Are death panels such a lie after all?

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's claim about "death panels" is being called PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year," along with a bipartisan runner-up list that includes President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. PolitiFact.com is a project of the St. Petersburg Times whose mission is stated "to help you find the truth in Washington and the Obama presidency."

But are death panels really a lie? After a statement on Facebook, Palin's comments came to define the health care debate in August and Politi-Fact reports that the term was mentioned in news reports 6,000 times in August and September.

As Noel Shepphard writes, "If this was such a lie, why did the Senate almost immediately drop end-of-life provisions in its bill on August 13 as reported by the Boston Globe:

A plan to provide hospice counseling and other end-of-life advice to patients and their families is being dropped by US Senate health care negotiators after critics charged that it would lead to the formation of federal "death panels,'' a key GOP senator said yesterday."

Unfortunately, the mystery that surrounds this bill continues to grow as no one is certain of what's in it. But, as pointed out by Senator Jim DeMint, we do know Reid has slipped in a provision into the health care legislation prohibiting future Congresses from changing any regulations imposed on Americans by the Independent Medicare Advisory Board (now called the Independent Payment Advisory Board), which are commonly called the “Death Panels.” In short, this means the Senate will be passing a new law and binding future Congresses to amend or even repeal it.

Read more of this article at Examiner.com

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