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Obama Calls For Civility In Healthcare Debate
President Barack Obama Tuesday called for civility in the debate over healthcare and said special interests that want to block changes are trying to scare the public with misrepresentations about his proposals.
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WASHINGTON (August 11, 2009)--President Barack Obama said Tuesday special interests that want to block health care changes are trying to scare the public with misrepresentations about his approach.
Mr. Obama told a town hall meeting in New Hampshire that vigorous debate is an American tradition, but people opposed to change are "trying to scare the heck out of folks, and they'll create bogeymen out there that just aren't real."
"Where we do disagree, let's disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that has actually been proposed,” he said.
Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, for example, claimed the Democrats' legislation includes "death panels" that would deny care to frail seniors.
Mr. Obama explained that the provision that has caused the uproar would only authorize Medicare to pay doctors for counseling patients about end-of-life care, living wills, hospice care and other issues, if the patient wants it.
It would not, "basically pull the plug on grandma because we decided that it's too expensive to let her live anymore," Mr. Obama said.
Critics of Mr. Obama's overhaul effort say creation of a public plan to compete with private insurance adds up to a government takeover.
Mr. Obama told the New Hampshire town hall that he received one letter from a woman who said, "keep your hands off my Medicare."
He reminded the audience that the government operates Medicare, the healthcare program for seniors.
Mr. Obama said seniors should understand that if the government can get something right like Medicare they should be a little more confident in its ability to create a health plan.
The president said the majority of Americans will still get health care from private insurers through their employers.
Meanwhile, Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter faced a barrage of sometimes-hostile questions about healthcare from wary and frustrated voters Tuesday.
At the crowded town hall Tuesday, the Pennsylvania senator heard from speaker after speaker who accused him of trampling on their constitutional rights or allowing the government to take over healthcare.
Specter tried gamely to explain his positions, saying he wouldn't vote for a bill that adds to the deficit.
He also said he wouldn't support a bill that extends coverage to illegal immigrants.
None of the bill in Congress would provide health insurance to illegal immigrants.
As lawmakers have returned to their states this month, they have faced angry crowds questioning Mr. Obama's health care overhaul.
Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, plans to hold a telephone town hall meeting, rather than appearing in person.
A time and place have not been set.
Latest Comments
U.K. health system hits back at ‘untruths’ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32398952/ns/world_news-europe/
If you don't like what he is proposing get with your legislators and come up with a better plan. Don't sit there and scream bloody murder because you don't agree with all of the components of his bill. At least he is tackling the issue, something other presidents didn't touch. I applaud Obama and stand firmly behind my vote for him.
Sorry, I ran out of space! 'You just get into some very difficult moral issues" when considering whether "to give my grandmother, or everybody else's aging grandparents or parents, a hip replacement when they are terminally ill... The chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care." I guess if we can kill off a bunch of old people, the government will save a lot of money. But the idea of the so-called death panels are ridiculus, right? I'm sure they probably have a nicer name for it. That way it will not seem so bad.
