Palin Invited To Testify Before NY Senate On Elderly Care, Death Panels

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, whose claim to fame in the current health care debate is helping to spread the infamous "death panel" myth, has been invited to testify before the New York State Senate about how reform will impact the state's elderly.

New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz, a conservative Democrat from the Bronx who is sympathetic to Palin's views, will be hosting a Senate Aging Committee hearing next week on "President Obama's proposed health care reform and the impact it will have on New York State senior citizens."

The witnesses invited include a host of officials from the medical, political, private insurance, and non-governmental world -- each with a clear area of expertise on the topic of caring for the elderly.

Then there is Palin. The former Alaska Governor's health care policy contribution is defined by a brief Facebook message she wrote in early August in which she warned that Democratic reform would create "death panels" tasked with determining who to euthanize, including her child with Down Syndrome.

Palin has not yet accepted or declined the invitation to attend the September 8 hearing, according to Diaz's office. As for why she was invited, Cathy Bern-Smith, a spokesperson for the senator, noted that in another Facebook entry, Palin had referred to "a letter that Senator Diaz wrote to [Rep.] Henry Waxman, (D-Calif.), that was posted on the senator's website."

"There was this Internet conversation going on where she made a comment on her post about something the senator had said," Bern-Smith added. "So we thought, well let's invite her."

Even if Palin doesn't show, the hearing will not lack for controversial conservative figures. Also invited, and confirmed to attend, is Betsy McCaughey, the former Lieutenant Governor of New York and head of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths.

McCaughey actually preceded Palin in pushing the death panel myth, while also promoting a host of equally dubious charges against health care reform. She has, for example, insisted that White House adviser Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel wanted to redefine the Hippocratic Oath. She also claimed -- again falsely -- that the House health care bill would "absolutely require" end-of-life counseling for seniors "that will tell them how to end their life sooner."

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Comments

[libdemannie]

11:25 PM on 09/06/2009

Great! NY has sunk to Alaska's level. Either the voters in these states do not have enough good people running for office or people are voting for the worst choices.

[Barbara Schuckers]

05:12 PM on 09/06/2009

If all of the left were given a brain and common sense, or any sense at all, we could solve all the worlds problems. Reading all these statements about Palin and Beck and the arrogant, ignorant way of speaking, I can finally determine why you people never do win. To say you have no class is an understatement. Determination on your part to make the world a better place is never a foresight. Van Jones a good example. Pelosi and Barney, and now Obama. Think once in awhile BEFORE the brain goes in gear. At least keep your foot in your mouth and give intelligent people a break. Ever hear of meeting someone half way???? Its an old saying, but a good one.

[Luv2Purple]

10:49 AM on 09/06/2009

SARAH PALIN IS SATANS SISTER

[Rain-man]

02:26 AM on 09/07/2009

momma?

[Platagenet]

11:40 PM on 09/05/2009

Everybody needs Health care. Even the young, I found out the hard way (I used to drive crazy fast, and missed just one turn at age 23). Everyone who isn't profiting from the Health Care Industry wants reform. Why are we letting folks with tin foil hats shout us down? Even at a whisper - to save our voices for real crises - we can shout them down if we all speak as one.

[GerryS]

09:39 PM on 09/05/2009

I luv the photo choices that huffpo makes for the bible spice stories----------

LUV EM------------------

[Carsy]

02:19 PM on 09/05/2009

Why is this woman being elevated to any kind of status? What does she know about health care in New York State? Death panels are crap and no one is talking about them anymore because it was something that was made up and carried by the MSM before they even had to stop spreading the nonsense. Also, there are alot of DINOS in New York State it seems.

[karenz20]

12:50 PM on 09/05/2009

Please give the children thing a big pass. She is a loving Mother and grandmother that is obvious. The important thing is that she is totally over her head in dealing with the complex issues of Federal Politics. She should not be taken seriously about anything she says anymore than the posters on this site. She really is only kept in the news because people have a" love to hate "relationship with her and the press use this for ratings etc. She is most definitely on the fringe.

[sej100]

11:57 AM on 09/05/2009

As a New Yorker, I would like to indicate my disdain for Ms Palin's irrational discourses, lack of honest information and her attempts at hateful speech rather than debate.

[Ronald Williams]

10:21 PM on 09/05/2009

Inviting Sarah Palin to speak on behalf of the elderly, is like inviting a hawk to give comfort to chickens. Something is wrong with that equasion.

[MelRoy]

11:00 AM on 09/05/2009

I have a feeling she will decline, for two reasons:

1. She must know that she can't answer questions about the subject.
2. More importantly, she will not be paid for her appearance (travel and accommodation only).

We shall see.

[karenz20]

12:37 PM on 09/05/2009

Totally agree with you

[KayJay90]

01:17 PM on 09/09/2009

By now you probably know Palin didn't show up.

Instead of testifying, Palin submitted written testimony, publicizing it via her latest Facebook "Note."

Did Palin fall down a well, or suffer the fate of Fredo Corleone in a family takeover by her Wasilla Mafia?

Other than some unsubstantiated (no photographs, and how unlikely is THAT in this age of ubiquitious cellphone cameras?) after-the-fact "sightings" in an "apartment complex" in San Diego a couple of weeks ago. NO ONE has seen Palin since early August.

Lessee -- her next perhaps-not-verifiable appearance is supposed to be in 2 weeks, in Hong Kong, where the media is barred from attending (how bizarre is that, considering how Palin has sought media coverage incessantly?) and no one is allowed to ask her any questions.

I'm suspicious that a lookalike stand-in will show up in Hong Kong. After all, Saddam Hussein had SEVERAL lookalikes who showed up in his stead, and even the movie "Dave" featured a lookalike for the (fictional) President.

