Joe Lieberman (February 24, 1942 – March 27, 2024) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. He was an independent prior to his death.

Party identification In spring 2000, Lieberman among other centrist Democrats founded the Senate New Democrat Coalition. In January 2007, Lieberman described himself as being "genuinely an Independent," saying "I agree more often than not with Democrats on domestic policy. I agree more often than not with Republicans on foreign and defense policy."

Domestic policy

Abortion Overall Lieberman had a pro-choice voting record, and in 2007 he received a grade of 100 from the abortion rights organization NARAL Pro-Choice America. While running in the Democratic primaries in the 2004 presidential election, Lieberman said that as president he would "follow a policy that makes abortion safe, rare and legal." He voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

Affirmative action In a 1995 speech before the National Press Club, Lieberman said, "this business of deciding by group, the argument that some make that some groups are genetically less able than others. That's an un-American argument." Affirmative action programs "must change because they are inconsistent with the law and basic American values of equal treatment and opportunity." He also stated that he was "against group preferences, but there ought to be some room for the kind of outreach that has been part of affirmative action programs without getting into quotas.

In 1996, he expressed support for California's Proposition 209, which sought to eliminate state and local government affirmative action programs in the areas of public employment, public education, and public contracting to the extent these programs involve "preferential treatment based on race, sex, gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin." "Affirmative action is dividing us in ways its creators could never have intended.", he said.

Since 2000, he rescinded his support for the proposition, saying that he expressed support "without understand[ing] the intent of Proposition 209", and renounced any support for Proposition 209. In the 2000 campaign, Lieberman assured the black voters, "I have supported affirmative action, I do support affirmative action, and I will support affirmative action because history and current reality make it necessary."

In 2003, Lieberman criticized Bush's affirmative action policy. In 2004, he reiterated his support, "I support affirmative action programs, including in appropriate instances consideration of race and gender in government contracting decisions, when the affirmative action program is designed to remedy the effects of past discrimination."

During his 2004 campaign, Lieberman stated that he wanted to increase subsidies for women-owned non-profit business, and he voted yes on setting aside 10% of highway funds for companies owned by minorities and women without regard to the demographics of their employees.

Consumer protection Lieberman was one of four Senate Democrats to side with Republicans in 1995 in voting to limit punitive damage awards in product liability cases.

In February 2005, breaking ranks with fellow Senate Democrats, Lieberman voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, S. 5, which is a bill to curtail the ability of plaintiffs to file class action lawsuits against corporations in federal courts. The bill was backed by the White House and business groups as an essential tort reform measure that would reduce what they said was a debilitating number of frivolous lawsuits. The bill was opposed by consumer advocacy groups and trial lawyers who argued that many valid claims against corporations would be dismissed, leaving consumers without legal recourse.The Library of Congress. S.5 Retrieved October 10, 2006.

Crime Lieberman had long been a strong supporter of the death penalty. He ran for the Senate in 1988 as "[a]n unapologetic proponent of capital punishment." During his 2000 run for Vice President, Nat Hentoff of the Village Voice referred to him as a "relentless advocate of capital punishment."Hentoff, Nat (2000-08-15) The ‘Miracle’ of Joe Lieberman , Village Voice In 2002, Peter Beinart of The New Republic listed Lieberman among several potential Democratic presidential candidates who supported the death penalty.

Enemy Expatriation Act

In January 2012, Lieberman co-sponsored the Enemy Expatriation Act (HR 3166 and S. 1698) a proposed law in the United States also sponsored by Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) and Representatives Charlie Dent (R-PA) and Jason Altmire (D-PA). The bill would allow the United States government to strip US citizens of their citizenship if they participate in terrorism, defined as "providing material support or resources to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, as designated by the secretary of state, or actively engaging in hostilities against the United States or its allies". In early 2012, the proposal was compared to the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act, and some writers have suggested that the two laws could be used together to take away citizens' civil liberties. If passed, the bill would add to the circumstances under which US citizenship can be lost.

Education Lieberman championed experimental voucher programs, which would redirect some education funding directly to parents, who could apply it towards paying for the public or private school of their choice.Lieberman Fields Questions on Religion, Clinton, Differences With Gore: transcript. CNN, aired August 13, 2000.

