Random Thoughts on the Health Care Bill - Pt. 1: The Death Panels

Here's just some random things that have been floating around my brain lately. There's no real rhyme or reason:

Take a moment to think about this: Nobody had a clue who this woman was a year ago. Now she writes a note on her Facebook page, the media loses its mind, and the President of the United States feels like he has to respond.

Of course Obama doesn't WANT death panels. He didn't WANT to bail out the banks. He didn't WANT to get into the car business. When Obama says he doesn't want something, that pretty much means it's going to happen.

And can I just say, Obama is using this "pulling the plug on old people" thing as a strawman. Palin's point was what could happen based on the philosophy of those around him in the event of rationing. "Death panels" is just a term for government bureaucracy deciding who gets care and who doesn't in the event of a shortage, or rationing. The real question is: Will government intrusion lead to rationing? Um... based on the past and pretty simple extrapolation I would say, yes.

It's not about the death panels. RATIONING is the key, which will lead to things where we decide who gets health care and who doesn't, which is the definition of a death panel. It's not like the government will officially sentence people to die, but if there's not enough to go around, they'll just simply fail to keep people alive. This kind of thing already goes on in countries that have socialized medicine and therefore shortages.

The question isn't "will there be 'death panels'?" It is "will government intrusion to this extent create a shortage of care which will mandate a need to ration that care?" If so, then the "death panel" situation is a natural consequence of this health care bill. The actual wording for it doesn't even have to be in there. We're talking about unintended consequences here. If you think that something like this can't happen, you're being naive.

This healthcare bill is the first step toward socialized medicine. All you have to do is look at other countries that already have socialized medicine and how the elderly are seen as a burden on the system and often neglected because they just don't have that much to offer society. I don't have a problem with individuals making choices about when to pull the plug, but if we centralize this thing it will take it out of the realm of personal choice and, because of the shortages it will create, put it in the hands of government bureaucracy. "Death panel" is Palin's term for this kind of thing. It's not like there will actually be Obama sitting up there saying, "No more chemo for you!" But the result will be the same. It is the media and the White House who are spinning Palin's statement out of control. But they're losing anyway.

And also, they focus only on her "death panel" statement and ignore her other statements about the growth of government, etc.... They're using that one thing to try and discredit Palin (which they won't succeed in doing).

We want to avoid what Europe has, period. This health care bill is the first step down a road we really don't want to even go near. Sarah's telling us what the end state will be, not the immediate effect. But of course it will take time, and we'll get used to it little by little. By the time we get there, it probably won't even matter anymore. We will officially be mindless drones, completely dependent upon the government for our very survival, and we will cease to be free. Call it fear-mongering, call it crazy, but if it means avoiding becoming Britain, I'm all for it.

I love all these media moguls saying the bill doesn't set up that panel. Well no kidding. Bravo, media, give yourself a pat on the back for being so smart. It's a term, idiots, coined by Palin for the inevitable outcome, not language from the actual bill itself. Don't get me wrong, the framework for such a thing is in the bill.

The brilliant liberals who are so much smarter than we are cannot grasp the concept of a....."term." That's right boys and girls, today we learn about the word "term!" Maybe they'll learn another use for the word after they find out they're not getting another one.

The important thing isn't whether or not people like her or that she becomes Prez or whatever, the important thing is that stuff like Obamacare is stopped. If that means sacrificing a little popularity, so be it. This is a fight: she's going to get scratched up and bloody. Expect it. The ride will not be smooth and without mishaps. Nothing easy is worth doing.