CNN’s Drew Griffin accused GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx on Wednesday’s Newsroom program of using a “a calculated distortion” that is “gaining credence in certain back alleys of the blogosphere” about the Democrats’ health care “reform” plan, specifically about the issue of end-of-life care for seniors. But all he did to try to disprove it was provide a link to the specific part of the legislation in question.
Griffin began to cast doubt on the Republican’s statement from the very beginning of the 3 pm Eastern hour of the CNN program. After playing a clip of Rep. Foxx, where she touted her party’s alternative proposal wouldn’t “put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government,” the CNN correspondent, filling in for anchor Rick Sanchez, promoted his upcoming segment on the remark, and first hinted that it was a false accusation on the part of the representative: “Um, are people really concerned that a new health care bill will let old people die? We’ll drill down on the facts, the fiction and possible misrepresentations swirling around the debate.”
Nearly 50 minutes later, Griffin touted the apparently dubious nature of Rep. Foxx’s accusation at the beginning of the segment: “A Republican in Congress seems to be suggesting Democrats plan to use health care reform as away to exterminate the elderly. You think I’m kidding- but how else to interpret the words of North Carolina’s Virginia Foxx on the floor of the House yesterday.” After playing a more complete sound bite, the CNN substitute anchor began his refutation of the Republican:
GRIFFIN: Now, she- Virginia Foxx- is frequently a target of the left-wing media, and often gets attacked on their blogs. But when she says ‘put to death by their government,’ what does she actually mean? That’s the charge being made against the party in power by an elected member of Congress. Now, again, she is a Republican, and Foxx represents the Fifth District of North Carolina. She was elected in 2004- and as you just heard, she took to the House floor to charge that seniors face the threat of death at the hands of the U.S. government under health care reform legislation.Believe it or not, it’s gaining credence in certain back alleys of the blogosphere. It’s a calculated distortion on this Section of 1233 [sic], of the House Resolution [3200]. I have it right here in my hot little hands, and it talks all about end-of-life care and planning consultation- Section 1233. It’s five pages long. It proposes a new benefit for seniors’ coverage, for medical counseling concerning their end-of-life planning- writing a living will- you can seek the advice of a health care pro, once every five years, and that visit is covered, if you want it, and that’s pretty much it.
But we suggest you read it because, like Senator Conyers said, this 1,000-page bill is hard to get through unless you have two lawyers to help. But you should really read this. We have it up on our blog, and it talks all about what will be covered in end-of-life coverage, and what the government’s involvement would be in making sure that your wishes are granted for end-of-life coverage, and various other specifics relating to the level of treatment. And that has a lot of people scared about the government being involved in this kind of stuff. By the way, the bill has the backing of the AARP and the Consumers’ Union, among others.
Now, one might think if Rep. Foxx’s remark was such a “calculated distortion,” that Griffin would try to give a fuller refutation of it. But not only did he not do that, his own network reported on the possible origin of the Republican’s accusation just days earlier.
On July 23, CNN.com’s Elizabeth Landau touted the results of a study release in March 2009 by the Archives of Internal Medicine. This study “suggested that more than $76 million per year could be saved if half of the people who die from cancer annually had end-of-life conversations with their doctors. In the authors’ sample, patients who reported having those talks had 36 percent lower health care costs in the final week of life.”
Landau quoted extensively from Dr. Arthur Kellerman, who pushed the idea that if doctors would only vouch for such “end-of-life conversations,” their seriously-ill patients would decide against expensive treatments:
“Both of them could have ended up dying in a hospital having run up bills of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Kellerman, chairman of the department of emergency medicine at Emory University. “Neither of them wanted that, and I fought like hell to keep that from happening.”As politicians on Capitol Hill debate reforming the health care system, doctors and ethicists say there could easily be tremendous cost savings if doctors and family members had more conversations about end-of-life issues....
Many aging parents and grandparents resist talking about it because of the emotional pain the issue will cause their younger relatives; and the children who will become responsible don’t want to appear ungrateful or self-serving by mentioning it, Kellerman said. Many doctors don’t want to talk about it either, he said.
“There are a lot of my colleagues who don’t bother having that conversation. They just intubate them, and ship them up to an ICU, and say ‘next,’” Kellerman said.
“Ultimately, it drives up costs, it degrades their quality of life, and you have less money and less resources available for people who really are salvageable and have a whole lot more time left on Earth,” he said.
Dr. Kellerman, in a November 5, 2006 interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN, made it clear that he was an advocate for a universal health care plan run by the federal government: “Our politicians say we can’t afford to cover the uninsured. Well, the fact is, we can’t afford not to....You know, countries around the world with economies that are less strong than ours cover everyone in their country. They have better life expectancy, lower infant mortality, and they do it for less money. They are not smarter than we are. We can solve this problem with political will.”
