President Obama Addresses Sarah Palin “Death Panels,” “Wild Representations”

Yay for Obama! Glad he’s turning the scare tactics back on the Insurance companies where they belong. It’s scary living in America, even WITH insurance. Surely, everyone’s seen “Sicko”–even those with insurance don’t get covered.

“So why is it that people would prefer having insurance companies making those decisions rather than medical experts and doctors figuring out what are good deals for care?” he asked.”
So why is it that he keeps promising me I can keep my current plan if I like it on the one hand, while telling me his medical experts really ought to be figuring out what’s good for me?

I suspect Palin’s Death Panels are merely projection of what she would do if Queen of America. Fortunately, Sarah is too stupid to shut up, so her chances of ever being elected again are non-existant.

Don’t worry we are not going to kill grandma. Weren’t you guys listening? We are going to give her the less expensive blue painkiller and not give her the surgery but we are not going to kill her… immediately. Trust me, why would I lie?

Worst line, we need a public option to keep the private insurers honest? That is twisted.

===“I want to be very clear”===
Whenever the president uses that phrase, you know you are being spun…

Had Obama and the congressional Democrats satisfied themselves with addressing widely recognized deficiencies in our insurance system, they would not be in the deep doo doo they are in right now. It would have been emminently doable to pass legislation designed to give individuals and small businesses nationwide purchasing power, end the ban on pre-existing conditions, and even imposing an individual mandate on voluntarily uninsured individuals. By doing so, they could have rectified a large part of the problems we have without scaring the bejesus out of people. It also wouldn’t have cost much of anything.
But noooooo. It’s not really health insurance they want. They want to radically remake our entire health care system, and in the process impose their view of government and society on a largely unwilling public. You can’t do that simply, transparently, and comprehensibly. It takes 1000+ pages of directives and mandates and the creation of layers of new bureacracy to do all that.
They have brought every bit of this outrage and outcry on themselves. They are their own worst enemies.

Obama decries “manufactured” outrage and “astroturfing” fake grassroots protests over the impending government takeover of healthcare. In response, he addresses a carefully choreographed event before a hand-picked crowd.
—The Obama town hall in Portsmouth is underway. The president wrapped up his remarks to the cheers of “YES WE CAN!” from the “fair and balanced” audience.
The crowd cheered Obama’s claims that the porkulus is working.
Obama asserted that “nearly 56 million” Americans are uninsured — ratcheting up the fuzzy math.
He praised “vigorous debate” and criticizes “wild misrepresentations,” which the stacked crowd applauded wildly.
He derided “special interests” — except for the DRUG COMPANIES WHO ARE FUNDING ADS for ObamaCare, of course.
He attacked fear-mongers—then warned of premiums rising, Medicare going bankrupt & people getting sick without his “reform.”—
And the crowd chanted:
Yes we can!
Yes we can!
Four legs good; two legs bad!

“So why is it that people would prefer having insurance companies making those decisions rather than medical experts and doctors figuring out what are good deals for care?”
Who here actually thinks medical experts and doctors will be the ones making these decisions under Obamacare? What a farce. Replace “insurance companies” with “Government bureaucrats” and that will be his plan. Only problem is they’ll be even more cut throat!

Bridget:” It would have been emminently doable to pass legislation designed to give individuals and small businesses nationwide purchasing power, end the ban on pre-existing conditions, and even imposing an individual mandate on voluntarily uninsured individuals.”
That easy? Why haven’t Republicans drafted that easy bill and offered it as a slam-dunk alternative? Isn’t it the role of the minority party to provide a different policy option for the public to consider?

This reform is dealing with the 10%, the uninsured, and those with pre-existing conditions. The VAST bulk of the health care market will remain private with only minor regulatory tweaks.
Posted by: jhw539 | Aug 11, 2009 2:41:46 PM
_______________________________________
Please read pages 16-19 of H.R. 3200. I suppose you consider being forced into the public plan if you change employers a “minor tweak?” Or the fact that private insurance companies can’t write new policies after this bill becomes law a “minor tweak?” I’d hate to see what you consider a major tweak!

jhw539, “That easy? Why haven’t Republicans drafted that easy bill and offered it as a slam-dunk alternative? Isn’t it the role of the minority party to provide a different policy option for the public to consider?”
Then something sane and doable can rise from the ashes.

“The current proposals DO just tweak the current system.”
ROTFLMAO! All 1000+ pages of them.

Hey Sammy- they don’t call him the Abortion president for nothing!

On May 20th, Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Reps. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) introduced the PATIENTS’ CHOICE ACT (S 1099, HR 2520), a counter proposal to Democratic health care reform plans that would create state-based health insurance exchanges and provide U.S. residents tax credits to subsidize coverage premiums, Roll Call reports (Drucker [1], Roll Call, 5/20).
The act would require states to separately establish health insurance exchanges made up of PRIVATE HEALTH INSURERS through which individuals could pick their coverage. The legislation would provide $5,700 IN TAX CREDITS TO FAMILIES AND $2,200 IN TAX CREDITS TO INDIVIDUALS to subsidize coverage premiums, the Washington Times reports (Washington Times, 5/21).
An additional $5,000 tax credit would be provided to LOW-INCOME FAMILIES (Politico, 5/20).
The credits would be funded by TAXING EMPLOYER-PROVIDED HEALTH BENEFITS (Washington Times, 5/21).
Under the plan, states would be ALLOWED TO SHIFT STATE RESIDENTS COVERED BY MEDICAID INTO PRIVATE COVERAGE (Wayne, CQ Today, 5/20). The measure also would establish a system of health coverage auto-enrollment at emergency departments, motor vehicle departments and through employers (Budoff Brown, Politico, 5/20).
The plan does not establish any new government health care programs (Drucker [1], Roll Call, 5/20).

IOW the Republicans rather do nothing.
Posted by: Ryan C |
Perhaps the biggest lie from the left is that opponents are for preserving the status quo.
.

