Gingrich Defends Palin's Obama "Death Panel" Claim

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich defended the bizarre claim by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin that the president's health care plan would result in a "death panel" that could kill her Down Syndrome son.

"You are asking us to trust the government," Gingrich declared on ABC's "This Week." "You are asking us to decide to believe the government should be trusted."

"Communal standards historically is a very dangerous concept," he added.

Reminded by host George Stephanopoulos that there was no such thing as communal standards in any health care bill -- just language that would allow for optional Medicare consultations on end of life decisions -- Gingrich grew a bit flummoxed.

"The bill is a thousand pages of setting up mechanisms," he said. "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."

On Friday, Palin posted a message on her Facebook account warning that "death panels" would be set up to encourage euthanasia -- a wild and baseless complaint that has grown popular in conservative circles.

"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," Palin wrote. "Such a system is downright evil."

Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[Dr of Democracy]

12:23 AM on 08/12/2009

While the "much LESS than brilliant," Palin is using theatrics to help illustrate her point--she is, essentially, correct. Under a socialist healthcare system in America, health care will be rationed--just as it is in all countries with "universal" health care. Rationing brings very difficult, sometimes impossible, choices on who receives care and who doesn't.

While using terms such as "death board" or "death panel" can certainly be viewed as inflamatory or extreme, ultimately, when care is rationed, that's exactly what they will be. A commitee or panel will have to decide who gets treated and who doesn't. In some rare cases, that will be deciding who lives and who dies.

[DoctorW]

10:30 AM on 08/11/2009

My trust in the government increases when people like Newt are not a part of it.

[Bronxdude]

09:30 AM on 08/11/2009

John Ensign (adultery), David Vitter (adultery), Mark Foley (propositioning adolescent boys), Larry Craig (soliciting men for sex), Rush Limbaugh (pharmacist in training), Newt Gingrich (serial adultery), Mark Sanford (serial adultery) and the meltdown of the racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic conservative leadership charged with restoring America’s “traditional values,” which is code for resurrecting Jim Crow, continues unabated. While acting as self-righteous, self-appointed messianic police, and staunchly touting their elitist and morally superior Christian values, affirming the sanctity of marriage and family, denouncing homosexuality, defending the flawed Defensive Marriage Act, and promoting themselves as holier than thou, these buffoons and political hacks underscore the hypocrisy that runs rampant throughout the Republican Party. Republicans ask for forgiveness and the opportunity to resolve their family problems in private, when no such option was afforded President Clinton and his family. Republicans: The party of debauchery, birthers and double standards.

[niccosta]

06:39 PM on 09/07/2009

Among the most eloquent statements yet on the NeoCon movement in America. If only progressives could make a public statement like this without falling prey to the conservative smear machine, Americans might be able to pull the wool back for a moment and see the abuse they allow to be perpetrated against them in the name of the conservative agenda.

[Bronxdude]

09:28 AM on 08/11/2009

Newt: Psychosis is a treatable illness.

[Whitley2009]

10:11 AM on 08/11/2009

Only Sarah and Newt would take the wonderful documents known as the Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney and turn them into a "death panel." See my link:

http://www.squidoo.com/whitleyhodges20

[IFTYS]

09:00 PM on 08/13/2009

“On the Finance Committee, we are working very hard to avoid unintended consequences by methodically working through the complexities of all of these issues and policy options,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement. “We dropped end-of-life provisions from consideration entirely because of the way they could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly.”…

“The bill passed by the House committees is so poorly cobbled together that it will have all kinds of unintended consequences, including making taxpayers fund healthcare subsidies for illegal immigrants,” Grassley said. The veteran Iowa lawmaker said the end-of-life provision in those bills would pay physicians to “advise patients about end-of-life care and rate physician quality of care based on the creation of and adherence to orders for end-of-life care.

Could this mean that there was a "death panel" provision???

[niccosta]

06:39 PM on 09/07/2009

But the medication doesn't get a person high, so I doubt he would be interested.

[BillyPilgram57]

07:28 AM on 08/11/2009

looks like the right wing nitwits are aproving posts in here this morning

[tjirish44]

05:56 PM on 08/10/2009

LOL I like way Newt talked around what Palin said. Palin made a dumbazz statement. Newt turned it into "you are talking about trusting the gov't." If that's what Palin meant than she should have said that. Palin then does damage control today. LMAO at these goofs want Palin as Prez. Could you see Palin trying negotiate with North Korea? LOL She tell NK we were gonna invade them if they didn't stop nuclear testing. NK believe her and invade South Korea setting off major war.... Compared Palin Bush 2nd is a great President.

[Blamethebeatniks]

05:54 PM on 08/10/2009

On that last quote from Mrs. Palin. Well said, we should not determine an individual's eligibility for health coverage on the basis of their "level of productivity". But correct me if I'm wrong here, I was under the impression that in this meritocracy we have argued that the wealthy deserve their earnings. They risk more, produce more or are of a greater benefit to society. In the land of increasing costs for private health care, then, the ability to pay for quality care is in fact guaranteed to those who can pay for it. If the current trends in the health care sector continue unchecked alongside the growing socio-economic divide then we will indeed have a system that in effect denies health care to millions based their lack of merit. We must realize that we cannot function as a healthy society or economy if we view as if they were only worthy of a substandard quality of living. At the risk of being branded a socialist (C'mon, say it. You know you want to.) I must say that to do so in this case is to relegate individuals with low paying jobs to the realm of the expendables who are unworthy of treatment for cancer, antibiotics for their children, routine physicals, etc. I don't think health care should not be considered a luxury anywhere let alone in the United States. And since the outright redistribution of wealth is a touchy subject, let's try offering people some options.

