Sunday, August 16, 2009

PALIN FOR END-OF-LIFE COUNSELING

By the way, Governor Palin was for end-of life counseling before she was against, a proclamation she signed as Governor back in April 16, 2008 encourages Alaskans to “seek out counseling services for these important decisions.”

I just can't make these things up, look it up,
Ed

DEATH PANEL MUSINGS - PART 3

These excerpts are from the story, "False 'Death Panel' Rumor Has Some Familiar Roots," that
originally appeared in The New York Times.

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The specter of government-sponsored, forced euthanasia was raised as early as Nov. 23, just
weeks after the election and long before any legislation had been drafted, by an outlet
decidedly opposed to Mr. Obama, The Washington Times.

In an editorial, the newspaper reminded its readers of the Aktion T4 program of Nazi Germany
in which “children and adults with disabilities, and anyone anywhere in the Third Reich was
subject to execution who was blind, deaf, senile, retarded, or had any significant
neurological condition.”
Noting the “administrative predilections” of the new team at the White House, it urged
“anyone who sees the current climate as a budding T4 program to win the hearts and minds of
deniers.”


AMERICAN SPECTATOR

In January, the socially conservative George Neumayr wrote for the American Spectator:
“Euthanasia is another shovel ready job for Pelosi to assign to the states. Reducing health
care costs under Obama’s plan, after all, counts as economic stimulus, too — controlling
life, controlling death, controlling costs.”

BETSY McCAUGHEY

She warned that a provision in the stimulus bill would create a bureaucracy to “monitor
treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate
and cost-effective,” was carried in a commentary she wrote for Bloomberg News that gained
resonance throughout the conservative media, most notably with Rush Limbaugh and the Fox
News Channel host Glenn Beck. Ms. McCaughey’s article provided another opportunity for
others to raise the specter of forced euthanasia. “Sometimes for the common good, you just
have to say, ‘Hey, Grandpa, you’ve had a good life,’ ” Mr. Beck said.


TOM DASCHLE

Former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, an advocate for the health care proposals, said
he was occasionally confronted with the “forced euthanasia” accusation at forums on the
plans, but came to see it as an advantage. “Almost automatically you have most of the
audience on your side,” Mr. Daschle said. “Any rational normal person isn't going to believe
that assertion.”


Mehret Tesfaye posted to the Ethiopian Review | August 16th, 2009 at 12:25 pm this observation :

SARAH PALIN

"Just before midnight, a "note" was posted on Sarah Palin's Facebook page titled,
"Concerning the 'Death Panels.'" Predictably, the media latched onto it and reported her
thoughts. However, there's a problem: there's no way in hell Sarah Palin wrote it.'

"It doesn't even really take a careful examination of the entire note to deduce that it
simply could not have been written by Sarah Palin, which leads one to pretty much dismiss
all of the points it attempts to make. In fact, a cursory glance is more than sufficient to
come to that realization as the note is obviously meticulously researched and footnoted,
appears to be entirely grammatically correct (It even contains semicolons!), presents rather
cogent arguments in a reasoned attempt to persuade, and on the whole is written
articulately. In short, whoever composed this particular note is everything that Sarah Palin
is not: thoughtful, patient, dedicated, thorough, and rational, traits that any casual,
non-delusional observer of Sarah Palin would never, ever associate with her."

( I think I see Billy Kristol in my globe) Ed


That's the truth, you can't make these things up, look it up.
Ed

GLENN BECK LOSING MONEY

A number of U.S. advertisers say they have decided not to run ads on Fox News Channel's "The Glenn Beck Program" after complaints by viewers. The complaints followed a recent incident in which Beck said President Barack Obama is a "racist" who has a "deep-seated hatred for white people." NexisLexis-owned Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble and Progressive Insurance have agreed not to advertise on the show. S.C. Johnson, which makes such products as Pledge, Ziplock and Off!, said it would not run ads on the show.

THE BIG FIVE AGAINST HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM

The Prominent Organizations against health insurance reform :


FREEDOMWORKS, a Washington-based advocacy group headed by former House majority
leader Richard Armey (R-Tex.) FreedomWorks's major financial backers have included
MetLife, Philip Morris and foundations controlled by the archconservative Scaife
family, according to tax filings and other records. Armey has come under fire from
Democrats for leading FreedomWorks while working at DLA Piper, a firm lobbying on
behalf of New Jersey pharmaceutical company Medicines Co. FreedomWorks features a
quote from Armey on its Web site: "If you are going to go ugly, go ugly early."