I was thoroughly disappointed with the town hall today.
I was expecting another episode of the
WILD KINGDOM featuring the GOP

Perhaps the biggest lie from the left is that opponents are for preserving the status quo.”
That’s true since below came from the mouth of right wingers you cannot be sure of its accuracy but
Roy Blunt ““Our bill is never going to get to the floor, so why confuse the focus? We clearly have principles; we could have language, but why start diverting attention from this really bad piece of work they’ve got to whatever we’re offering right now?”
Then there’s this
Plum Line:”On a private conference call, a group of top Tea Party and conservative organizers offered a surprisingly frank description of their goal, according to a source on the call: Completely blocking any kind of bipartisan compromise, and completely preventing any type of health care reform bill at all from ever becoming law.”
Fred Thompson loses again.

We are all familiar with triage, we’ve seen it in the movies. It’s the process of sorting victims, as of a battle or disaster, to determine medical priority in order to increase the number of survivors. In a short-term, emergency situation, it is ethical and it makes sense — save as many as you can by putting the less-seriously hurt at the end of the line, and not treating those who are too far gone at all. Mistakes are certainly made, but they are made in good faith, in haste, and the consequences in suffering are limited because of the short-term nature of the emergency.
Today, outside of emergency situations, scarce medical care is distributed by a myriad of influences: where you live, medical competence, what you can pay for (via insurance or directly), when you seek treatment, etc. In a free market system of medicine, it does boil down to what you can pay for. However, how much money you have is determined by a myriad of influences: where you live, how old you are, who your parents are, choices you’ve made regarding education and vocation, lifestyle choices, spending habits, economic opportunity, government regulations, etc., etc., etc. All of these impersonal forces determine how scarce medical care is allocated, and the outcomes are inherently unequal. Is this unethical? Is it unfair?
In the pursuit of fairness, would it be ethical to triage ALL medical care? Currently, there is no one person, no “triage nurse” or panel, deciding who lives and who dies. What if we sent one up with guidelines on how to decide who lives and who dies? This article gives us some food for thought on how to do that. It is co-written by Obama’s health care policy advisor, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, brother to Rahm Emanuel:
No matter which criteria is adopted, no matter the effort and struggle to be fair, we would be choosing to ask individual human beings to judge the value of other human beings lives. Sarah Palin’s image of her handicapped infant Trig coming before a “death panel” is metaphorical only in the description of “coming before.” We could just as well call it a “life panel,” and if individual people actually “came before” it one by one to be judged worthy of life, we would see the horror we are asking these deciders to commit. Remember Sophie’s Choice?. By coming before the “life panel” only on paper, or only as a nameless, faceless, aggregated statistic, the actual horror is not mitigated. This system would be inherently morally wrong, bad, immoral — the definition of “evil.”
To increase the fairness of the current system, we do not have to deliberately place triage power in the hands of the government, which is what an eventual single-payer system will do.
To those who say the insurance companies function as a “death panel” now, please acknowledge that they are interpreting the terms of a CONTRACT, not making decisions on the value of lives.

“Except as provided in
this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first
day of Y1.”
Why did you leave out this paragraph which introduces the section you reference.
“(a) Grandfathered Health Insurance Coverage Defined- Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable coverage under this division, the term ‘grandfathered health insurance coverage’ means individual health insurance coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the first day of Y1 if the following conditions are met:”

Obama, the second coming:”"(1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first
day of Y1.”
If they can’t enroll individuals after the plan starts, I’d say that’s a pretty raw deal for private insurance companies. ”
That’s a grandfather clause referring to existing plans that may not meet all the new regulations. The key is in the definition of “such coverage.” After 1968 all new cars sold had to have seat belts. But you were free to drive older ones without.
Insurers have to change their health care plans for new enrollies to meet the new regulations. And it is expected that every major private insurer will do so. You’re reading the grandfather clause that simply allows current members of current plans to continue receiving them without any changes if they chose (even if the plan does not meet all current regs).
Requiring enrollment in the public plan when you switch jobs would result in everyone on the public plan within a decade. Do you really think the CBO missed that?

“Plum Line? Was Peach Line unavailable for comment?”
Plum line is Gary Sargeant’s blog.
Fred Thompson loses again.

That’s a grandfather clause referring to existing plans that may not meet all the new regulations. The key is in the definition of “such coverage.” After 1968 all new cars sold had to have seat belts. But you were free to drive older ones without.
Insurers have to change their health care plans for new enrollies to meet the new regulations. And it is expected that every major private insurer will do so. You’re reading the grandfather clause that simply allows current members of current plans to continue receiving them without any changes if they chose (even if the plan does not meet all current regs).
Requiring enrollment in the public plan when you switch jobs would result in everyone on the public plan within a decade. Do you really think the CBO missed that?
Posted by: jhw539 | Aug 11, 2009 3:16:22 PM
____________________________________
I hope you are right. I’ve asked my Congressman about this very part of the bill three times via email and am still waiting for a response. Apparently, you are more competent then my local congressman. Anyhow, I’m not big on many of these regulations either that – IMO – would make it tough for private insurance to stay in business, thus leading to more people going in the public plan. And a public plan to me will eventually lead to bad service and rationing. Or, health care, done post-office or DMV-style. No thanks. I don’t mind, however, scrapping the employment-based system for a system that gives me a literal marketplace of companies and plans to choose from, w/ some sort of tax breaks involved. I’d love to take the $400-plus my wife and I contribute to our family coverage each month (through her employer) and shop around to a company that could provide similar coverage at – say $300/month or so. Competition in the biz world works well! I’d like to see more of it.

Did Obama wink at a woman at the townhall event?

Private insurance companies ration care to those who are healthy and can pay the premiums.
That is what the argument over pre-existing conditions is about.
Posted by: Ryan C | Aug 11, 2009 3:25:22 PM
______________________________________
OK, fine. Then introduce a bill that makes this instance illegal. Problem solved! (well, sort-of, I’m sure premiums would go up a bit overall, but not too much). Why introduce a 1,000-page bill to fix this one thing? Then, create a marketplace where people buying health insurance can seek out insurance companies that compete for our dollars …. would likely surpass any increases that would come from insuring those w/ pre-existing conditions.