Now, if you follow his line of thinking in the CNN.com article to its logical conclusion, you might see why Representative Foxx and her allies in the conservative movement have voiced their concerns over the Obama health care proposal (though Foxx’s statement could a bit hyperbolic for the time being).
—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
"filling in for anchor Rick
July 29, 2009 - 20:17 ET by nolotrippen"filling in for anchor Rick Sanchez"
literally.
Have you ever got that
July 29, 2009 - 20:25 ET by bigtimerHave you ever got that right...I heard a few minutes of this jerk today and clicked it...
Good ol' Ricky will be back tomorrow I guess.
...As if anyone misses him.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Trying to get the hysteria
July 29, 2009 - 20:33 ET by general companyWhipped back into a frenzy again, Drudge is claiming there wont be a vote till Oct. Plus this and this. They will try to pump him back up and try again.
My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Oh yeah right....
July 29, 2009 - 20:22 ET by supercon"You know, countries around the world with economies that are less
strong than ours cover everyone in their country. They have better life
expectancy, lower infant mortality, and they do it for less money. They
are not smarter than we are. We can solve this problem with political
will.”
The countries that have a lower infant mortality rate do not calculate their statisitics like we do in America. They do not count many deaths because they do not consider them to be deaths. Only still births. The U.S counts all infant death.
For example Cuba is rated higher than the U.S. according to the United Nations World Population Prospects report, for the period 2005-2010
http://en.wikipedia....
" if Republicans are able to stop Barack Obama on health care, 'it will be his Waterloo, it will break him...." -Sen. Jim DeMint
Go ahead and lie for Obama all you want, Griffin...
July 29, 2009 - 20:26 ET by R D Helm...but when the blue-hairs finally noodle out what ObamaCare is going to really mean for them (they are already starting to see it), the feces is really going to impact the impeller.
It's going to be big fun to watch, too. :-)
-Dave
The Democrats' proposals will eventually save us a bundle of
July 29, 2009 - 21:29 ET by Rush Fanmoney by accelerating the reduction in population.
The Dems have for years helped to reduce the population in this country by fighting for abortion on demand. As far back as 1973 the leftist media was promoting abortion. In an article titled Abortion on Demand Time magazine wrote:
If the Democrats can encourage the elderly and anyone else who has critical-care issues to have end-of-life conversations rather than treatment, the Dems will be able to realize further savings.
To accomplish these cost-saving goals, President Obama's Science Czar John Holdren, who is Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, will most likely take charge of this population reduction effort as he has the expertise.
For those who are not familiar with Mr. Holdren, he co-authored a book titled Ecoscience that suggested compulsory abortion and sterilization.
Please keep in mind that the left's real goal is giving the Earth back to nature from those dirty, wasteful humans whose activities are destroying our natural resources.
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As for Griffin's comment that: "By the way, the bill has the backing of the AARP and the Consumers Union, among others", I should point out that AARP and Consumers Union (publisher of Consumer Reports) are members of a large leftist coalition that includes ACORN, National Council of La Raza, and MoveOn.org Political Action.
Maybe slow it down RF
July 29, 2009 - 21:41 ET by general companyThe Dems have for years helped to reduce the population in this country by fighting for abortion on demand.
But their illeagal immigration policies, or lack of enforcment, offsets what has been gained by their inhumanity
My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
gc... Ouch! You are absolutely correct. I completely forgot to
July 29, 2009 - 22:02 ET by Rush Fanfactor in the Dems illegal immigration (open borders) policy.
Your comment also reminded me that I have got to sign up for a Spanish class soon, or I won't be able to interact with the forthcoming majority of the population.
-------------------------------------------------------
“Understand something about liberalism. They never stop until they get what they want, and when they get what they want, it's never enough. That's why it's a constant thing to have to oppose them. You can't join forces with them, you can't moderate them, you can't slow them down by joining them, you can't make them like you and have them change their agenda. They have to be stopped.” ~ Rush Limbaugh
Its all right
July 30, 2009 - 02:19 ET by general companyYour comment also reminded me that I have got to sign up for a Spanish
class soon, or I won't be able to interact with the forthcoming
majority of the population.
