Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) recently conjured the specter of death panels, claiming that "Obamacare" and the stimulus bill had effectively set up a "panel" that will eventually serve to kill people by denying them care.
Here's the transcript of what Broun said in a podcast recorded by the conservative Heartland Institute, via ThinkProgress:
BROUN: We see so many unintended consequences, or intended consequences, that are gonna force people off medicare advantage. Obamacare if it stays in as the law of the land is going to hurt the elderly more than anyone else [...] In the stimulus bill Nancy Pelosi set up a panel or something called comparativeness effectiveness research, what they're doing there with that is they're not comparing effectiveness as well as I and all the physicians will do, they're comparing effectiveness of spending a dollar on one person versus another, which means the elderly are gonna be denied the care to keep them living and keep their health in good shape so they can have a useful, fruitful productive life. So see marked rationing of care for the elderly and those who have disabilites and those who have illnesses that will be terminal over a fairly short period of time, that may be who knows, ten years, those people are gonna be denied coverage of care of their health problems under Obamacare. [...] It's gonna kill people by denying care.
It's not quite so blatant a statement in that Broun doesn't directly refer to "death panels," a much maligned pairing of words in some circles due to the fact that it has been linked to the false hysteria created around the health care bill in the run-up to its passage, but it is nonetheless interesting that he manages to tie in the stimulus into the equation.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, often cited as the architect of the bogus term, recently decided to revive the phrase in a conversation with Newsmax:
I was about laughed out of town for bringing to light what I called death panels because there's going to be faceless bureaucrats who will based on cost analysis and some subjective ideas on somebody's level of productivity in life--somebody is going to call the shots as to whether your loved one will be able to receive healthcare or not: to me, death panels. I call it like I saw it, and people didn't like it.
Scroll down to hear Broun's remarks.
LISTEN to Broun's podcast: