprises in it that a lot of us don’t like.”