Su todos derecha
My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
A Slow Night
July 29, 2009 - 22:24 ET by kilrodIt's a slow night and the following is long but good. This is some of the things that people are communicating to each other via e-mail.
kilrod
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It's Friday evening as I am writing this periodic missive to you. I am at 35,000 feet flying home for a short 48 hours before I head back to DC on Monday morning. Anyway, as I write this, it remains uncertain whether or not we will be voting on the socialized medicine bill next week. Regular readers know that I am a numbers, financial, and economic guy, as betrayed by my CPA certification. As important as these issues are, we are now presented with an issue even more vital. The socialized healthcare bill being considered by the House will likely result in tens of millions of Americans dying sooner than they otherwise would have to. When the free-market, doctors, and patients are taken out of health care decisions, and the care is paid for by somebody else, the establishment of an organization to ration care is inevitable. In fact, the legislation creates the National Institute of Comparative Effectiveness. As benign as it may sound, this is the bureaucracy that will be used to ration care. A similar institution exists in Britain, and has the rather ominous acronym of NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Experience). Rulings on whether people live or die are made frequently in Britain and Canada, and if you have a pre-existing condition, are elderly, or for some reason deemed ‘unfit’ for a life saving procedure, then your chances of being granted that life saving procedure become even murkier. Your life will hang in the balance, subject to the whims of government and its bureaucrats. This is why the survival rates from cancer, heart disease, and many other life-threatening diseases are 30-50% lower in countries with socialized medicine than they are in countries with private medicine. And why are we doing this? It is generally accepted that about 85% of Americans have some form of health insurance. But, 15% do not. Of the 15% that do not, about one third have plenty of income and wealth, but choose not to buy insurance because they think they are healthy and want to save the money, and if they have a problem they will just go to the emergency room. Another third are eligible for Medicaid or Medicare or other subsidized care, but have not signed up. Only that last third, or 5% of the population, are truly uninsured, want insurance, and have no realistic option to get it. Without question, there is a problem with which we must deal. But we should not sacrifice the quality of care and the life expectancy of 95% of the population for 5% as the Obama/Pelosi plan does. Furthermore, their plan fails to cover that 5%. The Democrats in the House are practically at war amongst themselves over this because their more moderate members see the folly in socialized medicine. As I left the Capitol earlier today, the final committee with jurisdiction on this bill, Energy and Commerce, still had not met to vote on the bill. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) suggested that maybe his committee should just be bypassed if the votes to pass the bill weren’t there. That, is truly desperation. They know how powerful a message it is. Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi are so nervous that the public might find out what is really in this health care proposal that they have taken the unprecedented step of trying to use the rules of the House to censor the minority, and restrict what we are allowed to say or send out to you. In other words, they want to limit the only real power the loyal minority has, which is the power to communicate criticisms of the majority's proposals and present alternatives. Among the items to which they have objected to is the chart shown below. They have not been able to say that this chart, which reflects the organization of the Obama/Pelosi Health Care bill, is inaccurate. They say that some of the descriptions of the agencies are "misleading." Right. If you want to see misleading, read my blog on the 10 "inaccuracies" in President Obama’s news conference last week.
Congressman John Campbell
Member of Congress
(the chart is not included)
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Well folks, I guess it is beneath Mr. Bauer's dignity to answer this simple question: Should Congressmen have the same insurance as what they intend to impose on the rest of us? But what is one to expect from "Progressives"? They never engage in a fair and open discussion of issues. They respond only with insults, personal attacks, or change the subject. They cannot have open and honest discussions on issues because they know in their hearts that their arguments are weak, that what they want for this country if fully exposed would show our fellow countrymen still sitting on the fence an equalitarian black hole from which no individual could escape. They do not support hard work and freedom. They do not support strengthening our capital markets. They do not support educational excellence for our schools. They do not support a culture of life. By life, I mean the full spectrum of life; from the right to be born, to the right to be free from government tyranny, to the right to live out the end of one's life without the government coercing the choice of death. In all the years of dialogue I have had with "Progressives", I have yet to hear one of them lay out rational arguments for why they believe what they believe. Hating Bush is not a rational argument, hating the rich is not a rational argument, hating conservatives is not a rational argument, saying Sarah Palin is stupid is not a rational argument. I am still waiting for someone from the Left to educate all of us on the merit of their ideas. Could someone step forward and defend this 1000 plus page debacle of a health care bill being considered in the House? Can someone defend page 16 of this bill which outlaws private insurance companies form taking on new clients thus forcing all private insurance into eventual dissolution leaving only the Government run health care behemoth as our only source of insurance coverage? Can someone explain to me why "Progressives" insist that we will still have our choice of health plans when they damn well know what is written on Page 16? Can someone explain on page 432-433 why a government bureaucrat gets to have a say with the family in life or death decisions of elderly patients? Can someone explain why my parents will not get to keep their Medicare 'plus" plan, which is an HMO hired by Medicare to administer a fairly efficient system? Can someone explain to me how jobs will be created if a small business is forced to pay $19,500 for a government medical surcharge-tax if they choose to hire a "26th employee"? Can someone explain to me why driving consumers of medical care further way from any financial "skin in the game" will somehow bring medical costs down? Can someone tell me why "Progressives" insist that our medical care costs are the highest per capita in the world when they know damn well they are including all of the life saving research, drug therapy R&D, and bio-tech industries in their false statistics? Can someone tell me why "progressives" use a distorted life expectancy statistic to tout that Americans don't live as long as those in Europe and Japan when they damn well know they are including violent deaths in that statistic..e.g. crime and auto accidents which are vastly higher in America than elsewhere and have noting whatsoever to do with the quality of health care of health insurance? Can someone explain why the Left always screams to us about their "compassion" yet at the same time support the degradation for the medical insurance of millions of Americans, desire to drive our elderly into "sub-prime" medical care, coerce desperately ill Americans into "pulling the plug" and force catholic hospitals to perform abortions on demand? Can someone explain why rationing of health care is a good thing? And finally, can someone explain to me who on this planet will take up the slack for the medical advances this country has made to medicine? Who picks up this most compassionate of all endeavors if it is extinguished in the United States as it surely will? As always, we all hold out hope that someday the left wing priests will come down from their mountain tops and engage in honest and open dialogue about their ideas and what they mean for America and quite frankly for the world.
