As more Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping, and we’re saying not just no, but hell no!
The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. 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.
Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.
Rep. Michele Bachmann highlighted the Orwellian thinking of the president’s health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the White House chief of staff, in a floor speech to the House of Representatives. I commend her for being a voice for the most precious members of our society, our children and our seniors.
We must step up and engage in this most crucial debate. Nationalizing our health care system is a point of no return for government interference in the lives of its citizens. If we go down this path, there will be no turning back. Ronald Reagan once wrote, “Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.” Let’s stop and think and make our voices heard before it’s too late.
Sarah, oh Sarah! Where to begin? Maybe with the wide-quoted statement: "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."
Tell me more, oh Sarah, about this death panel. So they'll be bureaucrats, and not, say, Presidential appointees. That suggests they'll come from the Executive branch of government, rather than legislative or judicial. Probably drawn from an agency like Health and Human Services. Except how could you create a "death panel" from an agency with "Health and Human Services" as its name? Seems like a name change is in order, though "Disease and Human Suffering" might not go over so well. Still, if the pro-abortionists are "Pro Choice" and the anti-abortionists are "Pro Life" (hey, both sound great!), someone certainly can come up with a name that'll get support. No, no. An even better example: The USA PATRIOT Act. Sounds so, umm, patriotic. That's actually an acronym for "United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act." Pretty much decimated large parts of the Constitution, but it sure sounds great.
So, let's come up with a name. Hey, I've got it! The "DIGNITY and PEACE" Panel. Don't you love it? Dignity? Peace? Perfect! But let's see what the acronym is: Death Is Growing Near In The Young Person, Elderly, Aged, Crippled Everywhere.
OK, let's try to get serious again. And here, Sarah, you throw out a non-sequitor to beat all non-sequitors. You observe (correctly, as much as it may pain me to agree with you) that "Health care by definition involves life and death decisions." And you fear government death panels making those decisions. Fair enough. But who makes them now? The kindly, generous insurance companies? I feel better already. The pharmaceutical companies with their pricing and distribution strategies and policies? Doctors who are willing to treat when they're paid to do so, but may not even give you a moment if you wish to discuss a non-reimburseable topic (such as, umm, living wills or end-of-life decisions).
The life and death decisions are already being made. Sometimes through health care. Sometimes by the deprivation of care. It's happening today. It will continue to happen. We're not living in an idyllic era that's being threatened by Obama's death panels. Those death panels--as you might call them--already exist. They're at the pharmacy with pills that cost more than their weight in gold. They're at the other end of the phone line when an insurance company denies a claim. They're in your doctor's office when the first appointment you can get for a potentially life-threatening condition may be three months from now.
I'm no fan of government bureaucracy, nor am I an advocate for it. But let's get real. Death panels already exist.
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