Sarah Palin initially caught a lot of guff for using the term “death panel” to describe the bureaucrats who would be tasked with saving health-care funds by short-changing the elderly and the disabled. Over the past week, though, her concerns (if not her term) have been adopted by even some liberals.
Now comes this news:
Key senators are excluding a provision on end-of-life care from health overhaul legislation after language in a House bill caused a furor.
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Thursday that the provision had been dropped from consideration because it could be misinterpreted or implemented incorrectly.
A health care bill passed by three House committees allows Medicare to reimburse doctors for voluntary counseling sessions about end-of-life decisions. But critics have claimed the provision could lead to death panels and euthanasia for seniors.
The mainstream media and Obama operatives (I know, that’s redundant) have ridiculed Palin’s use of the term “death panel.” Suddenly the media are a) absurdly literal and unable to grasp colorful rhetoric used for effect, and b) unable to see the logical consequences of the intentionally vague rhetoric in HB3200.
Fortunately, millions of others aren’t similarly handicapped.