Obama just corroborated to Sarah Palin’s FB memo which Jake Tapper vigorously attacked the other week.
Obama just asserted “rationing of care”, the main point of Palin. In Palin’s POV, it “could” happen. To Obama, it’s “now” happening.
Death Panel is just a methapor. Now, Obama as President, has just sanctified Palin’s term.
With the Bankrupt Government with projected huge future deficit, Obama’s plan will just MAKE THE REST OF AMERICA trapped with “CARE RATIONING” in a worst possible way. Proof: MEDICAID AND MEDICARE’s Death Panel.
Now Tapper. Say to Obama what you said to Palin.
I’m a Democrat. Now I think I’m gonna be independent from now on.

Foghorn:”A bill that changes the status quo is evidence of a vast right wing conspiracy to preserve the status quo?”
So you are hanging your hat on tax credits to pay the existing insurers “changing the status quo”. Oh, and eliminating Medicare. I guess that is changing the status quo by creating more uninsured.

Death Panel is just a methapor.
Posted by: Donald
for the lunatic fringe… that is correct

do the republicans understand that there is no final bill yet? only a truckload of proposals..
obviously not… they would rather rant about imaginary problems without even seeing what will finally be proposed in the real legislation…
no surprise here from the folks who bring you,
birthers, deathers, Fema camps, and the boys of ‘C Street’
Posted by: {0|0} | Aug 11, 2009 3:34:19 PM
______________________________________
First off, the birthers, etc. represent a very small portion of the right, just like communists make up a very small portion of the left in this country. However, why wait for the final bill to voice our concerns when we can voice them ahead of time in hopes of a better bill …. also, while congress is in recess when we – theoretically at least – have better access to them. Plus, what has been written so far is truly scary in many instances. We see where they are going with it, and don’t like it.

===do the republicans understand that there is no final bill yet? only a truckload of proposals..===
Does Obama know that?

Obama specifically asked question from those that opposed him???? yeah his first one was a nurse who screamed out in glee. “He winked at me!” Obama is a coward, face it liberals.

From AP article about this rally: “As long as they have a good product and the government plan has to sustain itself through premiums and other non-tax revenue, private insurers should be able to compete with the government plan, Obama said.
“They do it all the time,” he said. “UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. … It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.”"
I can think of no better argument against a national health insurance system than Obama’s observation that, “it’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.”
I challenge anyone to name any government program that is administered in an efficient manner and regularly comes in under budget. Maybe there is one in all the thousands of federal programs, but I am unaware of them.

Donald:”Obama just asserted “rationing of care”, the main point of Palin. In Palin’s POV, it “could” happen. To Obama, it’s “now” happening.”
Think! Read what Obama said – is it true? Read what Palin said – is it true?
This isn’t a matter of opinion. ALL LIMITED COMMODITIES AND SERVICES ARE RATIONED.

It seems to me there is a whole lot of scare tactics on the airwaves and in emails going on about health care. In 1996, for the first time in my life, I became disabled. As I struggled with back and neck injuries, my lungs became impaired. Then it was cancer with 4 separate operations. In the middle of all this, my husband died and I was left without health care. My disability income was $547 per month and Cobra was $650 per month. After living several years with no coverage, Medicare kicked in. I have a government sponsored Medicare plan and I can tell everyone, it is a God sent gift. For all the fear mongers, I say either step up with a viable solution, or get out of the way of progress. We need health reform. Stop with the misinformation and get to work on resolving the problems.

You will not be able to keep your current coverage if there is a “public option”.
Even the NYTimes said of Obama’s claims that “if you are happy with your plan and your doctor you can keep it”:
“These assurances reflect an aspiration, but may not be literally true or enforceable.”

“Will the President and his family and Congress and their families be on this National Health Insurance without preferential treatment, and if not, why? Are they more deserving than you or I?”
Posted by: Jason
he said he wanted everyone to have the same choice as he and congress…
clean your ears

Foghorn:”A bill that changes the status quo is evidence of a vast right wing conspiracy to preserve the status quo?”
So you are hanging your hat on tax credits to pay the existing insurers “changing the status quo”. Oh, and eliminating Medicare. I guess that is changing the status quo by creating more uninsured.
Posted by: jhw539 |
Never said anything like that as you know.
You, on the other hand, are hanging your hat with Big Pharma. wuwt?

This isn’t a matter of opinion. ALL LIMITED COMMODITIES AND SERVICES ARE RATIONED.
Posted by: jhw539 |
and therefore we should let the gov’t ration health care. Deep thinking indeed.

Anyone can plainly see that this is just another phony staged event.

“The post office existed first. The beauty of capitalism is that private companies like UPS and FedEx arose to offer a better choice for aspects of the USPS’s market and proved (by the president’s own remarks) that they could do a better job than the federal government.”
FexEx and UPS will come to my house and pick up a letter and deliver it across the country for 44 cents?

“and therefore we should let the gov’t ration health care. Deep thinking indeed.”
So private rationing of health care is better because at least the insurance companies can make a profit.
So far rightwing deep thinking if an elderly FoxNews viewer on Medicare screaming about socialism at a townhall.

“They do it all the time,” he said. “UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. … It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.” – Obama. Crazy how he actually makes common sense even when he doesn’t mean to (LOL). Private companies have an incentive to trim costs, and run efficiently, or they are gone over the long haul …. but most government plans/agencies are full of waste. Why? Because they can always call on the American Taxpayer to bail them out (and before any of you say “he, we bailed out the banking/auto industries, yadda yadda yadda” I’m not for that either! If companies make bad decisions, so be it – suffer the consequences. A better-run company will take your place!). So the question should be, if private companies do it better, why create a wasteful public plan in the first place. And if you think private companies charge too much now, how about we eliminate more regulations and truly create competition in this field so the best, most efficient company will win so to speak. Right now, I am glued to what my employer provides. Let me take my premium and shop it around! Then, you would see the better private insurers negotiating favorable rates w/ doctors and costs would go down. That’s how you can start to fix the system.

“Medicare? Say, isn’t that the system that threatens to drown the US in 10′s of Trillions in debt for the next century? Isn’t that the system that does such a poor job of compensating providers that many of them will no longer take new patients under its coverage? That’s the program that OBAMA WILL CUT by $500 billion over the next ten years to help fund health-care reform”
More right wing double talk.
Rails against Medicare as plunging us into debt THEN rails against Obama for proposed cuts in funding for Medicare.
Which is it?
The right wing has nothing but fear and lies.
All to defend insurance company profits.