CONSERVATIVES FOR PATIENTS' RIGHTS, an anti-reform group, now represented by Brian
Burgess of CRC Public Relations, which coordinated the "Swift Boat" attacks on Sen.
John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004. Brian Burgess confirmed that CPR has been emailing
out "town hall alert" flyers, and schedules of town hall meetings, to its mailing
list. Conservatives for Patients Rights is a front group organized in 2009 by
Richard Scott to fight U.S. president Barack Obama's proposals for health reform.
According to the Politico news site, Scott has raised $20 million to fight health
care reform. Scott previously started the for-profit hospital chain in 1987 that
later became the $23 billion Columbia/HCA. He was ousted from this post in 1997
after an FBI investigation of Columbia/HCA that led to 14 felony convictions and
$1.7 billion in criminal and civil fines for Medicare fraud.


AMERICAN LIBERTY ALLIANCE, lead by Eric Odom, 29, a Chicago Web developer who heads
a fledgling protest group. Now, drawing on more than 40,000 members via e-mail, Odom
tracks hundreds of planned health-care protests by Zip code and uses Facebook and
Twitter to link up activists. Earlier this month, he hosted a conference call with
more than 200 participants.


AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY, an anti-tax and anti-regulation group known for opposing
smoking restrictions and for trying to cast doubt on global warming. The group
launched a project called "Patients First" in June and has been conducting bus tours
around the country to drum up opposition to the health-care legislation.
Public records show that the group is heavily funded by the Koch Family Foundations,
a major contributor to conservative causes headed by two brothers who control Koch
Industries, a Kansas-based oil-and-gas conglomerate. David H. Koch serves as board
chairman of the Americans for Prosperity foundation. Americans for Prosperity
brought a "Patients First" bus emblazoned with a giant red hand and the slogan:
"Hands Off Our Health Care!"

Coming in last but not least, The REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE, (the party of no, we lost, so we are against everything those dirty socialists are doing !)

Friday, August 14, 2009

DEATH PANEL MUSINGS - PART 2

Q: Should the federal government be getting involved with living wills and end-of-life questions — decisions that are highly personal and really difficult?

A: It already is.

The government requires hospitals to ask adult patients if they have a living will, or "advance directive." If the patient doesn't have one, and wants one, the hospital has to provide assistance. The mandate on hospitals was instituted during a Republican administration, in 1992, under then-President George H.W. Bush.

That's the truth, look it up.
Ed

Thursday, August 13, 2009

HEALTHCARE REFORM FACT AND FICTION

Check out this long missive from the White House (Senior Advisor David Axelrod) :
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/The-Return-of-the-Viral-Email/

There are a lot of links to various items about Healthcare reform.

It's the truth, look it up.
Ed

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

GOP SENATOR DOESN'T LIKE PALIN'S LIES

(I love it when the Republican Senator from ALASKA coins a new term when talking about the former Governor of ALASKA. The term : "Deathers". Now we have Birthers and Deathers, all fringe people. Read more here, Ed.)


2:26 pm August 12, 2009, by ctucker

At long last, a few responsible Republicans are chastising their conservative colleagues for the distortions, exaggerations and outright lies they have used to denounce healthcare reform. (It’s too bad that Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson, usually a thoughtful and fairminded man, cannot be counted in that number. But, according to my colleague Jay Bookman, he can’t.)

The Anchorage Daily News reported that Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke at a public policy forum in Anchorage yesterday, where she rebuked the “deathers,” such as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who have insisted that “death panels” would be created to decide whether to euthanize the elderly and the handicapped.

The newspaper quoted Murkowski this way: “It does us no good to incite fear in people by saying that there’s these end-of-life provisions, these death panels. Quite honestly, I’m so offended at that terminology because it absolutely isn’t (in the bill). There is no reason to gin up fear in the American public by saying things that are not included in the bill.”

That's the big truth for today, look it up.

Ed

Monday, August 10, 2009

DEATH PANEL MUSINGS

NO 'DEATH PANEL' IN HOUSE BILL

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR (AP)

"Then what's all the fuss about?"

A: A provision in the House bill written by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., would allow

Medicare to pay doctors for voluntary counseling sessions that address end-of-life issues.

The conversations between doctor and patient would include living wills, making a close

relative or a trusted friend your health care proxy, learning about hospice as an option for

the terminally ill and information about pain medications for people suffering chronic

discomfort.

The sessions would be covered every five years, more frequently if someone is gravely ill.

Q: Who supports the provision?

A: The American Medical Association, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization

and Consumers Union are among the groups supporting the provision. AARP, the seniors' lobby,

is taking out print advertisements this week that label as false the claim that the

legislation will empower the government to take over life-and-death decisions from

individuals.

Q: Should the federal government be getting involved with living wills and end-of-life

questions — decisions that are highly personal and really difficult?

