It sounds pretty clear to me that Lieberman and the rest of the conservative crew hold all the cards. For whatever reason, our progressive Senators don’t think they have any leverage available to counter the Lieberman Gang’s demands.

The only (remote) chance of getting something decent rest in the House progressive’s hands. Unless they are as willing to kill health care reform as Lieberman is, there’s no reason for Barack Obama and Rahm Emmanuel to play hardball with conservative Senators.