“And if you think private companies charge too much now, how about we eliminate more regulations and truly create competition in this field so the best, most efficient company will win so to speak.”
After the complete economic meltdown we experienced last year its unbelivible that right wingers are proposing to deregulate the health insurance industry.
The right wing really does not have any ideas left.

“Thanks but the adults are talking now.
Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn | Aug 11, 2009 3:59:36 PM”
Awww Fred Thompson doesn’t like it when the plan to privatize Social Security is brought up or that its pointed out he is rehashing scare tactics from that debate.

After the complete economic meltdown we experienced last year its unbelivible that right wingers are proposing to deregulate the health insurance industry.
The right wing really does not have any ideas left.
Posted by: Ryan C | Aug 11, 2009 4:00:43 PM
___________________________________
Umm … at least our ideas have proven to work over the long haul. Yes, there are bad times, but overall, they work, and work well. That’s why we keep proposing them. It makes sense …. you try things that have actually worked, unlike socialism, etc. The left? They look at things that haven’t worked well elsewhere and try to bring them here. What good is being full of ideas (like the left, which you imply) when all the ideas are failed ones.

“Posted by: Community Agitator | Aug 11, 2009 4:02:08 PM”
So which it is, that Medicare should be dissolved or Medicare cuts are bad?
Posted by: Ryan C | Aug 11, 2009 4:04:05 PM
The only one who wants to CUT Medicare is Obama. He will aggravate the unfunded liablility in Medicare while creating a massive new underfunded liablility with ObamaCare.

“Posted by: Community Agitator | Aug 11, 2009 4:08:14 PM”
So is Medicare good or bad?

why not pay mercenaries fight in Afghanistan and save americans.. private companies.. capitalism..
sounds good to me, bring all the troops
home from around the world…
e e cummings, I thought the US did use mercenaries. Organizations like Aegis and Blackwater took over basic security, supplementing the Iraqi National Army and Iraqi Police forces, and maintained a peace won by American forces.
We can use mercenaries but our Constitution describes national military.
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense…”
The Legislative Branch – “To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy”
The Executive Branch – “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States”
What does this have to do with health care?

A new Rasmussen Reports Poll, just released this afternoon, show that public support for healthcare reform has fallen to a new low.
The poll results show only 42% of Americans support the healthcare reform plan spearheaded by President Obama and the Democratic Party.
A record 53% of Americans are opposed to the plan.
Since Rasmussen Reports have been polling on healthcare reform starting six weeks ago, the public approval rate has fallen eight points and the public disapproval rate has risen by nine percentage points.

Death panels? really? I never thought that we were such an easily scared society that any cheap incredible lie will affect so much the political discourse and the free society in this country.
Hmmm now that I think about it
Death Panels = Weapons of Mass Destruction

“Hmmm now that I think about it
Death Panels = Weapons of Mass Destruction”
Not a bad catch but I was thinking more along the line of the “death tax”.
You know those right wingers who cry about the US needing to be a merit based society while they make sure they get as much of Daddy’s money as possible.

At his press conference today, President Barack “Copperfield” Obama stated:
“As long as they have a good product and the government plan has to sustain itself through premiums and other non-tax revenue, private insurers should be able to compete with the government plan, Obama said.”
Whereupon he waved a magic wand and pulled a government plan that sustains itself through premiums and non-tax revenue out of his……hat!

Getting a little worried, Ryan?
Posted by: Heh heh heh…
who was it that won the election again?
worried… you rightys should be

“Vast right wing polling conspiracy.”
Nope just basic statistical modeling.
Rasmussen claims GOP self ids at 33% and weighs his survey responses accordingly.
Of course no other polling organization shows GOP self ids above 30% with most in the mid 20′s.
Rasmussen enjoys cooked numbers.
For months he linked to a study proclaiming him the most accurate polling firm in the Presidential election 2008 election. How the guy doing the “study” determined that was by rounding up McCain percentage from 45.6 to 46% and rounding down Obama’s total from 5.9 to 52%.
Some might call that dishonest.
Scott Rasmussen called it an endorsement.

“don’t use literary references that the majority of the right won’t understand”
Posted by: {0|0}
Not Dickens. The magician.

Obama hasn’t told the truth yet on anything. He will end DODT. He will close Gitmo. He won’t sign a bill with loads of earmarks. He won’t let lobbyists work in his white house. He doesn’t want to run GM or Chrysler. And he never supported(s) a single payer system.
So why does anyone listen to this used car salesman?

Death panels? That’s crazy talk. It can’t happen here.
Amache (Granada), CO
Opened: August 24, 1942.
Closed: October 15, 1945.
Peak population: 7,318.
Gila River, AZ
Opened July 20, 1942.
Closed November 10, 1945.
Peak Population 13,348.
Heart Mountain, WY
Opened August 12, 1942.
Closed November 10, 1945.
Peak population 10,767.
Jerome, AR
Opened October 6, 1942.
Closed June 30, 1944.
Peak population 8,497
Manzanar, CA
Opened March 21, 1942.
Closed November 21, 1945.
Peak population 10,046.
Minidoka, ID
Opened August 10, 1942.
Closed October 28, 1945.
Peak population 9,397
Poston, AZ
Opened May 8, 1942.
Closed November 28, 1945.
Peak population 17,814
Rohwer, AR
Opened September 18, 1942.
Closed November 30, 1945.
Peak population 8,475
Topaz, UT
Opened September 11, 1942.
Closed October 31, 1945.
Peak population 8,130
Tule Lake, CA
pened May 27, 1942.
Closed March 20, 1946.
Peak population 18,789
On February 19th, 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. 120,000 people of Japanese descent living in the US were removed from their homes and placed in internment camps.

“On February 19th, 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. 120,000 people of Japanese descent living in the US were removed from their homes and placed in internment camps.”
Yet another shameful chapter in this country’s history where racial prejudice overrode common sense.
Of course right wingers like Michele Malkin are proud of it.