A: It already is.

The government requires hospitals to ask adult patients if they have a living will, or

"advance directive." If the patient doesn't have one, and wants one, the hospital has to

provide assistance. The mandate on hospitals was instituted during a Republican

administration, in 1992, under then-President George H.W. Bush.

Here is the link to the article :
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jrxylOzrAmdb5s_98jqjr6I0zw0QD9A09HO80

Seeing is believing, look it up.
Ed

PALIN TEETERING BACK FROM THE EDGE


After trying to incite riots with her "Obama Death Panels" statement the day before, Palin seems to be wanting to change the subject. She writes in her latest Facebook entry:

"There are many disturbing details in the current bill that Washington is trying to rush through Congress, but we must stick to a discussion of the issues and not get sidetracked by tactics that can be accused of leading to intimidation or harassment. Such tactics diminish our nation's civil discourse which we need now more than ever because the fine print in this outrageous health care proposal must be understood clearly and not get lost in conscientious voters' passion to want to make elected officials hear what we are saying. Let's not give the proponents of nationalized health care any reason to criticize us."

I just get all tingly inside when the Republicans are able to throw in their favorite catchphrases whenever they talk. Those catchy little words such as : Nationalized
healthcare, Socialist healthcare, Hitler inspired, Nazi politics, union Brownshirts, and last but most egregious, Obama Death Panels.

That's the truth, look it up,
Ed

Saturday, August 8, 2009

PALIN OVER THE EDGE

Sarah Palin's statement on her FaceBook page on Friday, Aug. 7th mirrors the absolute ignorance of many of the recent protesters at the Townhall meetings.
From MSNBC :

"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," the former Republican vice presidential candidate wrote. "Such a system is downright evil," Palin wrote.

The allegation appears to be based on a provision of the House bill that would require Medicare to PAY for end-of-life counseling sessions, on a VOLUNTARY basis, for beneficiaries who WANT the service. Medicare already covers hospice care. And legislation passed by Congress in 1990 requires that patients be asked if they have a living will.

Read the entire article here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32340009/ns/politics-white_house

Also watch this video to further scare yourself :
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/32337676#32337676

For a complete reading of the counseling provisions in the bill, the infamous page 425, see :
http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2009/07/27/health-care-bill-page-425-the-truth.htm


My discourse is this :
None of the versions of the Healthcare Reform bills say anything about standing in front of a bureaucratic panel of ANY KIND FOR ANY REASON, let alone an Obama 'DEATH PANEL'.
The absurdity of such a statement is beyond belief and fortifies the sense that Palin has no credibility as a leader of reasonable people. (She is apparently still a leader of unreasonable people). If nothing else, her statement shows that she has not read any of the versions of the bill. If she has, she apparently is unable to understand what she has read. Next thing you know she also will insist that the Government keep their G-D hands off of her parents Medicare.

That's the truth, look it up.
Ed

I LAUGH AT LAFFER

PAUL KRUGMAN SAID
August 7, 2009, 10:19 am

What did Laffer mean?

Digby points to something I’ve heard myself: the claim that when Art Laffer said,

"If you like the Post Office and the Department of Motor Vehicles and you think they’re run well, just wait till you see Medicare, Medicaid, and health care done by the government."

he really meant that Medicare and Medicaid are badly run, and so will the rest of health care be if the government gets its hands on it.

But he didn’t say that — and if he was garbling his words, there was method in his garble. Right now, right-wingers do not, repeat, do not want people to understand that Medicare is the prime example of that dreaded condition, “government-run health care”; because if people understood that, they might think that government-run care is actually pretty good. So we don’t need to worry about what Laffer really meant; what he said was the party line, which is, “don’t let the government get its hands on Medicare.”

Meanwhile, don’t tell Laffer, but 89 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the Post Office.

End of Krugman's piece.

My discourse is this :
I have watched a number of clips on You Tube that show obviously older citizens screaming at Townhall meeting speakers such absurdities as "Keep the G-D government hands off of my Medicare." Then there are clips that show revelations into the mind of the FOX. My personal favorite and most amusing piece is the video of the July 27th Jon Stewart interview with Bill Kristol. The first 11 minutes are basically about Kristol's unrequited puppy love with Sarah Palin, so just skip that. The rest of the clip gives great insight into the deep seated beliefs of the "conservative" bloviators. They actually are able to express their belief that certain classes of Americans are better and therefore more "worthy" than others. As a veteran I certainly believe that our military deserves the finest of medical care, but I wish that for all people.
Follow the link to the video.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-july-27-2009/bill-kristol-extended-interview

Sometimes you have to see it to believe it,
Ed