[MD] The Death Panels

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[Craig]
I think we can put the myth of "right-wing fear-mongers" to rest. 

[Arlo]
I wish. You didn't address the topic here, though, and that is that the notion
of "death panels" is simply right-wing fear mongering. It is. Plain and simple.
But let's be honest, "fear-mongering" is not unique to "right-wing" politics.
The "left" has its share of "fear-mongering". Indeed, the point of the BBC
documentary "Power of Nightmare" was that ALL politics in the modern era have
evolved into some manner of "fear this, only my party can protect you". Whether
it be "illegal aliens" or "oil companies". 

So let's call a spade a spade, eh? "Death panel" = "fear mongering". Especially
when the provision in question passed with near unanimous republican consent in
2003 Medicare Act. Where was the "death panel" rhetoric then?

[Craig]
Millions of illegal aliens...

[Arlo]
>From the perspective of the Native Americans, its a hell of lot more than
that...

[Craig]
billions of dollars in bail-outs...

[Arlo]
Thank Bush for this too. Underscores the "bedding" of corporate America and
"guvmint" pretty clearly.

[Craig]
trillion dollar deficits...

[Arlo]
http://zfacts.com/p/318.html

The deficit (per GNP) was lowest in US history when Carter left office. Raygun
and Papa Bush raised it every single year of their presidency. Clinton lowered
it pretty far. Junior Bush raised it again every single year. Obama is
definitely continuing Junior's trend.

[Craig]
forcible taxation to pay for others' autos...

[Arlo]
Program had many flaws, namely that cars turned in, and destroyed, were often
better than the real "clunkers" many who could not afford new cars are driving.
But let's be honest, it was not about "emissions", it was another tax-gift to
corporate America.

[Craig]
housing...

[Arlo]
Better they live on the streets?

[Craig]
& health care...

[Arlo]
Access to basic and adequate health-care should be something our infrastructure
supports. How its done, there is a good debate. But some form of it will always
come in the "poor" being subsidized in their care by the "rich", or they will
be denied treatment. If its a choice between aristocratic social darwinism and
using taxation to provide health-care services to the poor, I'm for the latter.

[Craig]
If anything the damage has been UNDER-estimated, not OVER-estimated.  

[Arlo]
Raygun ran up the deficit every single year of his presidency. Did you care?
Wasn't it nice when Clinton gave us a budget *surplus* for the first time in
decades?