Rasmussen tends to get more accurate as you get closer to the election.
The goal of an effective propagandist is to be correct on verifiable things, and then to occasionally insert your opinions into unverifiable pockets of information.
At this point, there is absolutely NOTHING at stake for Rasmussen to cook the numbers. Normally, the polls tend to cluster… which is what happens to Rasmussen during the election season. Right now, Rasmussen’s data is wildly divergent. And, if you notice that ALL of the conservative scream outlets focus obsessively on Rasmussen’s numbers, you’ll see that it is work.
He is helping to shore up the base, convincing them that their minority view is the will of the people. They are getting this wild little minority ready for the next step. It eerily resembles what happened during the 1920s with the SA.

Don’t Tread on Me! | Aug 11, 2009 4:50:08 PM
I guess charges of completely fabricated right-wing fear is crazy talk too. But remember when ol’ Joe McCarthy had Americans convinced there were commies hiding under everybody’s beds?

Maybe not so wild.
The first impression I got, from Obama’s own words, was that the changes in health care, in his plan, would absolutely affect the care of the aged, and the disabled.
I for one, want to see the details of how that will impact, and I haven’t seen anyone willing to share any factual information with the public.
It is time for those in government, to remember they work for us, the citizens of this country, and they need to start paying attention to us, if they expect to keep their jobs, Obama included.

ou mean if we had created a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States’ policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material?
Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn |
tush foggy… you know .. conservation, reducing foreign oil dependence, solar… the logical stuff

anyone here really think the Bushies would have let a guy with a pistol stand outside of a Bush/Cheney gathering ???
a guy got arrested in NOLA just for giving Cheney the middle finger salute… no rights of free speech for him

where is the trillion comeing from to pay for health care.out of the working mans pocket.What about medicare thats goverment run healthcare and its going broke.every time the goverment runs things they fail. less goverment more prosperity.

Jake Tapper….
Why don’t you do a story on the violence rhetoric and the threats that are flowing out of the Tea Party movement.
There are really strong historical parallels here. And if journalists have a responsibility, it would be this.
We, the people, elected our government. And now, there are people who seem to be demonstrating some intent… or at least some affinity… for the idea that there should be a revolution. And that it should a revolution driven by the ideals an extremely eccentric values of a paranoid wing of the Republican Party.
Most moderate Republicans would thank you. All Democrats would thank you. And, most Independents would, too. But at the end of the day, you would be helping to keep the country safe.

Worst line, we need a public option to keep the private insurers honest? That is twisted.
Posted by: Left wing is the new right wing | Aug 11, 2009 2:30:46 PM
____________________________________
It makes about as much sense as saying we need the Post Office to keep FedEx and UPS honest.

On bringing a gun to the town hall (I know he wasn’t inside) – it may be within the law of New Hapshire but was it appropriate to bring or allow a gun within the vicinity of the President, especially considering the evident rage we’ve seen at these events?
What if it wasn’t just one guy but hundreds?
What about states that permit concealed weapons? People could legally carry a concealed weapon to a place where the President is appearing?
Given our history of assassination and attempted assassination, it is crazy to allow a gun at a presidential event – even if it’s otherwise legal.

“Rationed care = gov panels deciding who gets care and when they get it.”
Actually rationed care = private insurance.

Nowhere in section 1233 does it include the patient’s family members in the EOL counseling. I’m betting they will be forbidden to participate while the govt and doctors “counsel” grandma to not get the operation and OBTW, sign a DNR.
Liberals fight hard to keep family away from abortion decisions – why wouldn’t they do the same for EOL decisions. It’s who they are – plus they always know best anyway.

“It is so cruel to twist this idea of counseling into something sinister to scare old people into opposing health reform.”
I completely agree. But why would you put it past them? -Standard procedure.

“Rationed care = gov panels deciding who gets care and when they get it.”
Actually rationed care = private insurance.
Posted by: Ryan C | Aug 11, 2009 5:47:50 PM
At 58, I have NEVER been denied a service, a procedure, a test, a pill, or anything from my private insurance. And I have been working since I was 16 and have always had health insurance.

“At 58, I have NEVER been denied a service, a procedure, a test, a pill, or anything from my private insurance.’
Consider yourself lucky.
“In May, 2008, Robin Beaton, a retired registered nurse from Waxahachie, Texas, went to her dermatologist to be treated for acne. He mistakenly wrote down something on her chart that made it appear that she might have a pre-cancerous skin condition.
Not a big deal, right? It shouldn’t have been, except that soon after that, she was diagnosed with something far more serious — invasive and agressive breast cancer. Three days before she was scheduled for a double mastectomy, her insurance company, Blue Cross, called her and told her they were launching an investigation into the last five years of her health records. It turned out that dermatologist’s note had been a red flag, and the company was looking for a way to cancel her policy on the grounds that she had been hiding a serious medical condition.
What Robin went through after that was a nightmare, one she tearfully described Tuesday morning in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight and investigations subcommittee. “The sad thing is, Blue Cross gladly took my high premiums, and the first time I filed a claim and was suspected of having cancer, they searched high and low for a reason to cancel me,” said Robin, whose hair is just beginning to grow back in from chemotherapy.”

Help Save Grandma! wrote:
Nowhere in section 1233 does it include the patient’s family members in the EOL counseling.
———
For heaven’s sake! Does your the doctor charge by the number of people in the room?
Take anybody you want – friend, neighbor, son, daughter or no one. If the bill said “You must bring a member of your family with you,” you’d go nuts.
It allows the doctor, for the first time, to be paid for the time spent answering questions and helping the patient make informed decisions.
BTW, I guess either grandpas are exempted or no one cares if grandpas are killed off. Only grandmas seem to be in jeopardy.

Show me where it prohibits family members…oh yeah it doesn’t.
You lied.
Posted by: Ryan C | Aug 11, 2009 5:56:25 PM
Lists all those who can attend. Family members not there. Ipso facto, they are excluded.
It doesn’t say cows and pigs are prohibited either, but I bet they wouldn’t be allowed in the room if they showed up.
Wake up.

Skip says he’s never been denied anything – not even a pill.
I got a notice today from my insurance carrier that the blood pressure medication I take is no longer on the forulary, the approved list.
Last week I received notice from my company that effective January 1, brand name drugs will only be covered if there is not a generic available.
Now, I don’t expect this to change with health reform but let’s not pretend that this kind of thing doesn’t go on every day with private insurance.