[ThermoChemist]

10:18 PM on 09/04/2009

FYI, people:

One of the chief reasons Palin gave for resigning as Governor of Alaska was that her state’s taxpayers are being forced to spend money defending her government against ethics complaints that would otherwise fund teachers, cops, and road repair.

While that reason is patently false...
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/republican-party/key-reason-palin-gave-for-quitting-appears-to-be-false/

...it seems her resignation IS COSTING ALASKA MONEY...!

Palin resignation costs Alaska AT LEAST $40,000
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090904/ap_on_re_us/us_palin_resignation_cost

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Early estimates put the cost of Sarah Palin's midterm resignation as Alaska governor at a minimum of $40,000, NOT including a special legislative session partly linked to her departure.

The preliminary figures obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request show it cost the state almost $14,100 for the July 26 swearing-in ceremony of new Gov. Sean Parnell.

The price tag for moving Palin — the former GOP vice presidential candidate — and her family from the governor's mansion in Juneau amounted to roughly $3,328.

The tally doesn't include the estimated $100,000 it cost for a one-day special session last month in which lawmakers approved Palin's pick to replace Parnell as lieutenant governor and overrode her veto of federal stimulus funds intended for energy efficiency projects.

[Aquinnah]

11:38 AM on 09/05/2009

Fear Sarah Plalin? LMAO she's a joke plain and simple.

[attilathehoneycom]

04:19 PM on 09/04/2009

What is it that you fear so much about Sarah Palin? Is it that Americans like her and relate to her - as she relates to them? Is it that she hasn't been tainted by the elitist Washington spin machine - including the Huffington Post which never gives her a break and actually looks for flaws that aren't there. Is it that she is beautiful, smart, savvy, could manage a home, children and the state of Alaska? Is it that she is pro life? I'm sure with all the technology available - she knew in advance that she was having a Downs Syndrome baby - yet had it and loves it the same as her other children. Can you say the same for yourself? Is it that she didn't hide her pregnant unwed daughter? Would not common decency demand more respect for her and her family? Quite the opposite - as the liberal media tried everything in it's power to bludgeon her to death - yet she still stands strong. I think you fear her because she is a formidable conservative that threatens the liberal spin machine.
And you have every right to fear her because she's a quick learner, has great instincts and compassion - a quality lacking in the current administration. Talk - yes...but no more than smoke and mirrors. This isn't us against them but rather right vs wrong. Do you know the difference?
AttilaTheHoney.com

[KayJay90]

06:35 PM on 09/04/2009

OMG, your take on Sarah Palin is funny.

"...hasn't been tainted by the elitist Washington spin machine" -- you mean the one that's run by Rupert Murdoch and Fred Malek, two right wing elitist Washington spinmasters -- who are currently managing every waking second of Palin's life as she lives in some undisclosed location far, far away from her children and both of her grandchildren?

"...she is beautiful, smart, savvy, could manage a home, children and the state of Alaska?" -- just about every one of those points have been debunked or disproven or (as the picture of Palin above that appears with this article) rapidly becoming untrue (unless she's been sequestered to have some kind of Joan-Rivers makeover).

In fact, Levi Johnston singlehandedly debunked all of them in the recent Vanity Fair article -- but to bolster his story, there is the quit-in-the-middle-of-her-term inability to manage Alaska...the stories now of even Willow partying with vodka and Mountain Dew, after stories the last 2 years of Bristol and Track doing that...savvy isn't accepting a telephone call from what she supposed was a foreign head of state contrary to campaign and diplomatic rules, only to find out she'd been punked...cunning is being able to run a con game on the media; that's not being smart.

[KayJay90]

06:36 PM on 09/04/2009

If Sarah Palin is so pro-life, how is it she contemplated abortion AND SAID SO? If she's so pro-life, how is it she's going to China to speak, where abortions happen at a rate we in the USA can't even imagine? How can she talk about "death panels" in THIS country, and pander to China investors? I really want to know the answer to that question.

The decent thing for her pregnant unwed daughter would have been to allow the daughter to seek her privacy if she so chose -- it was obvious Palin did not, else she would not have forced Levi Johnston to come in from the bush where he was hunting, and fly with them to Minneapolis to the RNC convention. No, she attempted to "hide her pregnant unwed daughter" the FIRST time, in late 2007 to early 2008, where Bristol was not seen in public by anybody (not even public health officials, apparently, with the "story" being that Bristol had "mono" for 5 months. FIVE MONTHS!).

Sarah Palin "still stands strong"? She looked and sounded like she was in the midst of a nervous breakdown on July 3, 2009 when she gave her "I Quit Alaska" speech. And there IS that rumor in The Globe that she indeed was having a nervous breakdown. OK, maybe by now Murdoch and Malek have pasted and patched her back together. No wonder, though, that no media will be allowed at the China speech.

[Carsy]

03:21 PM on 09/05/2009

You make a really interesting point about China where they have enforced abortions and where it isn't a taboo at all. If she goes to Hong Kong and praises China and it's accomplishments then she is a hypocrit.

[SgtLucifer]

01:21 PM on 09/04/2009

True to her character, she will accept the invitation but not show up. Instead, Levi will stagger in to give us an explanation.

[lynettema]

12:06 PM on 09/04/2009

"New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz, a conservative Democrat from the Bronx who is sympathetic to Palin's views,"

New York Democrats:

HOW doyou allow these Dinos into the Democratic Party? This ideology isn't even close to Democratic and American values.

[campgranata]

11:52 AM on 09/04/2009

why?

[lasublime]

10:54 AM on 09/04/2009

I'm coming!!!