You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.
Ray Bradbury
Death Panels II: Section 1233 The Sequel:
Obama Administration By Fiat: Thumbs DOWN!
Remember how former Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL), my 2009 Jackass of the Year winner, suggested that the GOP health care plan for sick people was to die quickly? I can predict that Sarah Palin will have something to say about the Obama Administration's attempt to test the boundaries of the separation of powers with a new Medicare rule which will cover "voluntary advance care planning" as part of an annual office visit. The Democrats couldn't get it through the front door (i.e., legislation) so the administration is doing an end run to accomplish this end by administrative fiat, which I consider to be unconstitutional.
"Advance care planning" is a euphemism for end-of-life counseling. The presumptuous progressive government has decided that the real problem is that there is a crying need (not identified by the private sector, of course) for the little people to be educated on their rights not to receive life-sustaining care. You see, liberals know that because they have special telepathic powers with critical-care patients unavailable to the rest of us mere mortals; critical-care patients communicate only if the government had stepped forward to "educate" them on their rights to not have their lives spared, they would have made the 'right' decision (because they need Big Sis in their lives to help them with all of life's big decisions).
The government is trying to put lipstick on a pig here: it's claiming it's only thinking of giving people information they may not have or realize, that they have the right to forgo expensive technologies that (of course) will not improve their quality of life and do little more than postpone the inevitable. No doubt there will also be the subtle nudging that surely they don't want to leave their loved ones with huge bills--and wouldn't they like an end to that pain they're experiencing? Whatever people will say under normal circumstances, of course, is likely to be different when they are fighting to stay alive. Do it for the Gipper--do it for your family, do it for your country. As for Mr. Grayson--this really is a health care policy that implicitly says "die quickly"; and there's not a GOP or conservative fingerprint on it.
Make no mistake: Medicare, with escalating expenditures as the large baby boomer generation transitions to retirement, would directly benefit from a reduction in demand for expensive technology and more labor-intensive medical care. Linking this policy to physician compensation is, in my judgment, a breach of ethics and a conflict of interest. I feel strongly that the medical profession should be in the business of preserving life--not counseling its ending. A patient has the right and responsibility to discuss end-of-life issues with his clergyman, lawyer, psychologist or other party, independent of insurance (private or federal).
Reminder: Man of the Year 2010
I posted my selection in an earlier post today. I also provide some contextual comments about my prior 2 selections.
Sunday Talk Soup
I leave it to the reader to watch the video podcast of NBC's Meet the Press today or read its transcript. But Bernie Goldberg's still prescient observation of the media's "slobbering love affair" with Barack Obama was in full force. Bob Woodward, who I normally respective, discussed Obama as doing a "great job" as a manager, he "so smart", "so celebral", his repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" as the civil rights issue of the decade. I did think Tom Brokaw's observation on the tax deal was quite correct--on this matter, for once, Obama did take the issue from the front instead of the back. But let's have a little reality check here.
- "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" did NOT prohibit gays from service in the service--in fact, gays discreetly served in the military before DADT, because I met a couple of lesbians while I worked in Orlando. The repeal deals more with an incidental right of expression, not directly related to military duties, but don't compare it with the social injustices experienced by people of color. I think any effects on recruitment will be modest at best. Whether gays already serving now feel better about themselves is more of a quality of life or perhaps a morale issue. I still don't think discussion of one's intimate life has a place in the professional duties of a soldier.
- So help me if I hear one more time about the productivity of the 'lame duck' session with the tax cut extension, repeal of DADT, and the START treaty: let me remind the reader of a few salient facts: all of these issues could and should have been addressed BEFORE the election. The ONLY reason they weren't, I'm convinced, was for political reasons, i.e., they wanted to shield Democrats in red/purple districts/states from tough votes before the election. Second, in the lame duck session, the Democrats still had 58 senators and a huge majority in the House. All the Democrats had to do was peel off 2 Republican senators--and at least 4 GOP senators were retiring--to get closure on any key vote, and 9 votes for the new START Treaty (the old one got over 90 votes). The only way the Republicans could stop anything was to vote as a bloc. If a bill was not partisan, a filibuster would be difficult to sustain. Third, DADT had been reversed in the courts and on appeal; I prefer policy making in the legislature than the courts, but to a large extent, the court wins made repeal of DADT all but inevitable.
- I think Obama is reasonably intelligent, but I'm not particularly impressed with his genius. I've explained in past posts I think Obama is obsessed with how other perceive him and has a hard time trying to connect to his audience (the latter point was raised in the program). I also believe that he underestimates the intelligence of his audience (i.e., "those clinging to their guns and religion", "voting against their self-interest", etc.) Dozens of polls constantly registering disapproval of the health care reform bill--it must be he's not getting his point across. Obama is so self-assured he's right, it never occurs to him that the majority of the people simply disagree with him. I have a healthy ego myself, but the main difference with Obama is that I respect the limits of my knowledge and I recognize the legitimacy of an opposing point of view. Obama, on the other hand, has this cocky attitude that "you can't seriously be thinking that", all but calling his political opponents stupid.
- On the leadership point: let me remind people that Obama could have and should have led the way on all the major legislative issues; I am convinced that the reason he hasn't is because he doesn't want to risk his legislation being shot down, so he cheers from the sideline. Why did he suddenly compromise on the tax cuts? Well, first of all, the Senate GOP filibustered, as promised, the House's passage of a class-warfare tax extension. In the meanwhile, taxes for everyone was due to go up on January 1, and so if he wanted the extension, he had to cut a deal. He was politically vested in middle-class tax cut extensions. So he had to move and couldn't afford to wait until the new Congress.
A couple of originals:
- The TSA is now checking out insulated thermos jugs and coffee mugs. I have another suggestion: if a passenger asks the flight attendant for a match to light his crème brûlée flambée, just say 'no'.
- The Treasury Department has approved humanitarian aid exceptions to trade sanctions on Iran, Sudan or North Korea, including weight loss supplements, salt substitutes, microwave popcorn, and beer. Apparently these countries also have agreements to carry NFL football games...
Ray Coniff and the Ray Coniff Singers, "12 Days of Christmas"
