Arlen Specter: DFH

Who would have imagine a few months ago that Senator Arlen Specter would be on a Sunday show, selling the public option and debunking health care myths coming off like a Dirty Fuckin Hippie?




Although I have my problems with Jake Tapper, he did a pretty good job of pushing back on Orrin Hatches' bull this morning.

Its Catching On...

Sam Stein of HuffPo has now weighed in with a post about the hypocrisy of many GOP Congressman over the "death panel" cannard as it relates to the Terry Schiavo case.

On a conference call with reporters this week, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas.) repeated what has become the most popular conservative canard about President Obama's health care agenda. The government, Cornyn ominously warned, would end up deciding the "cost and the value of one's life, rather than leaving those decisions in the hands of the family." A "firewall" needed to be put in place to prevent this from happening.

Four and a half years ago, the Texas Republican wasn't heeding any firewalls. He was one of the lead sponsors of unprecedented government intervention to keep the permanently brain-damaged Terri Schiavo alive.

"Congress has a right and a responsibility to investigate this case and explore possible means to protect the defenseless such as Terri Schiavo and others, including those in Texas who are in similar situations," Cornyn said at the time.

The Schiavo case became an embarrassment for the Republican Party and a crucial turning point in the 2006 election. Conservative lawmakers later acknowledged mistakes in their handling of the entire episode, but at the time they defended their actions by framing them as a desire to protect both life and due process.

Some of the same conservative figures taking potshots at Democrats for wanting to fund voluntary discussions about end-of-life decisions between doctors and their patients were leading the charge four years ago to contravene the decision by Schiavo's husband and guardian to remove the feeding tubes from his wife after she had spent 15 years in a vegetative state.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who this week declared that Obama was trying to set up a situation where the government would decided whether to pull the plug on grandma, missed the vote to give the government control over Schiavo's fate. But he told reporters that he backed the measure.

"I support the effort to protect Terri Schiavo," he said. "It's the first case of its kind, a chance to choose life over death. I gave the option to life."

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has also been highly critical of Obama's health care agenda, told constituents in an online forum that he supported the government's intervention into Schiavo's life. "Without knowing Terri Schiavo's wishes," he wrote, "and with so many ambiguities and distortions surrounding the situation, it was right for Congress to err on the side of life."

snip

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has publicly backed claims that Obama is setting up "death panels," predicted that people would ultimately look back at what the government did on the Schiavo matter "and realize that allowing a family to appeal in a situation like this is a totally reasonable part of the American tradition."

Gingrich, of course, was proven wrong. Polling both during and after that episode indicated widespread public distaste with Congress' efforts to keep Schiavo alive. Prominent Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio produced several studies at the time that found 60 to 80 percent of Americans were opposed to the intervention. Republicans were given a preponderance of the blame.

If we could just get a few Democrats in Congress to remind everyone just how craven the Republicans were in the Terry Schiavo case I really believe we can turn public opinion all the way around.

In the meantime what I hope is that a journalist who gets to interview any of the Republicans who are promoting the "death panel" cannard, asks them if they would be willing to intervene again should there be another situation just like the one in the Schiavo case where a person is in a persistent vegetative state and on life support but they didn't have a living will. Time to put them on the spot and watch them go running for the hills!

Great Minds Think Alike

Last night I left two comments on Greg Sargent's The Plum Line blog. First I left this one:

I just want to know how much longer its going to take before the White House and Democrats in Congress decide to go on the offensive and invoke the name Terry Schiavo. It should be a no brainer. Every single time these death panel questions or comments come up they should answer with, “Well as you know we had a situation in florida where a man was trying to make a personal decision about his wife. And Republicans decided to make such a personal decision a political football and stood between this man and his wife and their doctor. Thankfully after much unnecessary grandstanding this man was able to carry out his wife’s last wishes. If they had a living will this never would have happened and what we want to prevent is another family being used by politicians in their local state or national government. Thats why its in the bill and thats why we all support it”

Cmon Dems, get in the frikking game why don’t you!

Then later I followed up with this:

You want to know the quickest way to get a Republican to STFU? Just mention the name Terry Schiavo. And I am talking about a Republican voter, a republican local official all the way up to a Republican Senator. As much as Republicans like to say they lost the country because of Bush and the Iraq War, I can’t tell you how many people I know who said they would never vote Republican again after how they abused government power in the Terry Schiavo case. John Cole over at balloonjuice has said several times that the Schiavo case was the final straw for him

I can promise you that if Dick Durbin or Chuck Schumer or Pat Leahy or any Dem with half a spine gets in front of a microphone and brings Terry Schiavo up, every Republican will go running for the hill and that will be the LAST time you hear anything about any death panels.

One more thing, what would REALLY do the trick is if they asked Terry Schiavo’s husband to come forward and speak to the need for living wills and what can happen if you don’t have one and you need one.

Im just sayin

Now I realize that a lot of people on the left don't believe in playing hardball politics so it might strike them as wrong to invoke Terry Schiavo in this healthcare fight. I, on the other hand, have no such hangups. For one that story is very relevant to this health care reform fight, specifically the whole "death panel" cannard. For two I believe we have a moral imperative to get health care reform passed this year and that means if it requires breaking a few eggs then so be it.

Tonight I was pleasantly surprised to see this clip from The Rachel Maddow Show

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We should be shouting from the hills reminding people of the way Republicans intruded into the Schiavo case and the hypocrisy they are showing now. Better yet we should point out that without the provision for end of life consultations they may well end up being the GOP's next cause celebre.

Its right there in front of us, now its time for somebody to take the ball and run with it!

Republicans ALREADY Passed "Death Panel" Legislation

I never thought I would say this, but great catch by Amy Sullivan of Time's Swampland blog:

Yes, that's right. Remember the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill, the one that passed with the votes of 204 GOP House members and 42 GOP Senators? Anyone want to guess what it provided funding for? Did you say counseling for end-of-life issues and care? Ding ding ding!!

Let's go to the bill text, shall we? "The covered services are: evaluating the beneficiary's need for pain and symptom management, including the individual's need for hospice care; counseling the beneficiary with respect to end-of-life issues and care options, and advising the beneficiary regarding advanced care planning." The only difference between the 2003 provision and the infamous Section 1233 that threatens the very future and moral sanctity of the Republic is that the first applied only to terminally ill patients. Section 1233 would expand funding so that people could voluntarily receive counseling before they become terminally ill.

So either Republicans were for death panels in 2003 before turning against them now--or they're lying about end-of-life counseling in order to frighten the bejeezus out of their fellow citizens and defeat health reform by any means necessary. Which is it, Mr. Grassley ("Yea," 2003)?

You could make a really strong case that the 2003 Medicare bill, by the deathers' logic, is even worse than what is being proposed in the House bill because its only for people who are already deemed terminally ill. Aren't they the most vulnerable patients of all and the ones most succeptible to persuasion?

It would be nice if someone asked Chuck Grassley why he voted to unplug grandma in 2003 that's all I'm sayin.