GOP Tea Party Debate: Audience Cheers, Says Society Should Let Uninsured Patient Die

A bit of a startling moment happened near the end of Monday night's CNN debate when a hypothetical question was posed to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

"What do you tell a guy who is sick, goes into a coma and doesn't have health insurance? Who pays for his coverage? Are you saying society should just let him die?" Wolf Blitzer asked.

"Yeah!" several members of the crowd yelled out.

Paul interjected to offer an explanation for how this was, more-or-less, the root choice of a free society. He added that communities and non-government institutions can fill the void that the public sector is currently playing.

"We never turned anybody away from the hospital," he said of his volunteer work for churches and his career as a doctor. "We have given up on this whole concept that we might take care of ourselves, assume responsibility for ourselves ... that's the reason the cost is so high."

The answer may have struck a truly libertarian tone, but it was clearly overshadowed by the members of the crowd who enthusiastically cheered the prospect of letting a man die rather than picking up the tab for his coverage.

Comments

[Mandi 007]

07:07 AM on 10/19/2011

"Taking your own risks" I'm so glad things like cancer, lupus and MS are like skydiving these days. :::::rolls eyes::::::::

[Johan Schiff]

02:53 PM on 09/28/2011

In response to:
MsMich
120 Fans
11:43 PM on 9/13/2011
"I don't know why anyone is surprised about this mushroom tea drinking group. The only time they applauded is when someone was fighting or they were attacking Obama or they were attacking other Americans. These people are nothing but America version of the Taliban. They are extremist zealots and don't deserve the Media time they get no more than Sarah Venom spewing Palin deserved anything but a pick slip from her Government job. These people are pathetic they care nothing about anyone that is not part of their loony bin. I say send them back under the rock from where they came. Evil is amongst us shun them back to hell"


MsMich, I am very pleased that you only have 120 Fans... that means there is still hope for America afterall.
Remember this, ONE MOCKS what ONE CANNOT UNDERSTAND.

It appears your personal mantra could be "Ignorance is Bliss"... however you sound frieghtened and angry at people. Perhaps you Cannot Understand Normal Thinking? That is not a healthy, nor wise, way to live. Name calling is a sign of immaturity as one can witness in the playground sand box. You may want to learn how to play nice with others before you step into the real world, or at the very least read more and watch less TV.
Have a less dillusional day and get well soon. (Election Day is comming)

[Wayne Doutt]

08:31 PM on 09/29/2011

"ONE MOCKS what ONE CANNOT UNDERSTAND"­
I love that movie
"Spies Like Us" Warner Bros. 1985

[felic2011]

08:56 AM on 09/27/2011

I seem to remember people being told that Democrats would have a death panel? What would the reps call this?

[nofoolsteaforme]

08:01 PM on 09/25/2011

Out of that extraoridinary number of people living and working for Poverty level wages I wonder how many can afford health insurance for themselves and their families. NOT many. Texas has one of the highest levels of uninsured. The extreme Christian State of Texas The State of both Ron Paul and Perry has a very unChristlike attitude toward the poor and the sick.

[Wayne Doutt]

05:38 PM on 09/28/2011

Read the scenario, the man made a GOOD living. He COULD afford insurance but CHOSE not to buy the insurance. He CHOSE to spend it on other things. Stupid choice but he has to live with it. So treat the guy and then seize his property and assets. Sell his BMW and stock holding to recoup the loss

[Johan Schiff]

09:33 PM on 10/11/2011

Amen

[gene poole]

08:52 AM on 09/24/2011

Once again the supposed party of less government wants to dig into our personal lives.

[Johan Schiff]

11:47 PM on 10/11/2011

How?

[jemdad99]

07:32 AM on 09/24/2011

This tape says it all when it comes to the morality of the Republicans and Teas -- they have none.

[Johan Schiff]

11:44 PM on 10/11/2011

Jemdad99... How judgemental. It appears you have labeled a whole group (s) of indviduals and what they believe on the outrageous and moronic behavior of a few. That's like calling all Afro-American citizens criminals because you got mugged by an outlaw group of black youth.

I am surprised that an individual with such apparent progressive and socialistic views would lower themselves to that level.

Shame shame! It's appears you do not practice what you so piously preach.
What is that word??????? Oh yeah.... HYPOCRITE.

With all due respect, I am sure you simply were not thinking and just made a mistake.
Have a thoughtful day.

[palmer1619]

09:33 AM on 09/23/2011

Is there something in the Bible that demands Christians to encourage death? Is there something in the Christian bible that says to hell with the poor and elderly? What kind of Christians are these. It was a rhetorical question. They are Christians when it benefits them in some way. It's a kind of inhuman Christianity.

[AlanDente]

05:24 AM on 09/23/2011

NB: As someone who works with Health Systems in a European country, I can assure anyone reading that 'people not taking responsibility' is not the reason why your healthcare costs are so high.

