While We're Conceding

Obama has apparently officially given in on end of life counseling in the health care reform plan as well.

Buried in today’s New York Times article on the health care maneuvering is some dispiriting news: The White House is prepared to scrap Medicare-funded end of life consultations from health care reform entirely in response to the death panel criticism.

The Times passage on this neatly captures the state of our health care debate:

To avoid some of the most heated criticism voiced in recent weeks, White House officials said they would have no objection if Congress scrapped proposals to have Medicare pay for counseling on end-of-life care.

Critics said such counseling could lead to pressure on patients to forgo expensive treatments for terminal illnesses. Mr. Obama has said it is ludicrous to suggest that “we want to set up death panels to pull the plug on Grandma.”

Though the end of life provision was dropped from the proposal being negotiated by the Senate finance committee, it still survives (as it were) in the House proposals and could still end up in the final bill.

What final bill is that? Republicans have learned if they lie enough, the Dems give them 100% of what they want. Just keep lying until Obamacare is destroyed. Game over.

Seriously, folks. I thought the Democrats won in November.