Obama On Death Panel Smear: “I Just Lost My Grandmother Last Year”
At his town hall meeting on health insurance reform yesterday, President Obama fired back at the “death panel” smear. “I just lost my grandmother last year. I know what it’s like to watch somebody you love, who’s aging, deteriorate and have to struggle with that,” Obama said, attacking those who would put forward “the notion that somehow I ran for public office or members of Congress are in this so they can go around pulling the plug on grandma.”
Sebelius: Death Panel Scare Attack Is “Horrific”
Appearing on This Week, of Sec. of Health and Human Services fired back at the “death panel” attack, — but also conceded that end-of-life counseling is likely to be taken out of the bill. “And I think it’s really horrific that some opponents of the health reform bill have used this painful, personal moment to try and scare people about what is in the bill,” said Sebeilus.
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama and the First Lady will arrive at Grand Canyon National Park at 1 p.m. ET, and will tour the park at 1:20 p.m. ET. They will depart from the park at 8 p.m. ET, arriving back in Phoenix, Arizona, at 8:45 p.m. ET.
Specter: Town Halls “Not Representative Of America,” Shouldn’t Dominate Policy
Appearing on This Week, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) said the recent town halls have been organized deliberately to stop health care reform. “But I think we have to bear in mind that, although those people need to be heard and have a right to be heard, that they’re not really representative of America, in — in my opinion,” said Specter. “We have to be careful here not to let those town meetings dominate the scheme and influence what we do on health policy.”
Conrad: Pursing Public Option “Just A Wasted Effort”
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) gave a realpolitik explanation of his fight for the co-op plan instead of a public option: “Look, the fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for the public option. There never have been. So to continue to chase that rabbit, I think, is just a wasted effort.”
Sebelius: Public Option “Not An Essential Element”
Appearing on State of the Union, Sec. of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius downplayed the importance of a public option, speaking in favor of competition in the private sector. “We need some choices, we need some competition,” said Sebelius, who also said that a public option “is not an essential element.”
Coburn: Anger In Health Care Debate A Sign Of Government Losing Trust
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) said the current emotional debate over health care is really a symptom, with the underlying cause being a loss of faith in the government. “We have, we have raised the question of whether or not we’re legitimately thinking about the American people and their long-term best interests. And that’s the question,” said Coburn. “The, the mail volume of all the senators didn’t go up based on the healthcare debate, the mail volume went up when we started spending away our future indiscriminately. And that’s not Republican or Democrat, that has been a problem for years.”
Gibbs: Obama Wasn’t Saying We Would Create Postal Service Of Health Care
Appearing on Face The Nation, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs clarified President Obama having used the post office as an example of government and the private sector co-existing — after host Harry Smith pointed out that the post office loses billions every year. “Well, look, I don’t think he was saying that what we were going to do is create the postal service for health care,” said Gibbs. “What he was doing was addressing those that are concerned that if a government entity is involved in any way, that it kills anything in the private market.”