[rj0q1b]

05:47 PM on 08/10/2009

Cheerleader yelling from the sidelines doing standup comic on facebookIt must really be humilating going from Governor to a

[Nonpartay]

02:56 PM on 08/10/2009

To counter the kind of BS coming from these characters on the right, I recommend doing what I did this morning. Go visit your representative's office and tell him or her you support health care reform. Posting on the HP is fun and all, but it won't really accomplish what we want and need. If enough of us go in person to the offices of our congress people, it will make an impression, especially if we are calm, collected, and considerate. Just tell them what's important about it to you. I told them there was so much noise coming from the other side that I wanted to express a softer noise, but still a noise, in support of reform. I realize there is no bill yet. In my case, my congressman is a Blue Dog Dem, so I thought it was really important to let him realize his constituent was on the side of Obama's reforms. It only took a few minutes, and it was rather satisfying. :) Visiting your Senators' offices is also a really good idea.

[Gover]

05:13 PM on 08/10/2009

What friggin' planet do you live on?

Call our representatives? They aren't ours. They're bought and paid for.

The insurance lobby spent $3.1B last year writing our "health care reform." That works out to $32K per Congressman per day Congress is in session.

That's what plenty of people make it a year and on average our Congressman accept that per day.

The only way to get anything done is to buy them back. We need to raise, roughly $3.1B dollars, and then bribe our own politicians to vote in our best interest.

Short of that? Nothing's going to get done.

[donnabella]

05:43 PM on 08/10/2009

i will be visiting mine tomorrow ;-)

[tonydon]

02:32 PM on 08/10/2009

Why do any of the news media give this child or PAt Buchcan andy air time, they are as Plonius advise to his son Full of sound and fury and signifying nothing. Theya re fringe element.

[grammy11]

02:15 PM on 08/10/2009

A lot of people were wondering who was writing the posts for Palin. We all know she can't speak or write coherently so couldn't possible come up with this stuff herself. Since Gingrich is the only person that agrees with her, maybe he is her ghost writer.

[AbstractImp]

02:07 PM on 08/10/2009

Is that how Newt picks his nose?

[bruceharly]

02:26 PM on 08/10/2009

Unfortunately, many people care and we aren't doing enough to fight back.

The reality of the situation is that the right is very effectively employing the same propoganda techniques the Nazi's used - fear, dissmenination of false information by multiple sources and control of media - and just like it worked with a large part of the german population it is working with a lot of people here.

If we don't fight back in the media and especially reach out to seniors citizens they are going to effectively stifle meaningful reforms AND we are going to end up with a theocracy led by Palin in 2012.

[AbstractImp]

02:31 PM on 08/10/2009

Yes, very true, and that scary thought is a possibility, for sure.

I hope you don't think I don't care from my silly comment

[Professorofdesire]

02:03 PM on 08/10/2009

Who cares what this washed up, ethically challenged adulterer has to say about anything?

[Bronxdude]

12:59 PM on 08/10/2009

After graduating from Wasilla High School (cited in a Johns Hopkins’ study as a "dropout factory”), Palin attended 5 no-name colleges in 6 years to finally get a 4 year degree in mass communications (wow! such a academically exacting discipline). During her 6 year odyssey, one of the schools she transferred to was Matanuska Susitna Community College, where she attended for only 1 semester on a beauty pageant scholarship (duh!). While Palin “the quitter” may be short on scholarly accomplishments, she far out-paces Sotomayor when it comes to filling out college applications.

[Bronxdude]

12:58 PM on 08/10/2009

The Reagan deregulated, for-profit medical culture has methodically raped America, while complicit, lying and self-serving republicans—silenced by payoffs, kickbacks and special interest—acquiesce. Only true competition will lower the cost of care. Since obstructionistic republicans support the systematic plundering of the middleclass by ruthless insurance corporations, this is why we need the government between the public and parasitic health insurers. Everything doesn’t have to make a profit. Republicans want you to remain sick and uninsured because there is profit in illness. When compared to the second quarter of 2008, profit for UnitedHealthcare increased by a whopping 155 percent, yet premiums continue to climb 4 times faster than wages. Real competition will end the monopolistic and greed-driven stranglehold enjoyed by morally corrupt insurers. Restricting choice and access drives up cost, increasing profit for health insurers, while working-class Americans continue to die. As it stands right now, without real marketplace competition, unregulated insurers like UnitedHealthcare not only dictate the cost of healthcare, but they also get to chose where, when and how coverage and care is doled out. Sleazy republicans in bed with insurance executives are relying on biased, distorted and flawed research concocted by the Lewin Group—a subsidiary owned by UnitedHealthcare—to create lies to sabotage healthcare reform. Contrary to republican fear mongering, according to the World Health Organization, when it comes to providing affordable healthcare among industrialized nations, France ranks first, Canada thirtieth and America thirty-seventh. Public option now!