Palin Continues "Death Panels" Critique

By: Kevin Hechtkopf
Topics: Health Care

(AP/Harper)

Sarah Palin has returned to the battle over health care reform with a familiar refrain, slamming what she and others dubbed "death panels" over the summer.

Following passage of the health care overhaul in the House on Saturday night, Palin took to her Facebook page to register her well-known opposition to the Democratic plan.

"We've got to hold on to hope, and we've got to fight hard because Congressional action tonight just put America on a path toward an unrecognizable country," Palin opened the post. "The same government leaders that got us into the mortgage business and the car business are now getting us into the health care business."

Palin continues: "This out-of-control bureaucratic mess will be disastrous for our economy, our small businesses, and our personal liberty. It will slam businesses at a time when we are at double-digit unemployment rates – the highest we've seen in a quarter of a century. This massive new bureaucracy will cost us and our children money we don't have. It will rob Americans of more of our freedom and further hamper the free market."

The former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee has received the most attention for coming back in the post to her claim that the bill contains so-called "death panels" – despite the fact that numerous media organizations and nonpartisan fact-checkers have said in the past that there is no such thing in the bill.

"We had been told there were no 'death panels' in the bill either," Palin wrote. "But look closely at the provision mandating bureaucratic panels that will be calling the shots regarding who will receive government health care."

Palin did not offer more explanation as to what she was referring to in the post, but here's what FactCheck.org from the University of Pennsylvania said about the claim back in August, as noted by CNN. Although the bill has changed since then, critics have not pointed to any new language as evidence of a new push for "death panels."

"The fact remains that the bill wouldn't require patients to receive counseling sessions, nor would it require a doctor to offer one," FactCheck.org wrote. "Rather, it modifies Section 1861(s)2 of the Social Security Act, defining what services Medicare will pay for. So if a patient receives a counseling session from a doctor or health care practitioner, he or she doesn't have to pay for it – Medicare will. As we pointed out in our earlier story, Medicare will also pay for prosthetic limbs, but that doesn't mean that every recipient gets those, too."

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Kevin Hechtkopf
Kevin Hechtkopf is CBSNews.com's politics editor.
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by from_the_north December 21, 2009 2:09 PM EST: Hey, where does this woman get her information??? Death panels, oh give me a break. Maybe its her wishful thinking????; Reply to this comment


by acarringtonfl November 28, 2009 2:04 AM EST: Now the government is getting into the healthcare business? What does that dimwith think Medicare is?; Reply to this comment


by JV1970 November 11, 2009 3:46 AM EST: by gramto8 November 10, 2009 6:43 AM EST

With Sarah's reading comprehension level, the only way it could have the big words is if someone wrote it for her. Anyone who has anything above a sixth grade level comprehension ability could have read the prior proposed bill and would have known that it did NOT mean that the thing had a "provision mandating bureaucratic panels that will be calling the shots regarding who will receive government health care" ANYWHERE in it. That is just her misinterpretation of one paragraph in the bill, and she took that and ran with it.

Then there are many politicians who've misinterpreted it! Sarah is NOT the only one! They all can't be wrong!; Reply to this comment

by daffy64 November 10, 2009 10:40 PM EST

There are no "Death Panels", dear.

Oh and by the way, Africa is NOT a country. It's a continent.

Sigh.

Reply to this comment


by JV1970 November 11, 2009 3:36 AM EST: There are only 50 states in the union, too, but your hero Obama thinks there are 57!


by gboyd41 November 10, 2009 6:15 AM EST: I don't care much for Palin, but I know I don't like OBAMA!; Reply to this comment


by 77audrey77 November 9, 2009 11:41 PM EST: I am not a right wing nut. I believe in the individual. I believe in an individual's right to choose to do pretty much anything they please, or to choose to do nothing at all. The point is, I don't want the government telling me how to live my life. I think if you have to define me, I am a sort of libertarian. And I love Sarah Palin. I'm convinced that the reason the left hate her and Glenn Beck so much is that neither Beck nor Palin gives a damn one way or another whether or not some hate them. I don't believe they are only speaking out to sell books or host TV shows. I think they are being true to themselves. If they were fired tomorrow, if they never wrote a book again, they would STILL believe the things they believe and say the things they believe. They aren't scared of you bashers and naysayers. And that bugs the hell out of you!; Reply to this comment

by Truthjustice November 9, 2009 8:42 PM EST

Wow. I mean WOW! ATTENTION: Those of you on the left that were screaming and whining about the lack of civility on the right towards president Obama. I am in SHOCK at your complete lack of civility here in the comments section of this story. I guess when Sarah is sworn in Jan. 2013 this is how it's going to be huh? Well, thanks for giving us a heads up so we know what to expect. I just don't know how you can sleep with your hypocracy and lack of ethical base, no integrity..etc,etc,etc...

