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Location: Clayton, MO
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British NHS Death Panels?

Posted by Stefano on Thursday, September 03, 2009 11:10:51 PM
We are continually assured that the "public option" will not lead to socialized medicine.  We are continually assured that "death panels" are not part of the Democrat plan. We are accused of fear mongering if we claim the contrary.  The British NHS, the name of the socialized medical system in the U.K. also says there are no "death panels" in their program.  Now a group of physicians are apparently "fear mongering" with a letter (   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/6133157/Dying-patients.html  ) to the Daily Telegraph that says that patients are being denied water and nutrition after possibly being inaccurately diagnosed as "close to death."
 
From the article:

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph a group of experts who care for the terminally ill claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death. Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.

As a result the scheme is causing a “national crisis” in patient care, the letter states. It has been signed palliative care experts including Professor Peter Millard, Emeritus Professor of Geriatrics, University of London, Dr Peter Hargreaves, a consultant in Palliative Medicine at St Luke’s cancer centre in Guildford, and four others.

“Forecasting death is an inexact science,"they say. Patients are being diagnosed as being close to death “without regard to the fact that the diagnosis could be wrong.

“As a result a national wave of discontent is building up, as family and friends witness the denial of fluids and food to patients."
 
   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6127514/Sentenced-to-death-on-the-NHS.html
 
Would I be fear mongering if I said that the "public option" is the first step in the slippery slope toward socialized medicine and this kind of euthanasia? I think not.  Is it a leap to say that the NHS program is a "kind" of death panel?  I don't think so.  The problem is, once you have socialized medicine and "death panels", how do you get rid of them?  The answer is that you don't get rid of them without something akin to a revolution. 
 
The public option, the trigger to the public option and the "co-op" stealth public option are all unacceptable provisions in any health care reform because of the inevitable progression to panels making decisions that are not in the best interests of patients.
 
 
 
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Obama, the Status Quo, Boomers and War Babies

Posted by Stefano on Saturday, August 22, 2009 7:29:44 PM
Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard on-line says that a majority of Americans now prefer "nothing to Obama care."

"For Obama, there's still worse news. Not only has he lost ground, but public support for his health care proposal has collapsed to the point that a majority of Americans prefer no reform at all to his plan. And the more he stumps for it, the less support it attracts. Rather than a peripheral phenomenon, the noisy opposition in congressional town hall meetings turns out to be a reflection of the deep national suspicion of Obamacare."

The President has frequently used the straw man argument that "some people want us to do nothing" or "some would support the status quo" where health care is concerned. Of course, many would like to see a reasonable targeted reform that doesn't use a wrecking ball on our current system, replacing it with a politician-run health care system. So when Obama uses his deceptive "status quo" rhetoric, he now is actually talking about a majority of Americans who prefer nothing to the Democrat proposals in the House and Senate. This is a major setback that may signal an impending defeat for socialist dreams.

Another roadblock to Obama care is rapidly growing among senior citizens. According to Rasmussen Reports, while 44% of Americans strongly oppose Obama care, among seniors, that number rises to 49% strongly opposed. If you've been to any town hall meetings or if you watch closely on TV, you have seen that more than 50% of the attendees of these love fests have been seniors. The Democrat party is beginning to bleed seniors because of a promised Obama care cut of $500-600 billion from Medicare and the strangling of Medicare Advantage. If the Dems keep this up, the baby boomers and war babies of the twentieth century will deep six the progressive socialists to a minority status on a par with what the Republicans experienced after the Great Depresson. We can only hope.


 
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Is Abortion Included in the Politician Run Health Care Bill?

Posted by Stefano on Saturday, August 15, 2009 7:55:01 AM
We keep hearing assurances that abortion services are not mentioned in the different politician-run health care bills being considered in Congress.  I have heard such assurances from Congressman Russ Carnahan and Senator Claire McCaskill here in Missouri.  If you go to this link you will find the two amendments that were considered in the House Energy and Commerce Committee for the House government takeover of health care bill: the Capps amendment and the Pitts amendment. 
 
      http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2009/07/abortion-kabuki-dance-and-heal.html  
 
The Capps amendment was ultimately adopted and the Pitts amendment was rejected.  My take on this is that the Capps amendment basically allows a provider to provide abortion services as long as no part of the premium is used for abortion services.  A "Commissioner" will determine and make sure that providers comply with this provision.  Additionally, if at any time in the future the law restricting use of federal funds for abortion is repealed (Hyde Amendment), the doors will open wide to allow abortion on demand funded by taxpayer dollars. 
 
One Senate talking point is that the Senate bill does not mention abortion and the Senate will not be voting on the House bill but rather the Senate bill.  Of course, the two bills will be brought together in a conference committee after passage in its respective chamber.  Who knows what will be added in the conference committee.  In committee, anything is possible including earmarks for John Murtha's district.
 
 
 
 
Watch this clip of Carnahan.  He is a question dodger but not a particularly agile one.  Did he read the bill?  Does he say he'll come under the bill and its public option?  Is Medicare efficient?  On the subject of abortion, the question is phrased "should abortion be covered..." rather than "is abortion covered...".  This gives him weasel room. Does Carnahan goof on his prepared abortion talking point by saying "no" the first time he states it?
 
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St. Louis Supports Vendor Beaten Up by SEIU Thugs

Posted by Stefano on Sunday, August 09, 2009 7:49:17 PM
A vendor of "Don't Tread on Me" flags and buttons was beaten up by  SEIU union thugs last Thursday night after a boisterous town hall meeting sponsored by Representative Russ Carnahan.  The African-American vendor, a conservative named Kenneth Gladney, was addressed with a racial slur by an African-American male wearing a purple t-shirt with an SEIU logo, the apparent uniform of the day for those sent in by the union.  Shortly thereafter the union thug punched the Gladney in the face.  When he fell to the ground, he was kicked in the head and body by up to 4 people, according to witnesses.  Police arrived after the fight and arrested 6 people on various charges, including assault and interfering with police. 
 
I was at the event which was supposed to be on aging and senior services.  The crowd was relatively quiet, even when Carnahan initally started speaking.  When Carnahan began to introduce folks, cheering and booing from opposite sides of the issues ensued.  The first speaker was an AARP bigwig.  His introduction was greeted by opposing cheers and boos.  As he gave his speech the volume of cheering and jeering increased exponentially.  This was because he gave an in-your-face speech about Obama Care including straw man arguments like "opposers wanting to keep the status quo" and "wanting to do nothing" instead of a presentation on senior services.  This guy was nothing but a shill for Obama Care and the content of his speech may have been a scheme to provoke the protestors and put them in a bad light.  It backfired when envoys from Obama's SIEU union allies severely beat an African-American conservative complete with racial slurs.  You see, it seems that in the eyes of the SIEU and other Obama allies, freedom of speech applies only to black liberals, not to black conservatives. 
 
On Saturday at noon, St. Louis Tea Party sponsored a protest at SEIU headquarters in St. Louis in support of Kenneth Gladney.  More than 200 protestors showed up and conducted a peaceful demonstration.  Gladney, whose attorney is preparing a lawsuit against the union thugs involved in the beating arrived in a wheel chair for the event.
 
 
video of Post Dispatch reporter's arrest:   http://videos.stltoday.com/p/video?id=5489769
 
Post-Dispatch article on Saturday protest.  Be sure to watch the video at the top right where Gladney describes the attack:  http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/7C2B91CFCB7B4D398625760D0008E6EA?OpenDocument#tp_newCommentAnchor
 
 
 
 
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