In the past few weeks, Sen. Joe Lieberman has stood between a nation and its future. Despite support by a majority in the Senate, Sen. Lieberman used his power as a single U.S. Senator to delay, and ultimately decide, a critical piece of legislation - health insurance reform.

But Joe wasn't always a one-man filibuster.

In fact, in 1994 and 1995, Sen. Lieberman sought to abolish the filibuster as we know it, citing frequent abuse and a propensity for locking up the legislative process. On the Senate floor, Lieberman declared, "The whole process of individual senators being able to hold up legislation, which in a sense is an extension of the filibuster because the hold has been understood in one way to be a threat to filibuster -- it's just unfair."

Sen. Lieberman went on to underscore the huge uptick in Senate filibusters in recent years, effectively jamming the legislative process and preventing the Senate from conducting the people's business.

As Sam Stein at the Huffington Post points out, Lieberman was right. "In the 15 years since then, the use of the filibuster has proliferated even further. There were, in 1994, just 39 cloture motions filed on the Senate floor. Last year, that number stood at 139. This year, meanwhile, Lieberman is threatening to add to those totals."

Well, today, Americans awoke to news that the Senate had reached a deal on health insurance reform. Rumors abound that this deal includes a badly gutted public option - or no public option at all. If you've been following the story, you know that Sen. Lieberman's threat of a one-man filibuster sought to weaken or strip the public option from the bill - a provision that was supported by 68% of the people in his state. This, it would seem, is a perversion of the democratic process - precisely the kind that Sen. Lieberman railed against just 15 years ago.

But we're not finished yet. The Senate still has to clear several hurdles before voting on health insurance reform, and Sen. Lieberman continues to wield disproportionate power. We've got to make sure the people of Connecticut are fairly represented on this issue.

So, 2009 meet 1995. Let's make sure Joe listens to Joe. Sign the petition to Sen. Lieberman to let the people of Connecticut have a vote on health insurance reform: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/Lieberman