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Obama On Death Panels: 'I Am Not In Favor Of That'

Rachel Slajda | August 11, 2009, 1:41PM

Barack Obama, Health care, Town halls

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President Obama just addressed the "death panel" meme at his town hall. He is not in favor of death panels.

There are some things I've been hearing lately that we need to dispose of. The rumor that's been circulating around lately is, the House of Representatives somehow voted for death panels that will basically pull the plug on Grandma 'cause we've decided it's too expensive to let her live anymore.

Obama was responding to a little girl who asked about the protesters outside saying "mean things" about reform.

"This arose out of a provision in one of the House bills that allows Medicare to reimburse people for consultations for end-of-life care," Obama said. "The irony is, that actually one of the chief sponsors of the bill [Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson] ... very sensibly thought this is something that would expand people's options, that got spun into this idea of death panels. I am not in favor of that. I want to clear the air here."

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CT Voter

August 11, 2009 1:50 PM

Just say: there is no such thing. Not "I'm not in favor of that".

JUST: THERE IS NO SUCH THING.

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Grackle

August 11, 2009 2:01 PM in reply to CT Voter

Geez, no kidding. I've noticed he's been doing that a lot -- not directly answering these questions, making things more difficult than they are and not being clear and straightforward. No wonder I feel like we're losing the messaging war.

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peter miller

August 11, 2009 2:01 PM

CT Voter is clearly right. Obama's reply definitely doesn't clear the air. It evades responsibility, suggesting that death panels may be in the bill but he is not in favor of them.

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Steaming Pile

August 11, 2009 2:27 PM in reply to peter miller

Geez, just because he didn't say, "that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," doesn't mean he didn't answer the question. Me, I'd have said, "that's pure bullshit," but I'm not the President of the United States.

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wilson

August 11, 2009 2:10 PM

Wow what a dumb answer.

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bobbobfofob

August 11, 2009 2:15 PM

Hospitals make decisions all the time about whether to provide expensive services to patients. Sometimes Grandma doesn't get the heart transplant or liver transplant or whatever that would maybe give her a couple more months at best (unless Grandma is very rich, of course).

The meme has traction because there's some truth to it. What's not true is that this has anything to do with the proposed reforms. It's part of the system now, it will always be part of the system, because resources are limited.

Saying "there's no such thing" would be false. They aren't called "death panels" but people do make those decisions about whether to provide treatment or not.

Health care is rationed and will always be rationed. It's currently rationed in inefficient and unfair ways, with the uninsured at a huge disadvantage at every point, starting with the need for preventive care. The "death panel" meme takes advantage of progressive reluctance to admit that rationing is and always will be necessary.

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