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Palin Vindicated On ‘Death Panels’
Senate Drops Provision
By JOE MURRAY, The Bulletin
Under attack by the media and brushed off by President Barack Obama, former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin scored a major victory Thursday after lawmakers, bowing to public pressure, dropped a section of the health care bill Mrs. Palin described as leading to “death panels.”
“I join millions of Americans in expressing appreciation for the Senate Finance Committee’s decision to remove the provision in the pending health care bill that authorizes end-of-life consultations (Section 1233 of HR 3200,” Mrs. Palin said in a statement on the popular networking site Facebook.
Without a bully pulpit or a political organization, Mrs. Palin has begun to utilize non-traditional avenues of communication, such as Facebook and Twitter. In doing so, she is broadening her appeal to a younger, more tech savvy audience, rehabilitating her image from 2008 and proving to be an upcoming political force in national politics.
“It’s gratifying that the voice of the people is getting through to Congress; however, that provision was not the only disturbing detail in this legislation; it was just one of the more obvious ones.
“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil,” the former GOP vice presidential candidate said.
At issue was a section of the healthcare bill that permits doctors to seek reimbursement from the government for “end-of-life” counseling sessions. Critics contend such a provision opens the door to government panels that would decide if it was worth the cost of a patient to receive health care from the government.
The provision was written by U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. – a lawmaker from a state that legalized euthanasia – and critics did not lose sight of the connection.
“You are asking us to trust turning power over to the government, when there are clearly people in America who believe in establishing euthanasia, including selective standards,” Gingrich said Sunday on the ABC's “This Week.”
Democrats, however, dismissed the charged and made it a point to single out Mrs. Palin; a favorite punching bag since the 2008 election.
“About euthanasia, they're just totally erroneous. She just made that up,” DNC Chairman Howard Dean told CNN Sunday. “Just like the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ that she supposedly didn't support.”
But despite Democratic attempts to dismiss the death panel charge, there was credible evidence to suggest the White House was being misleading in its true intentions.
Dr. Ezekial Emanuel, brother to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and health care advisor to Mr. Obama, has advocated for a health care system based upon rationing. He dubbed it the “complete lives system” and would ration health care based upon the government’s determination of the patient’s societal worth.
Mr. Obama has remained silent on Dr. Emanuel’s “complete lives system” and such silence has not gone unnoticed.
“President Obama has not yet stated any opposition to the “Complete Lives System,” a system which, if enacted, would refuse to allocate medical resources to the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled who have less economic potential,” Mrs. Palin said.
“Why the silence from the president on this aspect of his nationalization of health care? Does he agree with the ‘Complete Lives System?’ If not, then why is Dr. Emanuel his policy advisor? What is he advising the president on?”
Joe Murray can be reached at jmurray@thebulletin.us
“I join millions of Americans in expressing appreciation for the Senate Finance Committee’s decision to remove the provision in the pending health care bill that authorizes end-of-life consultations (Section 1233 of HR 3200,” Mrs. Palin said in a statement on the popular networking site Facebook.
Without a bully pulpit or a political organization, Mrs. Palin has begun to utilize non-traditional avenues of communication, such as Facebook and Twitter. In doing so, she is broadening her appeal to a younger, more tech savvy audience, rehabilitating her image from 2008 and proving to be an upcoming political force in national politics.
“It’s gratifying that the voice of the people is getting through to Congress; however, that provision was not the only disturbing detail in this legislation; it was just one of the more obvious ones.
“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil,” the former GOP vice presidential candidate said.
At issue was a section of the healthcare bill that permits doctors to seek reimbursement from the government for “end-of-life” counseling sessions. Critics contend such a provision opens the door to government panels that would decide if it was worth the cost of a patient to receive health care from the government.
The provision was written by U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. – a lawmaker from a state that legalized euthanasia – and critics did not lose sight of the connection.
“You are asking us to trust turning power over to the government, when there are clearly people in America who believe in establishing euthanasia, including selective standards,” Gingrich said Sunday on the ABC's “This Week.”
Democrats, however, dismissed the charged and made it a point to single out Mrs. Palin; a favorite punching bag since the 2008 election.
“About euthanasia, they're just totally erroneous. She just made that up,” DNC Chairman Howard Dean told CNN Sunday. “Just like the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ that she supposedly didn't support.”
But despite Democratic attempts to dismiss the death panel charge, there was credible evidence to suggest the White House was being misleading in its true intentions.
Dr. Ezekial Emanuel, brother to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and health care advisor to Mr. Obama, has advocated for a health care system based upon rationing. He dubbed it the “complete lives system” and would ration health care based upon the government’s determination of the patient’s societal worth.
Mr. Obama has remained silent on Dr. Emanuel’s “complete lives system” and such silence has not gone unnoticed.
“President Obama has not yet stated any opposition to the “Complete Lives System,” a system which, if enacted, would refuse to allocate medical resources to the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled who have less economic potential,” Mrs. Palin said.
“Why the silence from the president on this aspect of his nationalization of health care? Does he agree with the ‘Complete Lives System?’ If not, then why is Dr. Emanuel his policy advisor? What is he advising the president on?”
Joe Murray can be reached at jmurray@thebulletin.us
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