Palin Doubles Down on 'Death Panels'

Republican Senators Johnny Isakson and Lisa Murkowski may have called her “nuts” and accused her of trying to “gin up fear,” respectively, but Sarah Palin is sticking by her guns. The former Alaska governor took to Facebook to repeat her claim that President Obama’s health care bill could result in patients not receiving end-of-life care, though she toned back her language from her earlier “death panels” charge. “These consultations are authorized whenever a Medicare recipient’s health changes significantly or when they enter a nursing home, and they are part of a bill whose stated purpose is 'to reduce the growth in health care spending,’” Palin wrote. “Is it any wonder that senior citizens might view such consultations as attempts to convince them to help reduce health care costs by accepting minimal end-of-life care?” She argued that “it’s misleading for the President to describe this section as an entirely voluntary provision that simply increases the information offered to Medicare recipients,” although in the House bill the consultations are voluntary.