And you don't even have to be clever or work in this area to know this- it's very basic stuff.

Sighs.

[called2serve249]

10:38 PM on 09/23/2011

Sighs indeed. Costs are high because 1) It's a cash cow business and high prices are excusable because the ordinary citizen doesn't know any better, and 2) the ordinary citizen hears about these massive lawsuits and wants to win millions of dollars by suing doctors for what-ever-they-can. I think Americans are, in general, lazy and selfish. It's the dangers of an open market driven system, I suppose.

[Abg001]

12:23 PM on 09/20/2011

If you actually watched the debate you *would* find out that:
-Probably less than 10 people cheered, which hardly represents the tea party
-Nearly *everyone* cheered Ron Paul told of how NO ONE was turned away from the hospital, and that their expenses were paid by people who had the choice to donate, instead of it being required by the government.

It is a good idea to be informed of the people you are criticizing before you speak.

[Haastnooit]

02:36 AM on 09/23/2011

How is it that hard working people should rely on donations for their medical expense? How could that ever be right? How can you use that notion for defense on the point you are trying to make?

[David W Dukes]

06:08 PM on 09/19/2011

What do us poor people do? I'll tell ya...go back to school, get a degree, open a business, and do your share, and quit leeching off society! When did America even broach the topic of socialism? I believe in 1913 with the Income Tax.. forget these socialist ideas...it only drives the wedge between rich and poor even deeper! Get off your doofus, and do something with your life. Or lay there and die. Your choice, not mine! Thats what freedom is all about. If you want dictatorship, or socialism, theres plenty of countries you can move to...

[rhuffie]

04:07 PM on 09/23/2011

Do you know what empathy is?
1. You have no empathy or compassion
Or simplisitc thinking?
1. So that's it, it's either socialism or capitalism, no variations, no further discussion required?
Try reading more on the subject...and reviewing the Bible wouldn't hurt either!

[nofoolsteaforme]

08:05 PM on 09/25/2011

Try to go back to school with no money.
Try to open a business with no money

[RepublicanDepression]

02:57 PM on 09/19/2011

Bill Maher:

"In today's Republican party there's a term for people who hate charity and love killing: Christians."

"If you are in Texas and get hit by a bus, a nun will put leeches on your forehead."

[doug foreman]

01:20 PM on 09/19/2011

Dealth panel, funny when the conservatives wish to villify something, they will use the "Death" word....if they cant use "Children" or "Partriot" Death panels already exist in private insurance, they are called actuaries.

[RepublicanDepression]

12:46 PM on 09/19/2011

Typical Republican ducking of responsibility! (while Ron Paul is preaching lip service to "personal responsibility.")

Mark Andre: "informatio­n supplied by the Huff is so skewed"

Prove it.

Mark Andre " the “let him die,” comment is found here on the Huff and was proposed by Wolf Blitz as his wanted answer, not the Republican­s:"

LOL! So what? Did he make members of the Tea Party audience loudly applaud death?

The point is that NOT ONE CANDIDATE REPUDIATED THE AUDIENCE FOR THEIR BLOODLUST! NOT ONE!

Every single Republican candidate gave tacit approval to that horrific enthusiasm for death through the silence of complicity. Shame on them! Their complicity with the Tea Party "death by neglect panels" is another reason Obama will win.

Mark: "were they Demo's or Repub's?"

More ducking of responsibility! It's a tea party audience!

Deflecting to Wolf Blitzer is a joke. It's a legitimate question when Republican policy allows millions to have no health care. If they will die without expensive care, does the government pay or let then die?

Ron Paul's answer is a joke. MANY people go without needed health care. Look at infant mortality rates. Prove that private charity covers all sick people.

[Mark Andre]

09:12 PM on 09/18/2011

Amazing I now know why the information supplied by the Huff is so skewed, Anna Huffington is a twisted mess proven by her above Article. The video of the debate and the “let him die,” comment is found here on the Huff and was proposed by Wolf Blitz as his wanted answer, not the Republicans:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/12/tea-party-debate-health-care_n_959354.html

So two or three half wits in the audience yelled “yeah” or “yes,” were they Demo's or Repub's? Amongst the rest of the people is sounded like dismay after Wolf Blitz injected his hoped for “Let him die,” answer to his previous line of questioning.

Wolf Blitz should lose his job for total lack of integrity for posing such an answer; then again integrity has nothing with the lefts needed misinformation campaign!

[RepublicanDepression]

02:54 PM on 09/19/2011

LOL! You linked to this same page you are posting to! LOL!

See above for your response.

[Rooster Coburn]

08:47 PM on 09/17/2011

They were just expressing a moral viewpoint, not a medical viewpoint for cryin' out loud.