Death by Government? Hang the Opposition

The opponents of Obama's Health Insurance for All Americans have given him a gift. They so overplayed their hand that they provided a golden opportunity for the president to show the American people how irrational, irresponsible and false their criticisms are.

Former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey claims that the bill will "absolutely require" end-of-life counseling for seniors "that will tell them how to end their life sooner." Rush Limbaugh states that "People out of a certain age, with certain diseases, will be deemed not worth the investment and they will just -- as Obama said, they'd give them some pain pills and let them loop out till they die, and they don't even know it's happened." On his radio show, Sean Hannity stated: "You know, welcome to the brave new world of Obamacare. We're going to encourage, you know, inconvenient people to consider 'alternatives to living.'" Antiabortion leader Randall Terry calls it an attempt to "kill Granny."

The president could say something along the following lines: "Those who seek to prevent you from having health insurance -- whatever happens to your job, whatever preconditions you have -- are using some of the most underhanded, misleading arguments ever made, even in extreme cases of partisan politics. I realize that you are busy working or seeking work, taking care of your families, and discharging many other duties, and cannot examine the small print of complex legislation. Hence, it is often difficult for you to find out who is playing on your emotions, pulling the wool over your eyes, and lying outrageously.

"But here is your chance. If you just take but a few minutes, you can see the kind of falsehood those who oppose Health Insurance for All Americans use to scare you. The draft bill contains a small payment for doctors, so that if you wish, once in every five years, you may consult with your doctor, about what you wish he or she should do if you are dying. There is no requirement for you to do anything. There is no requirement for your doctor to do anything. There are a few dollars set aside for a consultation, to be paid by your insurer."

"Once you see how low the opponents of health insurance are willing to stoop, you will find it easier to see through their other misstatements -- and to let your Congress member know that you have not been fooled."

Amitai Etzioni is a University Professor at The George Washington University and the author of The New Golden Rule (Basic Books, 1998). For more, please visit http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/securityfirst.html. Etzioni can be contacted at [e-mail].

Comments

[frontman9000]

02:31 PM on 08/04/2009

The people who are ultimately against healthcare reform are republicans who live in a constant state of fear and mistrust. It must be a sorry existence, to know that they live their lives in such fear that they will resort to such convoluted thinking that they actually believe insurance companies are good for them and anything sponsored by their government isn't. These are the same people that believe God will take care of them no matter what and that the rest of us should all put the fate of our lives into his imaginary mystical hands. This is further evidence that once this healthcare issue is resolved, we must move on to correcting our education system which is in a freefall. We have more illiterate people than any industrialized nation in the world. The lack of education in he south is well represented by the poor people who consistently vote against their own self-interest and back corporatism and end of any social programs to which they benefit most. As long as their candidate is a God-fearing man or woman who is against the abortion issue, that is good enough for them. It is so pitiful to see these people so brainwashed that they hold the rest of the country hostage in the hopeof getting any meaningful reform.

[stick458]

03:19 PM on 08/04/2009

Extremely well-crafted bigoted comment. Do you have any bases in fact, or just your self-serving opinions?

[bluecash]

06:49 PM on 08/04/2009

What's your problem? It sounds pretty factual to me. Aren't most blog posts self-serving opinions anyway?

[lokipuck]

08:37 PM on 08/04/2009

Check your mirror.

[CTtransplant]

01:58 PM on 08/04/2009

Are the rest of you are as fed up as I am with the obstruction and political game playing going on with this health care reform? The Republican obstructionists and the Blue Dog Dems have absolutely NO clue what the rest of us are going through with healthcare. Maybe it's time they did!

If you agree, please sign the petition below, and forward it - any way you can - to anyone and everyone you know! Time to let them know how we feel!!!!

http://www.petitiononline.com/PubOp676/petition.html

[PlaceboStudman]

02:26 PM on 08/04/2009

In fairness, there are quite a few liberals and progressives who are just as guilty of the disinformaiton campaign in regards to health care. For every conservative who tries to block reform, there are an equal number who are touting the wrong kind of reform, by only addresing the cost side of the equation, without a serious look at the care side of the equation.

