The "death panels" are already here

The fact that all this fear-based garbage is actually influencing peoples' opinions in this country is yet another testament to the feeble-minded nature of our general population. How hard is it to find independent sources that provide REAL news? Seriously.

Some people are just fearmongers, that is for sure. Such lies and propaganda being repackaged and spread like butter.

here's an Idea... how about this, stop taking half our paychecks and maybe we can afford healthcare for ourselves... I know if I didn't loose so much money to taxes (supposedly to help the people, but actually just help the police state) I'd be able to afford a doctor. bastards! stop taking my money!

When we have examples like the current one, in which the “villainous” health care insurance companies refuse care, it is clear that the argument “it would never happen here” is moot, to say the least. In another case published today, the insurance company in Oregon refused care but offered the woman a "death pill" instead.

So, how radical of an idea is it to suggest that, if private health care companies are already suggesting suicide instead of care, the government will someday do the same thing? Why are we to believe that only corporations will apply cost-saving analysis to care, but government will not?

We are talking about the same US government that didn’t want to send the recommended number of troops to Iraq, in order to save money. The result? A prolonged war and unnecessary number of dead soldiers.

It’s the same government that didn’t properly equip all of the troops it sent—again, as a cost-saving measure. How many troops died unnecessarily due to these “frugal” policies?

It’s the same government that has had a “trust responsibility to provide health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives, {and yet} the Indian Health Service is substantially underfunded and understaffed.” There is no shortage of documentation supporting the allegation that our federal government has seriously underserved our Native Americans.

To quote an article by Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota who recently wrote "How Will Universal Health Care Affect Native Americans?":

"Those Americans opposed to it compare it to Canada's or Britain's health care systems, which they say are nothing but socialized medicine. The Indian Health Care system, deemed a "historic failure" by Sebelius, has also been labeled as socialized medicine, and the fact that she would label it as a failure does not place much faith in an even larger universal health care system. It just seems that every time the federal government takes total control over anything, failure is almost assured. Watch out General Motors."

He ends his article: "If you think the government can solve all of our problems ask an Indian."

Why should we believe that a government that has allowed its troops and the Native Americans to “go without” will suddenly change its stripes when we hand over the entire health care industry?

What is occurring now with insurance companies will occur with greater frequency when and if the government runs healthcare. It is happening now under government healthcare as practiceed in Canada and England, both examples of what Obamunism is seeking. Rationing absolutely will occur. All I can say is, if I were the parents of that 17yo, God help whoever made the decision to deny her care.

sarah palin is scarier than any death panel i would face. this is just one more boogie man the right has created. health care is so f_ked up already,lets throw in a couple of nightmares to keep the fires goin

I am sick of commenting on health care changes, lies,expenses,...... where can I be treated?

They're using the very elements of our current system and projecting them onto the reform to make it less popular. How f-ed up is that?

From death panels - to rationing - to economic strain - to living wills (end of life counseling, aka: "govt agent tells you how to die" nonsense). These are all things that currently exist, but the GOP and lobbyists are only now misrepresenting and using them as weapons against reform. Sickening, despicable, and beyond immoral.