Peace/Out Michael
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-Mr. BAUER
Since you enthusiastically support the House/Senate Medical reform bills, do you also support House Bill "HR 615" submitted by Louisiana Republican John Fleming? The resolution urges members of Congress who vote for this so-called reform bill to lead by example and enroll themselves in the public plan that their bill would create. Under the bills you support, all members of the political class in Washington DC are exempt, to include Congress and the Executive branch; meaning the bureaucrats who would have the power of life and death decisions over us peons would themselves not be subjected to this plan. What say you Comrade Bauer?
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Dan, thanks. Just remember, all of the e-mails and commentaries that have been making their way around the electronic highway amount to nothing more than a bunch of right-wing nuts talking to each other; that's the contention of Bauer and the elite media. Obviously they are correct. Consider what right wingers talking to each other have yielded: > Independents, according to all polls have essentially abandoned the Democrats > Obama's popularity has slipped from the mid-60's to the mid 50's in a a mere 5 weeks (Real Politics average polling tracking) > With overwhelming majorities in both Houses, the grass roots resistance to destroying the best health care system on earth has helped stall it's passage and possibly killed it. >The Senate will never pass the oppressive Cap and Trade bill; it barely made it through the House >Latest polls show Americans again moving right-ward This is astonishing considering that 80% of the national news media acts as little more than a propaganda outlet for Obama and the Left-wing faction of the Democratic party. Thanks for reminding us who the true heroes are....It will soon be time for Americans to show some profiles in courage and in 2010 vote for what's best for their country not fall for near-term bribery being offered by power hungry politicians. That is the least we can do to honor the 'Shifty Powers' of the world. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: "A Band of Brothers Hero"
One of the "Band of Brothers" soldiers died on June 17, 2009. Band Of Brothers Hero, Darrell “Shifty” Powers Dies We're hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services. I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell "Shifty" Powers. Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them. I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle", the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat. Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made. Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . " at which point my heart skipped. At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped. I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said "I also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem ." I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day. I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he said "Yes. And it's real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say. I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his in coach. He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this. Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer. There was no parade. No big event in Staples Center . No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage. No weeping fans on television. And that's not right. Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the veterans.
Rest in peace, Shifty.
"A nation without heroes is nothing." Roberto Clemente
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. - Winston Churchill
Remember, only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American Soldier
It might depend on who they
July 29, 2009 - 22:23 ET by Clear thinkerIt might depend on who they ask in the GOP. I strongly urge everyone to tell Senator Voinovich to join the Democrat/Marxist party... Disavowing My Heritage
http://iamnotaracist.wordpress.com/
They want European/Canadian
July 30, 2009 - 04:07 ET by RR GOPThey want European/Canadian health care, well we're getting it. What makes them think in our Brave New Libtard World/Logan's Run that "useless eaters" like the elderly will be deemed worthy of sucking the system dry when they're just going to kick the bucket in a few years anyway...isn't that along the lines with the eugenics thing? Tell me they aren't down with that in principle.
My hats off to all those elderly folks out there that helped elect these JOs to power. Enjoy that Medicare while you still can.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
So
July 30, 2009 - 09:53 ET by jessieHSo the AARP endorses it. BIG DEAL. they are just another union. I have had the AARP trying to get me to join ( pay dues) for years. I do want something from the govt...........Stay out of my life!!!!!!!
You want distorted?
July 30, 2009 - 10:26 ET by StarAZYou can keep your plan if you like it. What if your doctor doesn't like the reimbursement, tho--and won't keep you? Forty percent of docs won't take Medicare NOW!
If you change any part of your plan, the cos can't write you--again, you can't keep that plan!
Stop the lying.