Was Grassley's "Death Panel" Talk Obama's Wake Up Call?

Obama has long tried, and so far failed, to reach a bipartisan agreement on health care reform. He has given incredible leeway to Max Baucus to come to some kind of agreement with Chuck Grassley. Obama has been very malleable, willing to concede on several important issues to gain some Republican support.

Until this last week, the concessions demanded by Grassley at least seemed to have an ideological basis. They seemed to be on issues where there was a real philosophical difference on the role of government. The issue of the government run public option, the issue of an employer mandate, the size of subsidies, what new taxes should pay for reform, etc...

But everything changed on Wednesday when Grassley told people to be afraid the Democrats had a secret plan to kill grandmothers. He was attacking a small end-of-life counseling provision which Sarah Palin dubbed “death panels.” Until last week, end of life counseling has never been a partisan or ideological idea. It has been long championed by dozens of Republicans over the years.

Grassley was not fighting against an idea for ideological reasons. He decided to shamelessly fear monger about what should have been a completely noncontroversial proposal. I think Grassley showed that day that he is not and has never been an honest broker during the health care negotiations.

Yesterday at a town hall, Obama made a statement which seemed to be directed squarely at Senator Grassley. Obama said,

So when I have people who just a couple of years ago thought this was a good idea now getting on television suggesting that it’s a plot against grandma or to sneak euthanasia into our health care system, that feels dishonest to me.

To my knowledge this is the first time Obama has criticized one of the Republicans who are part of Baucus' “Gang of Six.” This could be the wake up call Obama needed. Proof that Grassley was not delaying reform for ideological reason but to simply hurt Democrats.

PS, it appears that Grassley knows Obama was directly going after him.

Death By A Hundred Grassley Hissy Fits

Obama wanted health care reform to have a strong public option. It is a smart policy which would save money. Senator Grassley and the rest of Republicans threw a hissy fit screaming about a “government take over of health care.” Baucus gave Grassley what he wanted on the public option.

The Democrats wanted an employer mandate because it would be impossible to strengthen our current employer health care system while expanding coverage without one. Grassley again threw a hissy fit about an employer mandate and screamed about millions of people losing their jobs. Baucus gave Grassley what he wanted and embraced the dangerously stupid idea of a “free rider” provision instead.

Several Democrats and Republicans all support the very simple idea of helping older people pay for a living will if they want one. Some Republicans, including Grassley, began screaming “death panels” and about government plans to “pull the plug on grandma.” Only a few days later Baucus again gave in to Grassley's hissy fit.

What provision will be killed next by fear-mongering hissy fits: the individual mandate (the health care tax?), subsidies to buy insurance/expanding Medicaid (massive welfare expansion?), community ratings (fat people/smoker give away?), Co-ops (health insurance Fannie Mae?), minimum health insurance benefits (oppressive, heavy handed government regulation?), eliminating the huge Medicare Advantage give away to insurance companies (taking away Medicare from old people?), capping the deduction of expensive employer provided health insurance (massive new middle class tax hike?), etc...

I promise you that the optional help paying for living wills (“death panels”) will not be the last provision killed by some super crazy fear mongering. The Republicans will strip health care to nothing one issue at a time. This is why Democrats needed to fight for the public option. Once the Republicans found out that Obama would give in to their hissy fits, they started trying to kill the bill one provision at a time.

You Can't Negotiate With People Who Accuse You Of Genocide

Sarah Palin was the GOP's Vice Presidential candidate and is one of the most prominent figures in the Republican party. On Facebook, she has accused President Obama of wanting to create a government “death panel” that would refuse to provide health care to “the sick, the elderly, and the disabled.” She is leveling the unbelievable accusation that Obama wants to commit genocide on a massive scale. Her claim is that Obama is an equal to such evil historic monsters as Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot.

Her talk of a “death panel” is not just a purely false distortion of a serious debate. It creates an incredibly dangerous environment that could encourage individuals to take up violence to stop the impending “downright evil” plan.

I understand that Obama wants health care reform to be bipartisan, but there is simply no negotiating with people who publicly accuse you of planning genocide. As long as such insidious lies are being promoted by the leaders of the Republican Party, a real policy debate will be impossible.

Several important Republicans (Snowe, Collins, Grassley, Enzi, Graham, etc..) claim to want to achieve a bipartisan consensus on health care reform. If they truly want to see health care reform they must denounce these horrible lies and demand that Sarah Palin apologizes. Honest negotiations are impossible as long as they provide implicit consent for those trying to poison the debate with wild accusations. If Republican senators like Grassley, Enzi, and Snowe do not denounce these destructive lies and the liars telling them, it is proof they are not interested in compromise.

They need to stand up in defense of reform or step away from the negotiating table. If they do not try to tone down the insane rhetoric it is a clear indication they are only interested in causing the Democrats a political defeat and not fixing our broken system.