ObamaKennedycare Update

Once again, there's a lot going on in the ObamaKennedycare debate.

I mentioned yesterday the failures of government-controlled health care for Native Americans, but now we've got some video to drive it home:

This is truly heart-breaking. This is also what every man, woman, and child will face if ObamaKennedycare is implemented.

One new tactic of the Left is that they've started astroturfing in churches. Remember, the Left sees government control of health care as a moral duty. They are completely dedicated to gaining control over your health care decisions.

While we're on the subject of real-life examples, let's take another look at the U.K.:

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, a group of experts who care for the terminally ill claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death.

Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.

But this approach can also mask the signs that their condition is improving, the experts warn.

As a result the scheme is causing a “national crisis” in patient care, the letter states. It has been signed palliative care experts including Professor Peter Millard, Emeritus Professor of Geriatrics, University of London, Dr Peter Hargreaves, a consultant in Palliative Medicine at St Luke’s cancer centre in Guildford, and four others.

“Forecasting death is an inexact science,”they say. Patients are being diagnosed as being close to death “without regard to the fact that the diagnosis could be wrong.

“As a result a national wave of discontent is building up, as family and friends witness the denial of fluids and food to patients."

The warning comes just a week after a report by the Patients Association estimated that up to one million patients had received poor or cruel care on the NHS.

There's so much we can learn from this example. 'Forecasting death'?? Who among us can possibly be qualified for that, and who among us should be allowed that power? We shouldn't even be uttering that phrase, much less trying to implement the practice! And, in case the Left has forgotten, once a person dies, there's no way to undo a mistaken decision. I guess they just don't care. And do you notice the public unrest and resentment about this system? What could possibly make it any different here?

Nothing.

So where is this debate now? Basically, the Obama administration has acknowledged that his most critical legislation is sinking fast. He's sat back and watched as his surrogates in Congress have fought against all the toxic components of his bill, and is now ready to step in personally:

Following an August break that was brutal not only because of summer heat, Obama plans to return to work with a new resolve to sell health care reform to the American people. And how exactly is he planning to do that? According to White House senior adviser David Axelrod, Obama is going to resort to the most powerful weapon in his arsenal: he’s going to deliver a speech. There’s a novel idea. Wonder why it never occurred to him before.

He may address a joint session of Congress, or the speech may take place in the Oval Office, a setting past presidents used to speak “one-on-one” with their constituents. As Axelrod explained to Julianna Goldman of Bloomberg, “We recognize that we’re entering the final phases of this debate and we’re going to do the things that we think are necessary to bring it to a successful close.” (I didn’t realize the debate has phases or that we were approaching the end game, but whatever.)

So Obama is once again planning to preempt primetime TV, this time to tell the American people . . . what? What does Obama plan to say to voters?

Axelrod hinted that part of his new plan of attack is to get more “specific.” But about what? Congress has been out on recess, so surely there is no new legislation to explain. As to the current legislation, most voters are of a mind that they understand the bill better than Congress and about as well as Obama. So what is he planning to say that he hasn’t said before? Is he going to separate the “facts” from the “myths” perpetrated by those un-American dissenters at town halls? Nah, he’s already done that numerous times. Is he going to present new data that square with his original promise to lower the overall cost of health care to the American people or with his revised promise of making health care deficit-neutral?

It should be an interesting media circus. We'll see what he says. I doubt it'll have much effect on polling or on what the American people think about the subject. As has become painfully obvious, the so-called 'public option' has been completely rejected by the American people, so Obama is going to pretend to give it up (but don't be fooled - the entire objective is government control, and they won't stop until they get it). He'll call it something else, he'll spin it as being way down the road, he'll wave a magic wand and tell you you're getting sleepy...but the end result will be the same thing: government control of your health care decisions. Reject it.

RedState has the lowdown on the political intricacies of the next few steps. It's dizzying, really.

How can we explain Obama's relentless pursuit of this legislation that America doesn't want? Ace of Spades frames it this way:

Old Obama: The American People Elected Me to Pass This Popular Legislation They Desperately Want
New Obama: The American People Elected Me to Have the Guts to Pass This Unpopular Legislation They Don't Want

Seems pretty accurate, but it's not much for leadership.

I will end today's update with one last brilliant move, this time by Republican Rep. Darrell Issa:

Hmmm...a one-page bill that guarantees all Americans get the same health care as Congress? I would bet that'll get incredible support in just about all quarters of the nation (except liberals). Of course, it'll never get passed, but wouldn't it be interesting to see it pushed forward and correctly publicized? You might consider making the call to your Rep about this.

And, of course, stay tuned for continuing updates on this most critical topic.

There's my two cents.