ObamaCare: Elderly Need Not Apply

"Obama lies, grandma dies" (a popular sign at town hall meetings). Governor Sarah Palin, with her description of Obama's "death panel" may be the first person in history to change a major political debate with an entry in Facebook.

"Obama lies, Grandma dies" (a popular sign slogan at town hall meetings)

The attached is a graphic (very graphic) image of what ObamaCare will mean to grandma and grandpa. Please pass it on.Here's what Dick Morris thinks (not much) in boldface below of the removal of the end-of-life-counseling component from the Senate Finance Committee health proposal: Obama and congressional leftists have provided no answers to the questions Morris raises.

President Obama's retreat from his previous insistence on establishing a government owned insurance company to compete with private health insurers will do nothing at all to mitigate the massive rationing in medical care to the elderly his legislation will force. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in a rare moment of profundity, said that government alternative to private health insurance is "not the essential element" of the administration's health care overhaul. How right she is.

The fundamental equation that means worse and worse medical care for our seniors remains exactly as it was before the public option was abandoned: Fifty million new patients to be treated and no extra doctors or nurses to care for them. The result will be precisely the same whether or not there is a public option -- massive rationing of medical services to the elderly.

The legislation still plans to achieve 40% of its savings from cuts in Medicare, slicing reimbursement rates to doctors and hospitals encouraging them shortchange their elderly patients as a matter of economic necessity and shrinking further the population of doctors. The deletion of the public insurance option is a good step.

It reduces the likelihood of "socialized medicine" dominated by a single payer. But it does nothing to alter the basic equation of supply and demand which will doom medical care for the elderly.

2912 Race: Palin Versus Obama

One of the best analysts of Gov. Palin the race for the presidency in 2012 is Greg Hanson. Recently, in the comments section of my blog, Greg wrote the followiing predictions about what the future holds for Sarah Palin:

In the short term, Sarah's resignation may cause her numbers to drop, but as people see more and more of her in the lower 48, drawing huge, wildly enthusiastic crowds, her numbers will rebound, and be higher than before.

Sarah Palin is not "politics as usual," and that is what more and more people will find very attractive over the coming months, and years. What the chattering class can't figure out is why anyone would give up power without being forced to because of illegality or some type of scandal. To the elites, title and power are everything, being a private citizen is nothing, and why would anyone want to become a nobody.

My prediction is that Sarah Palin, free of Alaska, will help raise millions for charities that she believes in, will help raise millions for the GOP, will campaign tirelessly for conservative candidates, starting with the governors races in VA and NJ (she'll pull them across the finishline.) She'll lead the charge in 2010, helping the GOP make major gains in both houses of congress.

My fervant desire is that SarahPAC will be financial powerhouse that helps fuel the return of conservatism, that SarahPAC will scare off Pawlenty, Gingrich, and maybe even Huckabee. All the other possible contenders know already that they cannot compete with her in her ability to draw crowds, they'll draw crowds in the dozens and maybe hundreds, she'll draw crowds in the thousands and tens of thousands.

I also believe that Sarah Palin's book will be one of the most carefully crafted books of the modern era, as she and Lynn Vincent know that it will also be one of the most closely examined books of the modern era. Going into 2012, Palin will have her book (probably a run away best seller,) millions of supporters on Facebook, hundreds of thousands on Twitter, maybe 150,000 in Team Sarah, the best online presence of any candidate, and a grassroots organization second to none.

The 2012 nomination, baring any unforeseen circumstances, is hers for the asking. For that reason alone, you can count on the media to continue to savage her at every turn.