I don't know about you, but I don't know anyone who is willing to offer to pay a dime for something sight unseen. And, yet, that is exactly what we do when we only address issues of insurance without addressing the issues of medicine.

We are, essentially, blaming VISA for a faulty CD that arrives, without even looking at Amazon (doctors and hospitals) , UPS (the AMA) , or even the CD manufacturers (FDA and BIgPharma)

[mitsu63]

02:59 PM on 08/04/2009

I signed!

[progressivegreg]

12:29 PM on 08/04/2009

My friend is dying from pancreatic cancer that has spread to his liver and lungs. His doctor said they could do "chemo" not to prolong his life but for "pain control". He chose to skip the chemo and is now under the care of hospice. He is brave and I will miss him, BUT he got to make his own choices, and end of life comes to us all. We all need living wills. It's not "kill granny" it's pay attention you will not live for ever, so make plans!

[BobLablah]

12:02 PM on 08/04/2009

Wouldn't it be a lot easier if he just removed the section in question? Is it really necessary? Of course if his goal is to eventually ration end of life care he has every reason to keep it in.

[PlaceboStudman]

12:37 PM on 08/04/2009

Is the end of life options section of the bill necessary? Absolutely!! What would make you think otherwise?? Would you rather a terminally ill patient end their life at the end of a .357 magnum, instead of getting the psychological and medical care that could make his or her death clean and peaceful?

[AlphaDragon]

02:40 PM on 08/04/2009

Or he could just be continuing a program that has existed for 20 years already...

[PlaceboStudman]

11:08 AM on 08/04/2009

More people need to be introduced to the organization Compassion and Choices http://www.compassionandchoices.org/ who have been an integral part of the discussions and negotiations in The House regarding this end of life *OPTIONS* section of the health care bill.

and, yes, in the spirit of full disclosure, I am a contributing paying member of the organization, as a disabled and terminally ill man myself.

It is really shocking and disheartening to see that, after the Terri Schiavo case a few years back, people seem to have buried their head DEEPER in the sand and entrenched themself deeper into our "It cant happen to me" veil of invincibility.

Well, I am here to tell you all. It CAN happen to you. Just as it happened to Terri Schiavo, and literally millions of other nameless, faceless men, women, and children in this country, and around the world who become unexpectedly incapacitated

Never forget Terri Schiavo

[mitsu63]

02:46 PM on 08/04/2009

Yes, thank you for speaking out! I dealt with these issues when my mother had her second major stroke - I was the only one brave enough to face reality and give the order to pull the feeding tube.
I did it for her.

Now, a friend of mine has been diagnosed with cancer for the 3rd time. She is without insurance. She is going through with the chemo, even though it makes her disablingly ill. She may not make it through this time. She confided in me that she is going to take what's left of her savings and buy a gun, just in case. What could I say? I can't fault her for that decision, not considering her lack of choices.

[PlaceboStudman]

02:58 PM on 08/04/2009

As long as she makes the choice, then all is well. What concerns me is not that some "government bureaucrat" makes that decision, it's when other family members or members of the community make the decision. I am far more afraid that my uber-religious grandmother or her only slightly less religious children will make the decision, than I am afraid that a panel of doctors and suicidologists who have psychological training and are fully versed in the issues that arise when end of life issues are faced by a patient, and equally as important, their family, some of whom refuse to aknowledge their own pain and suffering because they believe it serves some "higher purpose". Yet no one has ever been able to tell me what higher purpose is served with endless suffering that only ceases with death

[CarlaAxtman]

04:27 PM on 08/04/2009

Thank you so much for drawing attention to end-of-life issues and for your advocacy for Compassion & Choices (http://www.compassionandchoices.org/). We have indeed been working to expand choice and improve care at the end of life with health care reform.

Compassion & Choices has a number of free tools available to help individuals talk with their physicians and family about their end-of-life wishes:

http://www.compassionandchoices.org/care/planning

Carla Axtman
Online Community Builder
Compassion & Choices
compassionandchoices.org