“Lists all those who can attend. Family members not there. Ipso facto, they are excluded.”
Oh look the lie has grown, now you claim they have listed all who can attend when there is no such provision in the bill.
“1 not had such a consultation within the last 5 years. Such
2 consultation shall include the following:
3 ‘‘(A) An explanation by the practitioner of ad4
vance care planning, including key questions and
5 considerations, important steps, and suggested peo6
ple to talk to.
7 ‘‘(B) An explanation by the practitioner of ad8
vance directives, including living wills and durable
9 powers of attorney, and their uses.
10 ‘‘(C) An explanation by the practitioner of the
11 role and responsibilities of a health care proxy.
12 ‘‘(D) The provision by the practitioner of a list
13 of national and State-specific resources to assist con14
sumers and their families with advance care plan15
ning, including the national toll-free hotline, the ad16
vance care planning clearinghouses, and State legal
17 service organizations (including those funded
18 through the Older Americans Act of 1965).
19 ‘‘(E) An explanation by the practitioner of the
20 continuum of end-of-life services and supports avail21
able, including palliative care and hospice, and bene22
fits for such services and supports that are available
23 under this title.

Steve | Aug 11, 2009 6:39:55 PM
It’s OK. Keep up the fight. I don’t get ruffled if I take a little friendly fire.

Obama did make one excellent point today. In defending the notion that private industry can compete successfully with the government, he noted that FedEx and UPS are doing just fine. He then went on to say it’s the USPS that’s always having problems.
ROTLMAO! USPS. Public Option. Always having problems. Need I say more?

“ROTLMAO! USPS. Public Option. Always having problems. Need I say more?”
It’s easier to argue it from both sides. Can you take a single stance? Is a public option going to run all private insurance out of business or will it have too many problems.

…”So the question should be, if private companies do it better, why create a wasteful public plan in the first place. And if you think private companies charge too much now, how about we eliminate more regulations and truly create competition in this field so the best, most efficient company will win so to speak. Right now, I am glued to what my employer provides. Let me take my premium and shop it around! Then, you would see the better private insurers negotiating favorable rates w/ doctors and costs would go down. That’s how you can start to fix the system.”
Posted by: Obama, the Second Coming | Aug 11, 2009 3:57:05 PM
Amen… That’s just a start, there are so many IMPROVEMENTS we can make to Private Insurance/Doctors coverage. Why wouldn’t we begin there instead of creating a whole new government entity that is just salivating over the increase in our tax dollars they will have control over. Let there be no mistake – Obama, Barney Frank, Pelosi, etc, etc… WANT the single payer to eventually choke out the current system.
They are lying right now, saying that won’t happen, because they know the American people won’t stand for that. THEY ARE LYING TO YOU!
Let’s remodel the house- not tear it down.

“An explanation by the practitioner”
Posted by: Ryan C | Aug 11, 2009 6:34:26 PM
Well that’s one – the practitioner. And I assume the patient (consumer) will be there (probably hanging on by a thread).
I’ll keep looking…

I’d like to think that about Caribou Barbie.
But she is a hero to the lunatic right wing.
Posted by: Ryan C | Aug 11, 2009 6:46:15 PM
Drumroll… Al Gore.

Skip, you might just be translating that statement wrong. I am also 58, my wife 57. Neither one of us has ever been denied a test nor a treatment. Now if you want to try to claim that my wife’s breast cancer would not be consider “seriously ill”, then you would probably make that same translation about us, huh?

Will Ezekiel Emanual be on the non-Death Panel advisory board?

Skip, you might just be translating that statement wrong. I am also 58, my wife 57. Neither one of us has ever been denied a test nor a treatment. Now if you want to try to claim that my wife’s breast cancer would not be consider “seriously ill”, then you would probably make that same translation about us, huh?
Posted by: NCPilot09 | Aug 11, 2009 8:51:11 PM
_______________________________
This is Skip’s patented response to people saying they haven’t had a problem with their HC provider. I’ve seen it before. It’s a “boogeyman” scare tactic.

And if they do dump you, forget about getting coverage anywhere else besides maybe Blue Cross with a now conspicuous pre-existing condition.
Posted by: Skip | Aug 11, 2009 11:00:22 PM
But the insurance companies have already agreed to drop the pre-existing conditions in any HC reform going forward. As some of us have continually said, fix what’s broke.
This particular conversation is not about death panels so not sure why you brought it up.

“This particular conversation is not about death panels so not sure why you brought it up.”
-Because the article is about death panels and fear tactics. I thought you were trying to pull a reverse on me. You guys admit that the current system has problems and even suggest ways to fix them but I’d like to repeat as I’ve done before what Dean said to Newt on Sunday: The Democrats think their plan will work so they don’t want to try a different plan. They also firmly believe, and I have to agree with them, that the Republicans will never do anything to really reform health insurance. In fact judging from past experience they are much more likely to let the health insurance companies write the laws for them. It’s just too little too late for some of these ideas. If you really wanted reform your way you should have pushed for it a few years back before all your guys were run out of Washington.

martha smith | Aug 12, 2009 4:28:55 AM— Nobody will be forcing you to go on this plan. It will be a choice! If you like your insurance, good! Stay with it. What I find funny is those who like to believe the are “true Americans” like nothing better than to try and enforce their beliefs and will on the rest of us! You don’t have to go on the Govt plan, but you want to force others to, you don’t believe in abortion so you want to force others to go through a pregnancy when you have no clue why they may need to terminate.

If you really wanted reform your way you should have pushed for it a few years back before all your guys were run out of Washington.
Posted by: Skip | Aug 12, 2009 12:32:15 AM
Absolutely agree. But I’m still not buying what Congress/President is selling.

When Ezekial Emanuel, one of Obama’s foremost health care policy advisors, and brother to his chief publishes this sort of stuff:
“Conversely, services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia. A less obvious example is guaranteeing neuropsychological services to ensure children with learning disabilities can read and learn to reason.”
it’s not right winger hyperbole for the mother of a child with Down’s Syndrome to be concerned about the future of her child and others like him under ObamaCare.

