# Sarah Palin proven right! Government tricks beautiful young mom; imposes 1st Death Panel Verdict **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 12, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888 "2010-04-12T22:18:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 41
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/801 "2010-04-27T21:02:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Are you ever going to respond to Post 737, **Starving**? I’ve only posted basically the same thing three times, so you might have missed it. Try adding some spelling errors. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/802 "2010-04-27T22:19:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Are you ever going to respond to Post 737, **Starving**? I’ve only posted basically the same thing three times, so you might have missed it. OK you have first priority, and then it is post #782. Then he can dissasemble **emacknight** ’s comparison of healthcare. Course **SA** is pretty busy and all. But I"m sure he’ll get to us all in the fullness of time. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/803 "2010-04-27T22:34:22Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > OK you have first priority, and then it is post #782. Then he can dissasemble **emacknight** ’s comparison of healthcare. > > Course **SA** is pretty busy and all. But I"m sure he’ll get to us all in the fullness of time. Hey, c’mon, I’ve been waiting to be “deconstructed” since Post 672. Surely I deserve a place in the que! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/804 "2010-04-27T22:51:23Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Course **SA** is pretty busy and all. But I"m sure he’ll get to us all in the fullness of time. What the fuck, man? I’ve been in Emergency Rooms that were faster than this! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/805 "2010-04-27T23:00:11Z")
> [@CannyDan](#): > > Hey, c’mon, I’ve been waiting to be “deconstructed” since Post 672. Surely I deserve a place in the que! I’m sorry, remember that time you had to go to the bathroom? Lost your place. You’re behind me now. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/806 "2010-04-27T23:00:22Z")
> [@](#): > > …I’ve been in Emergency Rooms that were faster than this! Post traumatic stress, was it? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/807 "2010-04-27T23:05:59Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Gee, I dunno, **Guin, ETF** … Doper chicks are ladies of refinement and sensitivity, maybe you ought not be here when **Starkers** gets back and **emack** gets all tore up, and stuff. Not for delicate sensibilities, like you guys got. - Eyes **luc** while polishing brass knuckles \* ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/808 "2010-04-28T01:15:14Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I’m sorry, remember that time you had to go to the bathroom? Lost your place. You’re behind me now. Damn! It’s the diuretics I’m taking for my hypertension. I \*knew \*that stuff was gonna cost me! ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/809 "2010-04-28T04:34:54Z")
Is it too late for me to declare victory? I could use another in my win column. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/810 "2010-04-28T04:36:17Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > - Eyes **luc** while polishing brass knuckles \* And a lovely set they are, too! Bloomies? ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/811 "2010-04-28T04:56:03Z")
Ha, I love it. He’s so busy teaching Muslims how to be smart he neglected our thread. His thoughts on the “cite” he posted: > [@"Everybody draw Mohammed" on May 20 to support South Park](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/326): > > It wasn’t a study. I inadvertently used the term, I admit, but the piece refers to itself as a “Lecture On Health Care”. > > And I would imagine that if anything of import can be derived from the fact that it’s 10 years old, it would largely be that things have only gotten worse. When have we ever heard of government bureaucracies doing a 180 and suddenly becoming wonderful in a ten year span? > > I’m afraid you’ve made the mistake of allowing **elucidator** - one of the board’s most dishonest, underhanded and would-be manipulative posters - to take the lead in framing your arguments, and that has not served you well. > > But then again I’ve seen how you fare when on your own so I suppose it stands to reason you would seek outside help. 🙂 Classic **Starving Artist**. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/812 "2010-04-28T04:58:58Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > Ha, I love it. He’s so busy teaching Muslims how to be smart… Do you _ever_ utter an honest word? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/813 "2010-04-28T05:07:09Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Do you _ever_ utter an honest word? :rolleyes: Quick **SA** , while everyone else is either asleep or in the bathroom, answer mine first! > [@](#): > > This woman in your OP earned enough money and benefits so that she was over the cutoff $$ amount for Medicaid. Why exactly should a government worker step in to help this particular woman out and break the rules? > > Why exactly should they have broken the rules in this particular case? > > Why exactly do you want them to make a special exception in this one case? What about all the other cases where someones income is just slightly too high? When is it OK to break the rules, and when is it NOT OK to break the rules? > > If you think that the extra benefits she received should not have “counted” as income when assessing her eligibility for medicaid, say so. Then the problem is with how medicaid eligibility is assessed. > If you think the income cutoff for eligibility for medicaid is too low, say so. Then the problem is with the cutoff level, and it should be raised for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/814 "2010-04-28T05:26:21Z")
I know you’re out there… Was it because she was beautiful? You made a big point of it in your OP - put it in the title and all. How beautiful do you have to be before the rules about medicaid eligibility are bent for you. Like a “9” or something? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/815 "2010-04-28T05:27:07Z")