Reply to this comment


by johnsdallas November 9, 2009 10:39 PM EST: WOW! That she would lie does not seem to bother you in the least. There are are plenty things NOT to like in the House Bill, the GOP proposal, and the Senate plan but not of them include death panels. The fact of the matter is that NONE of these proposals will do enough to control costs. the only you can do that is restructure healthcare and none of these proposals get close. And for what will Ms. Palin sworn in? It better not have a term more than 18 months because she obviously lacks the staying power.

by stn_sage November 9, 2009 8:23 PM EST

To me...the SADDEST thing about Sarah Palin is...the truth be known...she DOESN'T care one iota for her followers! Palin cares about Palin...about HERSELF! In the same way that Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity, Coulter, and Beck care about THEMSELVES! They ARE all opportunists...united in the understanding that controversy is good for them...they can make mucho BUCKS off it!

The followers of these people LOVE them, support them, and defend them!
But, they NEED to understand that THAT love in unrequited...is not returned...as most of these people are probably incapable of doing so!

So, the point is, in the end, don't be surprised if these people (Palin and others) disappoint you...they don't care about you...YOU are making them rich! As long as you don't mind...

Reply to this comment


by earlysaid November 9, 2009 11:50 PM EST: Sarah Palin is Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Michelle Bachmann all rolled into one lying shrew. She is pretty, but no more qualified to say anything than any other person. Palin will make lots of money from her book sales. She will continue to lie when speaking and spreading the fear with every smear and making more and more stupid remarks of stupidity.

by akcoins November 9, 2009 6:59 PM EST

Very intelligent reason to cast your vote tdog. I guess if Hitler scared the hell out of us "socialist" you would vote for him! It was fun having Sarah as our Gov. for the short time we did. Things were never dull up here. Sarah is as bad as the rest. When she was Gov. she issued a proclamation declaring health care decision day, in which she urged people to make living wills, and to make plans for when they might be incapacitated, so their relatives wouldn't be burdened with it. Kind of like those pesky death panels she is talking about. Matter of fact exactly like those "death panels" she is complaining about! Let's not forget about her hiding in the bushes, peeping through the window trying to get the goods on her ex brother-in-law. That is one classy act!

Reply to this comment


by JV1970 November 10, 2009 5:01 AM EST: She is not the only one who says that the house's bill has death panels! In fact just last night on CNN it was said that the bill won't pass the senate. There are many senators who have sworn that they will fight the bill with their last breath and with everything they have. They have sworn that there will be no public option if they can stop it. They have sworn that the final bill will be nothing like the bill that passed the house. And about her getting the goods on her ex-brother-in-law, I don't blame her about that one bit! If someone threatened my father's life and shot my ten year old nephew with a tazor gun, I'd go after them too! I'd do exactly what she did! I would want them fired too! She was a lot classier than I would be about it! She acted like a lady compared to the way I'd act about it!

by P0STING_AWAY November 9, 2009 6:40 PM EST

by P0STING_AWAY November 9, 2009 6:37 PM EST
by tdog25407 November 9, 2009 6:06 PM EST
All I know is, if Palin is the one that scares the hell out of you socialists, qualified or not, that's who I'm voting for next election.
=======================================================================
Please don't forget to wear your tinfoil hat when you head off to the
polls. I PRAY that you get an opportunity to vote for Her AirHeadedNess.

Oh ... and I left something out .... DO NOT forget to purchase several
copies of her book ..... otherwise our nation's landfills are going
to drown in copies of this diatribe .....

Reply to this comment


by JV1970 November 10, 2009 5:13 AM EST: I'll vote for her, too, and we won't be alone! If she decides to run for public office again you are going to be shocked at how many of us will vote for her! We won't be wearing tinfoil hats either! You'll be crying and whinning in your coffee the next morning after the election results come in! Oh, and by the way, I've already ordered my book and I'm looking forward to reading it. I don't expect it will have any pop-up pictures either and I expect it will have many big words, too, and won't read like a children's book!


by gramto8 November 10, 2009 6:43 AM EST: by JV1970 November 10, 2009 5:13 AM EST
I'll vote for her, too, and we won't be alone! If she decides to run for public office again you are going to be shocked at how many of us will vote for her! We won't be wearing tinfoil hats either! You'll be crying and whinning in your coffee the next morning after the election results come in! Oh, and by the way, I've already ordered my book and I'm looking forward to reading it. I don't expect it will have any pop-up pictures either and I expect it will have many big words, too, and won't read like a children's book!
________________________________________________
With Sarah's reading comprehension level, the only way it could have the big words is if someone wrote it for her. Anyone who has anything above a sixth grade level comprehension ability could have read the prior proposed bill and would have known that it did NOT mean that the thing had a "provision mandating bureaucratic panels that will be calling the shots regarding who will receive government health care" ANYWHERE in it. That is just her misinterpretation of one paragraph in the bill, and she took that and ran with it.