Rather than make even a marginal attempt to call Chuck Grassley on his disgusting lies, Max Baucus and the Senate Finance Committee are moving to strip their version of the health care "reform" bill of crucial health care provisions that have been extensively endorsed by informed patients, doctors, and insurance companies.
According to a report in WSJ:
But growing complaints over the provision are leading key lawmakers to conclude that the health overhaul should leave out any end-of-life counseling provisions. A group in the Senate Finance Committee that is attempting to craft Congress's only bipartisan health bill has decided to exclude such a measure, Senate aides said this week.
There is not a single valid reason to remove or exclude the optional end-of-life provisions from any version of the bill. The provisions have bipartisan support as well as the support of individuals and institutions in every corner of the health care industry. Baucus and his "allies" are doing this merely to hand an empty political victory to right-wing extremists and validate the tactics of a tiny minority who have chosen to lie about whatever their desperation dictates.
And what's the cost of letting a gang of gibbering sociopaths hijack our democracy?
Beyond signaling that lying extremists have more influence over this bill than doctors and other health care experts, seniors will now have to pay out-of-pocket to receive any professional counseling regarding living wills or hospice care. Furthermore, hospitals and tax payers will likely end up paying billions to provide treatment that patients do not want. This is an obvious lose-lose for senior citizens, hospitals, and American tax payers. Not surprisingly, however, it's also an unambiguous win for the immoral reactionaries who are feeding Grassley his talking points.
But hey, what's a few billion dollars and an unspeakable amount of unwanted suffering compared to a fleeting rhetorical win for Chuck Grassley and Sarah Palin?
According to Max Baucus... not much.
And what does Senator Grassley recommend for the millions of people who will now be unable to afford receiving expert advice on how to ensure they receive the medical care they want?
I think the best thing to do is if you want people to think about the end of life, number one, Jesus Christ is the place to start, and after that, in the physical life, as opposed to your eternal life, it ought to be done within the family and considered a religious and ethical issue and not something that politicians deal with.
Yes, that's right. Senator Grassley thinks prayer is an adequate substitute for professional medical consultation. Of course, one has to wonder if Senator Grassley takes his own advice. After all, I'm pretty sure that Jesus doesn't think too highly of people who tell destructive lies for personal gain.