Gotta say, as a bad ass takedown, ripping to shreds, disassembly and discombobulation, it was a mite thin. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/816 "2010-04-28T05:27:17Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Do you _ever_ utter an honest word? :rolleyes: You posted the notes from a conservative lecture series, first calling it an “article” then referring to it as a study. If the notes are 9 years old, why haven’t they done one recently to show how much worse things have gotten? I would suspect that if things got really bad they’d be excited to trumpet the news. Until shown otherwise, I’m going to concluded that they tried, and found that things didn’t get worse, but actually got better. If you want to know about Canada, consider reading through some of the [history](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=12392553). Oddly enough, it was built because private industry failed to provide enough doctors in rural areas. The problems we faced over the past two decades were not because of failures in the system, they were the result of some pretty crazy deficit spending between the 70s and 80s. Instead of continuing with deficit spending indefinitely, the federal government made pretty dramatic cuts to social programs to, get this, balance the budget. Can you imagine, a country with balanced budget. What do you suppose that would be like? Now that the budget has been balanced health care has become the main priority, money has poured back into it, and it is steadily improving. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/817 "2010-04-28T05:38:41Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > Can you imagine, a country with balanced budget. What do you suppose that would be like? Healthy banks, too. Don’t forget the banks. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/818 "2010-04-28T06:03:11Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Quick **SA** , while everyone else is either asleep or in the bathroom, answer mine first! Oh, okay! > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > This woman in your OP earned enough money and benefits so that she was over the cutoff $$ amount for Medicaid. Why exactly should a government worker step in to help this particular woman out… To save her life. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > and break the rules? There should be no rules he would have to break in the first place. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Why exactly should they have broken the rules in this particular case? I never said nor implied that they should have broken the rules. Have you been taking debating lessons from **elucidator**? > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Why exactly do you want them to make a special exception in this one case? What about all the other cases where someones income is just slightly too high? When is it OK to break the rules, and when is it NOT OK to break the rules? Never said it, ain’t gonna address it. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > If you think that the extra benefits she received should not have “counted” as income when assessing her eligibility for medicaid, say so. Then the problem is with how medicaid eligibility is assessed. > If you think the income cutoff for eligibility for medicaid is too low, say so. Then the problem is with the cutoff level, and it should be raised for everyone. What I think is that government sucks when it comes to running entitlement programs. It invariably and virtually unavoidably hews to a one-size-fits-all system of rules and regulations in which no flexibility exists in which to allow for exceptions or to make changes once wheels are in motion. Government cannot possibly take into account all the variables that exist in life and instead tries to hammer the square peg of people’s individual needs and problems through the round hole of rules and limitations set by the government. Government simply can’t run things in such a way that individual needs can be met in any way resembling that which is actually needed. Look at what happens in communist countries where you have government central planning determining what foods and textiles are produced and distributed. You wind up with bananas being over-produced and things such as wheat being under-produced, with the result that markets are flooded for months with more bananas than people need or want, and with shortages of bread that require people to stand in line for hours waiting for a loaf or two. Remember how when you were a child and didn’t understand why your parents were making you do such and so, and when you asked why you had to do something or couldn’t do something else, your parents said: “Because I said so!” Well, that’s the way it is when government is in charge of your life. It has its own reasons for doing things the way it does and you, being in the situation of needing it more than it needs you, have little say in the matter. If the government tells you that you can’t cancel your new benefits and get your Medicaid reinstated in order to have an operation that will save your life, you have little choice but to accept it because, well, “the government said so!” Government ought to be set up so that there is flexibility and systems in place that will allow for common-sense solutions to individual problems. But of course this leads to a problem for government because it simply can’t have all its minions running around doing whatever they think is best in any given situation. So it simply issues dictates that everyone has to live under, with the result being that people like Diana Smith get told in effect, “So sorry, but death for you!”, when to any thinking individual the solution is painfully obvious - simply let her cancel her son’s new disability benefits and reinstate her Medicaid coverage…and do it quickly so she can have the surgery she so badly needs on schedule as previously arranged. But all that lies far outside the ability of government function. So people whose lives could easily be saved if only someone with a brain and a modicum of decision-making ability could greenlight it wind up dying for no reason other than governmental red tape and inflexibility. And again I assert that the government’s response to Diana Smith amounts in virtually every way to a death panel decision to the effect that she should be left to die. It was their system, their regulations, their limits, and their red tape that all resulted in the loss of her coverage and inabilty to correct and reinstate it. Her situation is a classic, textbook example of governmental indifference and inflexibility in the face of dire, life-threatening need, and a perfect example also of why I absolutely do not want the government of the United States having control over my or my family’s health care. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/819 "2010-04-28T06:11:54Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > There should be no rules he would have to break in the first place. There shouldn’t be any rules that would disqualify one from Medicaid? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888/820 "2010-04-28T06:17:45Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Her situation is a classic, textbook example of governmental indifference and inflexibility in the face of dire, life-threatening need, and a perfect example also of why I absolutely do not want the government of the United States having control over my or my family’s health care. Unless you’re wealthy or die young, that is going to happen eventually. Well, at least the funding part through Medicare and such. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888.md?page=40) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-proven-right-government-tricks-beautiful-young-mom-imposes-1st-death-panel-verdict/535888.md?page=42)