Guess Who's Talking About Death Panels Now?

Brodski was joking, guys. (He's British)

The sad thing is, Brainster wasn't.
 
Puppycow said:
Yeah, he used the the term as a joke. The difference is that Palin was being serious.
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This.

Or if not a joke, he only meant limits on what Medicare and Medicaid would pay for.

Palin was talking about a proposal to require insurers to pay for a consultation for people to help with issues such as writing up their advanced directives. She spun that (winning a Lie of the Year award) into a panel that would euthanize your grandmother.

Or didn't you know this, Brainster?
 
Tried to address end of life treatment in the USA, but it was labeled as death panels.
 
In all fairness to Brainster, this would work as a devastating criticism of Krugman if it had a shred of truth.
 
I am convinced that there is more than enough legitimate criticism to be directed toward Krugman that there is no need to pretend to take jokes of his seriously.
 
TubbaBlubba said:
I am convinced that there is more than enough legitimate criticism to be directed toward Krugman that there is no need to pretend to take jokes of his seriously.
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Which is why I think this has far more to do with vindicating Sarah Palin and the "death panels" nonsense spread by the right than it does with actually attacking Krugman.
 
ANTPogo said:
Which is why I think this has far more to do with vindicating Sarah Palin and the "death panels" nonsense spread by the right than it does with actually attacking Krugman.
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Which is why it's so sad that it was posted here by Brainster.
 
I'd like to think that Brainster simply didn't listen carefully and extracted something that was not at all intended. Sort of like the GOP did with "You didn't build that".
 
TubbaBlubba said:
I am convinced that there is more than enough legitimate criticism to be directed toward Krugman that there is no need to pretend to take jokes of his seriously.
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I think there isn't, which is why all kinds of stupid stuff gets made up about him.
 
Brainster said:
Remember the hoots of derision when Sarah Palin suggested they'd be used?

Starting about 2:00 in:


Remember Krugman himself?
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As to the video, I couldn't make out a damn thing the guy was saying.

As to death panels, we have them now, imposed by private insurance companies, who won't give you coverage for pre-existing conditions. Thus, if I had to try to get insurance now, I would be disqualified for having had quintuple coronary bypass surgery, despite the fact that I'm compliant, take all my medications, exercise regularly and watch my diet. In addition, since my doctor at the VA has made sure I get regular blood tests, my cholesterol levels, etc. have been regularly monitored.

By excluding me, for-profit medical insurance companies can save on the cost of all those tests and medications (beta blockers, "-ase" inhibitors, anticoagulants, statins). Of course without those medications, tests and medical advice, I'd probably be dead. Ergo, my exclusion and my resulting death - so that profits won't be inhibited - amounts to private companies imposing a very real death panel.
 
ponderingturtle said:
Its regressive?
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And so?
I
There's a welfare-economic argument for tax rates that decline with income: the marginal utility to society at large of an additional knee surgery by a star orthopedic surgeon or an additional concert by a star violinist declines more slowly than does the marginal utility of the additional income to the surgeon or performer that these stars earn on an additional surgery or performance (unless the same people receive all these knee surgeries or attend all these concerts). The total wealth to society is a function of the resources of this Earth and the attention that humans apply to those resources. Taxes have the same effect as fines, reducing the taxed activity.
II
There's a simple way to address the regressive feature of a sales tax as a replecement for the income tax: a social credit. A tax rate of, say, X% on all contractual transactions combined with a guaranteed income of $Y/month amounts to an income tax that asymptotically approaches X%.
 
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