White House Disputes Lieberman On The Public Option

A lot of people in Sen. Joe Lieberman's former party are now stepping up to set the record straight, and say they don't agree with his analysis of the impact of the public option.

At the White House briefing today, a reporter asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs whether he agrees with Lieberman, who says both that a public option will cost tax payers dearly, and drive up the cost of health insurance for everybody else--positions that are disputed widely by experts.

Gibbs was pretty direct: "I think we would disagree and I think elements of the Congressional Budget Office would disagree with the analysis that Senator Lieberman has made."

In making those statements, he joins other high profile Democrats who also dispute Lieberman's position. However, though Democrats don't agree with Lieberman, none have publicly chastised him for going rogue yesterday. According to Sam Stein of the Huffington Post, this is reflective of Senate leadership's strategy of winning over the Connecticut senator without pushing back too hard and, perhaps, entrenching his opposition to health care reform.