The White House and others are merely attempting to deflect attention from the intense negativity caused by their unpopular policies. I never consulted with the White House in this process and had no role whatsoever in the House Democrats’ bill. I categorically oppose the House bill and find it incredulous that the White House and others would use my amendment as a scapegoat for their misguided policies. My Senate amendment simply puts health care choices back in the hands of the individual and allows them to consider if they so choose a living will or durable power of attorney. The House provision is merely another ill-advised attempt at more government mandates, more government intrusion, and more government involvement in what should be an individual choice.
Ever since Governor Palin issued a statement on Facebook, it has been the source of controversy. She has inserted herself into the debate and now it's time for her to make herself a player in this debate. There is nothing I hate worse than drive by criticism. In that, it is someone that makes a nasty criticism and then says nothing else. So far, that's all that Palin has said about the health care reform debate.
If Palin wants to be a player on the national scene, she has the perfect platform now to make an appearance. Folks like Bill Kristol said, when she announced she would resign, that she could travel the country fighting for conservative principles. This health care proposal is an affront to conservatism.
So, Sarah Palin has the perfect platform to make her first appearance on the national scene as a private citizen that defends conservative principles. If all she does is issue this provocative statement and says nothing more on the issue, then frankly she is not ready for primetime. If, on the other hand, she wants to be a player on the national scene, this statement must be the beginning of something. She could do an op ed, an interview, or even a speech. Now that she has thrust herself into the health care debate, she must go all the way into the debate.
If Palin wants to be taken seriously, she must add more than vague provocative statements like "death panel". Palin must explain what she means. Her Facebook statement is four paragraphs. If she wants to be taken seriously, she must add more than four paragraphs. She must explain how and why rationing will lead to the "death panel". She must explain how and why the old and the weak will be the first to go in such a case. If Palin wants to help promote conservative principles her moment has arrived.
6 comments:
Obama / Leftist media decry supposed, fear-mongering charges of "Death Panels" as baseless, but are silent regarding explicit and indistinquishible HHS / Congressional jargon requiring or incentivizing physicians to "initiate guided consultations" regarding "advance care planning" or "end of life planning" (HR 3200 sec. 1233) in order to meet bureaucratic goals (http://www.ahrq.gov/research/endliferia/endria.htm) for "reducing resource use"and "positively influencing terminal care costs" through such "consultations. Physicians to be subjected to de-facto quotas via "quality reporting initiative" measured against yet to be defined standards, to be endorsed or adopted by "consensus based organizations". These "Advance Care Planning Consultations" to include "an explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title. "
Frankly, I think you overestimate how much Palin needs to do to in order to keep herself relevant to movement conservatives. I mean, look how far her supporters have picked up the phrase "death panel" and ran with it.
Frankly, I think you overestimate Palin's relevance to American political discourse.
Her utterly irresponsible and baseless reference to "death panels" only further burnished her reputation as a shameless and transparently dull-witted political opportunist.
Thankfully, some intelligent person advised her to quit feeding punchlines to SNL writers, and promote "civil discourse" instead.
If she's so irrelevant why is "death panel" now a part of the discussion?
I agree that the statement was far too provocative however it was not baseless. There is plenty of reason to believe that this health care bill will lead to rationing. There is further reason to believe that rationing will lead to government bureaucrats deciding who gets what care and that's what she meant by "death panel."
http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2009/08/deconstructing-palins-health-care.html
I thought her statements were pretty self explanatory. The government health care plans simply won't have the resources to offer all the services to all the people. Therefore there will be health care rationing. There will be a board to determine who gets what care based upon some elgibility factor, age, productivity or whatever. Call it what you will, Sarah rightly called it a "death panel."
I'm not sure she even said all that but it still needs to be more specific. The panel is called the Health Choices Administration. The bill will give them the power to do just about anything they want. There's a provision in the bill that will regulate cancer hospitals for cost effectiveness. There's another part of the bill that study cost effectiveness. This is the kind of specifics that Palin needs to hammer the president with.
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