Thanks, MR. PRESIDENT for saving me from the greedy Health Insurance Companies and their big money Lobbyist, all ran by the right wing. I as an American deserves Affordable Healthcare. I as an American pays my dues. I as an American pays my taxes. I as an American is worthy of living, and I as an American can no longer pay for WARS, injust wars, and live sickly. I as an American does not deserve to work for years and years, and die broke, leaving my children and grandchildren nothing but Healthcare Bills to the greedy. I as an American Has the Right to decide my End of Life wishes, (or refuse)and not have the Republicans or Democrats decide it for me (Florida), tearing my family apart at my end. I as an American does not call my President a Nazi, Hitler or any of the Offensive names that means “terror” at best. I as an American can debate, and be disagreeable without violence and “bullying”. I as an American can be proud that our fore fathers and Constitution says all men are created equally, and my fellow Americans does not “bred” hatred of an African-American President due to his ‘race’.

IT’S ONLY WHEN I DON’T HAVE CHOICES THAT I AM POWERLESS. For years, I have been powerless over the insurance companies that I work to pay, without even the benefit of getting a mamogram. Something that is sooo simple and preventive. I find myself powerless, when my Primary Physician tells me that “she” will have to get “permission” from the Insurance company to refer me to a “specialist” for my eyes. Some of us are already powerless and don’t even know it.

The Tenth Amendment:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The Constitution does not delegate to the US government the power to create and run an insurance company. A postal system, yes. An insurance company, no. It’s that simple. A state may do so. An Individual may do so. The US government may not.

Wasn’t it Obama that said “Maybe she should take the pain pill instead” That is his direct quote in reference to an elderly lady needing a pace maker, just a month ago.
Now, who is rationing care? Obama is!

Here is Sarah Palin’s response to Obama’s “Grandma” speech. I think you’ll find that SHE is more informed than HE is!
Yesterday President Obama responded to my statement that Democratic health care proposals would lead to rationed care; that the sick, the elderly, and the disabled would suffer the most under such rationing; and that under such a system these “unproductive” members of society could face the prospect of government bureaucrats determining whether they deserve health care.
The President made light of these concerns. He said:
“Let me just be specific about some things that I’ve been hearing lately that we just need to dispose of here. The rumor that’s been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the House of Representatives voted for death panels that will basically pull the plug on grandma because we’ve decided that we don’t, it’s too expensive to let her live anymore….It turns out that I guess this arose out of a provision in one of the House bills that allowed Medicare to reimburse people for consultations about end-of-life care, setting up living wills, the availability of hospice, etc. So the intention of the members of Congress was to give people more information so that they could handle issues of end-of-life care when they’re ready on their own terms. It wasn’t forcing anybody to do anything.” [1]
The provision that President Obama refers to is Section 1233 of HR 3200, entitled “Advance Care Planning Consultation.” [2] With all due respect, it’s misleading for the President to describe this section as an entirely voluntary provision that simply increases the information offered to Medicare recipients. The issue is the context in which that information is provided and the coercive effect these consultations will have in that context.
Section 1233 authorizes advanced care planning consultations for senior citizens on Medicare every five years, and more often “if there is a significant change in the health condition of the individual … or upon admission to a skilled nursing facility, a long-term care facility… or a hospice program.” [3] During those consultations, practitioners must explain “the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice,” and the government benefits available to pay for such services. [4]
Now put this in context. These consultations are authorized whenever a Medicare recipient’s health changes significantly or when they enter a nursing home, and they are part of a bill whose stated purpose is “to reduce the growth in health care spending.” [5] Is it any wonder that senior citizens might view such consultations as attempts to convince them to help reduce health care costs by accepting minimal end-of-life care? As Charles Lane notes in the Washington Post, Section 1233 “addresses compassionate goals in disconcerting proximity to fiscal ones…. If it’s all about alleviating suffering, emotional or physical, what’s it doing in a measure to “bend the curve” on health-care costs?” [6]
As Lane also points out:
Though not mandatory, as some on the right have claimed, the consultations envisioned in Section 1233 aren’t quite “purely voluntary,” as Rep. Sander M. Levin (D-Mich.) asserts. To me, “purely voluntary” means “not unless the patient requests one.” Section 1233, however, lets doctors initiate the chat and gives them an incentive — money — to do so. Indeed, that’s an incentive to insist.
Patients may refuse without penalty, but many will bow to white-coated authority. Once they’re in the meeting, the bill does permit “formulation” of a plug-pulling order right then and there. So when Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) denies that Section 1233 would “place senior citizens in situations where they feel pressured to sign end-of-life directives that they would not otherwise sign,” I don’t think he’s being realistic. [7]
Even columnist Eugene Robinson, a self-described “true believer” who “will almost certainly support” “whatever reform package finally emerges”, agrees that “If the government says it has to control health-care costs and then offers to pay doctors to give advice about hospice care, citizens are not delusional to conclude that the goal is to reduce end-of-life spending.” [8]
So are these usually friendly pundits wrong? Is this all just a “rumor” to be “disposed of”, as President Obama says? Not according to Democratic New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Chairman of the New York State Senate Aging Committee, who writes:
Section 1233 of House Resolution 3200 puts our senior citizens on a slippery slope and may diminish respect for the inherent dignity of each of their lives…. It is egregious to consider that any senior citizen … should be placed in a situation where he or she would feel pressured to save the government money by dying a little sooner than he or she otherwise would, be required to be counseled about the supposed benefits of killing oneself, or be encouraged to sign any end of life directives that they would not otherwise sign. [9]
Of course, it’s not just this one provision that presents a problem. My original comments concerned statements made by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a health policy advisor to President Obama and the brother of the President’s chief of staff. Dr. Emanuel has written that some medical services should not be guaranteed to those “who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens….An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia.” [10] Dr. Emanuel has also advocated basing medical decisions on a system which “produces a priority curve on which individuals aged between roughly 15 and 40 years get the most chance, whereas the youngest and oldest people get chances that are attenuated.” [11]
President Obama can try to gloss over the effects of government authorized end-of-life consultations, but the views of one of his top health care advisors are clear enough. It’s all just more evidence that the Democratic legislative proposals will lead to health care rationing, and more evidence that the top-down plans of government bureaucrats will never result in real health care reform.
PS: In my first post, the words “needed” and “without” should have been turned around to say “without needed” medical attention… Sorry bout that all.

