Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

The Washington Times highlights something in the new plan that sounds kind of familiar:

“This gives the technocrats in the administration more power and a freer hand to make changes to payment rates and change the terms for exchange,” Michael Cannon, health policy studies director at the Cato Institute, told The Washington Times. He recently wrote an editorial titled, “Sorry Folks, Sarah Palin is (Partly) Right” for the Detroit Free Press, explaining how he thought IMAC would ration health care for those who depend on Medicare. The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate has been widely denounced by Democrats for suggesting their health care expansion plans would include “death panels.”

“Obama has created a panel that gives IMAC the power to decide who can and who cannot get medical care,”.

A Panel that decides who gets care and who doesn’t what does that remind me of?

Sarah Capewell begged them to save her tiny son, who was born just 21 weeks and five days into her pregnancy – almost four months early.

They ignored her pleas and allegedly told her they were following national guidelines that babies born before 22 weeks should not be given medical treatment.

Good think they’ve debunked that wacky Sarah Palin isn’t it?

“She who must not be quoted” answers:

In his speech the President directly responded to concerns I’ve raised about unelected bureaucrats being given power to make decisions affecting life or death health care matters. He called these concerns “bogus,” “irresponsible,” and “a lie” — so much for civility. After all the name-calling, though, what he did not do is respond to the arguments we’ve made, arguments even some of his own supporters have agreed have merit.

In fact, after promising to “make sure that no government bureaucrat …. gets between you and the health care you need,” the President repeated his call for an Independent Medicare Advisory Council — an unelected, largely unaccountable group of bureaucrats charged with containing Medicare costs. He did not disavow his own statement that such a group, working outside of “normal political channels,” should guide decisions regarding that “huge driver of cost … the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives….” He did not disavow the statements of his health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, and continuing to pay his salary with taxpayer dollars proves a commitment to his beliefs. The President can keep making unsupported assertions, but until he directly responds to the arguments I’ve made, I’m going to call him out too.

This should be interesting