Lieberman had called Bush's No Child Left Behind Act plan a "progressive piece of legislation" which has been insufficiently funded. He said, "A month after he signed the law, President Bush under funded it by $6 billion less than was promised in the legislation. This is creating greater pressures on our schools to perform and educate our kids—which is appropriate—but without giving them sufficient resources to make it happen."Cohen, Barry. Lieberman strives for 'moral clarity'. Jewish News of Greater Phoenix June 7, 2002. He had repeatedly criticized the administration to this effect.Joe Lieberman, US Senator. Lieberman Criticizes Bush Education Cuts: Press release. February 22, 2005.

With Lynne Cheney, Richard Lamm, Saul Bellow, and others, Lieberman co-founded the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), a controversial educational organization which released the post-9/11 report titled "Defending Civilization: How Our Universities Are Failing America and What Can Be Done About It" that criticized universities for evidence of anti-Americanism.

Entertainment Lieberman was critical of the entertainment media.Tapper, Jake. Hollywood on trial. Salon.com, August 29, 2000. Retrieved October 10, 2006. On November 29, 2005, Lieberman co-sponsored the Family Entertainment Protection Act, which was introduced by Hillary Clinton, S.2126. The act is intended to protect children from what he says is inappropriate content found in video games. He has denounced the violence contained in video games and has attempted to regulate sales of violent video games to minors, arguing that games should have to be labeled based upon age-appropriateness.Parents Action for Children. Parents' Action Endorses New Clinton-Lieberman-Bayh Bill Banning the Sale of Violent Video Games to Minors. Retrieved October 10, 2006. Regarding Grand Theft Auto, he said "The player is rewarded for attacking a woman, pushing her to the ground, kicking her repeatedly and then ultimately killing her, shooting her over and over again. I call on the entertainment companies—they've got a right to do that, but they have a responsibility not to do it if we want to raise the next generation of our sons to treat women with respect". He voted for the Communications Decency Act.

Environment

Lieberman co-sponsored the Clean Air Act (1990), introduced legislation in 1991 to give consumers more information about the dangers of pesticides, and has addressed the need to limit global warming.Joe Lieberman, US Senator. Lieberman Leads Opposition to Bush EPA Nominee Wehrum: Press release. April 26, 2006.

Lieberman had stated that the US population has to accept responsibility for global warming, and voted "yes" on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Lieberman voted yes on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (instead of 5%). Lieberman voted against Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior, and voted for funding for greater risk assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Lieberman has even gone as far as saying he wants to raise mileage standard to 40 mpg. Lieberman voted for the administration-backed Energy Policy Act of 2005; facing criticism, Lieberman called the bill imperfect but good for Connecticut, citing a saving of $800 million for Connecticut electricity customers. Lieberman has been a vocal critic of Bush's environmental policy.Joe Lieberman, US Senator. Lieberman Urges Bush Administration to Take Action on Global Warming: Press release. December 13, 2005.Joe Lieberman, US Senator. Lieberman Blasts Bush Administration for Bullying Climate Scientists: Press release. April 6, 2006.

Lieberman–Warner Climate Security Act of 2008

Also more commonly referred to as the cap and trade bill, proposed to ration (cap) carbon emissions in the U.S., and tax or purchase (trade) carbon credits on the global market for greater U.S. alignment with the Kyoto Protocol standards and goals. The bill (as reported in the Senate) was 550 pages long, and provided for establishment of a federal bureau of Carbon Trading, Regulation, and Enforcement.http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:S2191:

Financial accounting standards, flag desecration, and right to die Lieberman toyed with the idea of switching his affiliation to Republican, especially if Senate Democrats went what he saw as too far in ending the War in Iraq. In the 110th Congress, such a switch would have left the Senate equally divided, with Vice President Dick Cheney holding the tie-breaking vote.

He helped defeat the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposal of requiring the reporting of the costs of stock options as a business expense during the mid-nineties. During an interview with PBS after the Enron scandal, Lieberman defended his position, saying, "it was a good action." Facing the growing stock option scandals, Lieberman acknowledged that "clearly a disproportionate percent of the options went to a small percentage of executives. That was disappointing."Toobin, Jeffrey. Joe Lieberman looks hopefully toward the White House. The New Yorker December 16, 2002.

Lieberman had voted against amending the Constitution to make it constitutional to criminalize flag desecration.

In 2005, Lieberman said it was justified to give Terri Schiavo "the opportunity for one more chance before her life was terminated by an act which was sanctioned by a court, by the state ... [Judge George Greer, who ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed] made a best guess based on the evidence before him. That's not enough when you're talking about aggressively removing food and water to end someone's life." He said he would have kept Schiavo's feeding tube in.

Gang of 14