The same group of clergy that gathered last month outside of U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s Stamford home unveiled their advertising campaign Thursday in several of the state’s newspapers.
Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care again urged Lieberman to support the public health insurance option and to work to ensure that real health care reform gets passed.
The advertising campaign was launched just three days after the group met with Lieberman.
“Our goal with this advertising campaign is that Senator Lieberman will have his heart moved and change his mind,” Rev. Joshua Mason Pawelek of the Unitarian Universalist Society: East in Manchester said.
But there seems to be little if anything, anyone can do to change Lieberman’s mind.
“My opposition to a government-run insurance option, including any option with a trigger, has been clear for months and remains my position today,” Lieberman said Wednesday in a press release.
“The Senator has explained that he is concerned about the fiscal responsibility of reform, and while the Congressional Budget Office has said that real reform would actually reduce the deficit, we believe that fiscal responsibility does not trump the moral call to take care of the sick,” Pawalek said.
But Lieberman is still being cautious about the compromise offered this week that would allow those without insurance to buy into the Medicare system.
“Regarding the ‘Medicare buy-in’ proposal that is being discussed, we must remain vigilant about protecting and extending the solvency of the program, which is now in a perilous financial condition,” Lieberman said. “It is my understanding that at this point there is no legislative language so I look forward to analyzing the details of the plan and reviewing analysis from the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of the Actuary in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.”
The clergy’s advertisement Thursday featured a letter authored by Rabbi Ron Fish of Norwalk, which has been signed by 240 Connecticut faith leaders. The letter reminds Lieberman that “conscience” dictates that he not block real reform.
The spent $45,000 on the one-day newspaper advertisements.