HOPE and CHANGE is now HOPELESSNESS and CONFUSION. B.O. is still in Campaign mode, he’s not leading anybody.

I am puzzled by all this controversy about Death Panels. It has nothing to do with end-of-life counseling, it’s all about killing grannies and ganddads with lack of care. I was personally recruited to be on a Death Panel by the White House. They interviewed me by telephone about my attitude towards putting grandmothers to death. I think I was recruited because of my expertise at death, I suppose. Sarah Palin really blew it when she told the public about the Death Panels. We were supposed to be secret. What can you expect from Sarah Palen anway? She’s having a lesbian affair with her personal secretary. They meet at the Anchorage Holiday Inn each Tuesday, Room 683. I swear, this is TRUE!!

To all those bringing up the stimulus packages in their arguments:
Don’t forget WHY the stimulus was needed. Don’t forget WHO’s actions–in his disregard for common sense and sound economic policy–resulted in the economic turmoil we’re in.
The stimulus packages were not perfect by any means, but they were necessary to avoid an even more cataclysmic outcome. Guess whose fault that was. Hint: think 8 years ago.

I live in the UK, and suffer from a complex heritable connective tissue disorder named Marfan syndrome. In my case, expression is severe — I present with an ascending aortic aneurysm, levoscoliosis, prominent spur formation, prominent Schmorl’s node formation, facet joint arthropathy, disc desiccation (particularly at the L5-S1 region), multilevel annular bulges, severe osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, TMJ, high myopia, increased risk of retinal detachment, bone marrow signal changes indicative of fatty degeneration, bone infarcts above and below both knees, a pectus excavatum, skeletal abnormalities, and other manifestations of this syndrome. I have received, and continue to receive, extensive treatment at the hands of the NHS – and have nothing but praise for this institution. I have never had difficulty obtaining appointments to see the doctor of my choice – to the contrary, I am always seen whenever I need to discuss any issue with my general practitioner. I have received a series of echocardiograms to ensure that the aortic aneurysm has not expanded in size, have undergone ultrasound examinations of my torso to check the status of my descending aorta and vital organs that are impacted by this syndrome (e.g. the liver, heart, and kidneys), and have been seen by numerous specialists. The medications for the treatment of chronic pain would break me were I to have to pay for them myself – the total monthly charge for all medications is roughly £1,400.00 each month. I receive these medications at no charge whatsoever – and my taxes are lower than those that I paid when I lived and worked in the US.
The care I have received has been absolutely outstanding. Never has cost interfered with a treatment decision – the care that I receive is state of the art (I have read about Marfan syndrome extensively and am on cutting edge therapy.
When Sarah Palin talks about “death panels”, she reveals only one thing – that she is pig-ignorant.
There are no “death panels” that decide whether or not to treat elderly patients – this is a flagrant, defamatory invention, cut from whole cloth by those who cannot stand the thought that a socialist system actually beats the American health care system hands down. America may indeed have the best technology in the world – but it most certainly does NOT have the best healthcare system in the world, and those ignorant clowns who insist on making this statement, over and over again (as though it gains credence through sheer force of repetition) simply do not know what the hell they are taking about. America has the best healthcare system in the world if you are well insured or are independently wealthy – if you meet neither of these criteria and are diagnosed as suffering from a lethal disease that can be treated and cured only with aggressive long-term therapy, you are sent home to die. Emergency rooms do not provide “emergency chemotherapy sessions” and although an ER cannot turn a patient away, the hospital can and will attach every asset owned by a sick person who is admitted to the hospital by an ER doctor. Conservatives are fond of whining about “socialized medicine” – I have experienced a system of “socialized medicine” (the NHS is undoubtedly a socialist system) and can only say – LET’S HEAR IT FOR SOCIALIZED MEDICINE!
As for those who keep whining about the President’s birth certificate – GET OVER THE FACT that a man named Barack Hussein Obama, who is black (horrors!) and whose last name sounds like “Osama” beat your neoconservative candidate into the ground – a testament to the utter failure and the toxic legacy of the Bush Administration, which dragged America into a moral sewer in which torture became acceptable and in which America lost her moral compass as a nation that respects the rights of even the worst and most evil of persons. The Bush Administration utterly destroyed America’s foreign policy, which may take years to recover. GET – OVER – IT !!!!
I am repulsed and disgusted by protestors waving placard around that depict President Obama as Adolph Hitler, complete with a moustache, shouting about “socialized medicine” and about how the US healthcare system does not need fixing. Tell that to the 50 million (50 million) persons who lack health insurance in the US, and who live without the protective umbrella of such insurance, always aware of the fact that an unexpected illness can utterly ruin them.
I was recently treated for a corneal ulcer, caused by wearing the wrong type of contact lens for too long. I attended an “eye hospital” and was treated on an outpatient basis. I was given eye drops containing ofloxacillin, and was instructed to apply these to the infected eye every half hour for the first day, then every hour for the second and third days. I saw state of the art ophthalmological equipment, and was seen by experts who then gave me prednisone drops to minimize the scarring that occurs when such ulcers heal after the infection has been eradicated. Again, although the system involved being relatively anonymous (the eye hospital sees literally hundreds of people every day), I received top drawer treatment, and cannot complain about any aspect of my care.
The bottom line is that the NHS works, and works extremely effectively (notwithstanding the paid-for testimony of a disgruntled Member of Parliament who Fox TV managed to dredge up from under a rock somewhere). My father suffered a terrible, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection of the spine in 2005, and spent a total of nine months in the hospital, following which he was sent to a “rehabilitation” hospital where he learned to walk all over again, following which he was sent to a care home until he regained his strength and was able to move into a small flat (apartment). The bill for his three surgeries, his nine month stay in the hospital, his three months of “rehabilitation”, and his care at the care home? — £0.00.
There are few things that anger me more than being told that it is raining by a person who is pissing on my leg.
PHILIP

Thank goodness, for such a level-headed, immensely intelligent President of the United States, Barack Obama. Yet, what is wrong with all of these Republicans? Can’t they control themselves. Sarah Palin as President would be ridiculous. She can barely compose herself when making statements in regards to health care. Maybe, in one of her hissy fits, she could push the nuke button. Oooops.