Stop the presses! Turns out a GOP Senator sponsored identical legislation this spring:

On May 22nd, Senators Collins and Jay Rockefeller introduced the “Advance Planning and Compassionate Care Act,” according to a press release sent over by a source. The measure provides Medicare funding “for advance care planning so that patients can routinely talk to their physicians about their wishes for end-of-life care,” the release says.

WHY DOES SENATOR COLLINS WANT TO EAT GRANDMA??

What irritates me is there doesn't seem to be many out there debunking these lies. I've seen a few ads but I see more rethugs than democrats. They seem to have the bully pulpit and have really taken over this conversation.

There's blood in the water, Jan. The Republicans are running with this message because the Democrats are not effectively countering it. Instead we get stammering half-explanation responses. The only thing that will stop this nonsense quickly is if Limbaugh tips over into Super Crazy too soon and starts suggesting that Obama had this provision included so he could kill old white people, 'cause you know, he hates 'em so very much.

If I wasn't so terrified of angering the Adobe Gods (not Thor, and he's scared of them too), I would be right now working on a "Fucking Hypocrite Liars" YouTube video of my own. I'd go right for their old, turkey-wobbly throats.

Mike Pence is lying his ass off. Jesus, he just said there will be a trillion dollars in new taxes and then when asked where he got the number he couldn't remember. The place he got that number is called his asshole. MOTHERFUCKERS ARE THE ONLY ONES TALKING!!!!

Mike Pence will fist you at a rest stop urinal for $20. I don't remember where I heard that, but it's obviously true. As far as I know.

The media is feeding it. I must have seen Glen Beck calling Obama a racist at least 5 times on 5 networks. His inflamatory remarks just inflame the far far right racists. The lefty shows like Ed and Rachel are covering the lies but their audience isn't big enough to make a real difference.

I think their audiences are big enough, but the audiences are us. They're preaching to the choir a little bit. What would be just awesome, and therefore will never happen, would be for the anchor the NBC Nightly News to think to himself "you know, I'd like to go in-depth on the health care plan. Who do we have that's covered it extensively and knows it top to bottom and could tell that story quickly and succinctly on the evening news? Do we have anybody?"

If anyone on MSNBC had called W a racist, there would have been 25 Senate/House resolutions the next day condemning it and calling for their firing. And then MSNBC would cave and fire the commentator. Not that I approve of such high dudgeon and fake drama, but we'll never see that sort of condemnation out of the Democrats collectively. So Beck will continue to call the President a racist. He'll be invited on various shows where he'll tone down his rhetoric a bit and actually deny that he thinks the President is racist and then the next day be right back on his shows saying the President is a racist and praising himself for going into the lion's den to defend himself. Nothing will change until his asshole finally succeeds in killing him.

I agree. It's the same two-fold problem progress always faces. A) The Repub lies area much sexier story for the media than the truth. B) Democrats, frankly, are often caught off-guard by the fact the people can believe something so crazy, and therefore don't have any arguments prepared to defend against it. Even though they should know better by now.

Slightly OT: For example, this is the current headline on CNN: "Obama's ex-doctor critical of health care plan" Of course, he's critical b/c he supports single-payer and thinks the plan doesn't go far enough. But mark my words, all you'll hear is "Even Obama's doctor thinks this plan is horrible for Americans. The opposition has a point!"

If we were to compose a list of the top 10 "family values" I would argue that providing your family with the proper instructions for your end-of-life care would easily have to be in the top five.

Not at all true...BUT IT SHOULD BE.

Bob, you have no idea how many clients I meet who have no will, no health care power of attorney, no living will, no instructions for the care of their children, and no life insurance for their family. Especially, small family businesses need these plans; family members need to know EXACTLY what is supposed to happen when their loved one dies or becomes unable to decide for themselves.

Instructions for burial need to be spelled out. Who gets the cat needs to be documented. Who gets the business, and in lieu of the business, what do the other siblings get of equal value (to avoid hard feelings within the family).

There is a reason many families cannot stand each other during holiday, and often it is because a death in the family left many, many questions unanswered, and almost all of that family was disappointed or disillusioned by the process.

So my answer to Republicans and their fear mongering would be: Hey, if you want to fuck up your family after you are dead, then do nothing. I guarantee that if you have no will and no HC POA, one half of your family will hate the other half. Is that how the GOP stands up for family values? "We're all about fucking up families"?

Getting people to face their mortality is important. In fact, it may be one of the most important things you can ever do.

For example, Bob, if you owned a small family business, and one of your children was involved in it, but the other was not, at your death, would you really trust them to work it out between themselves? If you did, the only legacy you'd have probably left to your family is division. If that's what people want to leave behind, that's their choice, but I don't think most people realize what can happen to their family when they are gone.

This is an issue that should be mandated in high schools, along with basic financial planning. One year of it, at a minimum.

I think the Senate democrats are using bipartisanship as a means of watering down the healthcare bill and satisfying their healthcare beneficiaries. It is a way of blaming the republicans and keeping the flow of money going while trying to keep their constituents happy.

And according to the latest polls, Obama is slipping and folks are generally falling away from supporting his plan due to the lies.

Anyone remember on West Wing when Leo brought in Bruno to get out the message?

Well, Obama needs a Bruno now. I'm no political genius but even I can see they have a huge messaging problem. We obviously can't rely on the democrats and Obama is only one guy so they need someone to get in there and get this back on the right road. Someone NOT part of the Beltway pols and media. A person with no skin in the game so to speak. Someone definately NOT behollden to the insurance or pharma lobbys-or the Dogs or even the progressives.

Wonder if there is anyone out there like that anymore?

Republicans are in favor of terminating treatment for the terminally ill. They voted in Texas to allow hospitals to decide.

I am not one to demand that useless treatments be continued, but this law is fraught with ethical problems. I point it out just to show the repub hypocrisy that we know so well.

Passed by repubs in Texas and signed by gov. GW Bush:

Texas's six-year-old "futile-care" law (it's 8 years old now) is one of two in the country that allow a hospital's ethics committee to declare the care of a terminally ill patient to be of no benefit and to discontinue care within a certain time frame. The patient's family or guardian must be informed in advance of the ethics committee meeting and must be allowed to participate. The family must also be given 10 days to find a medical facility willing to accept their terminal relative. After that period, the hospital may withdraw life support. Virginia gives a family 14 days to transfer a patient once a futile-care decision is made.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001620_pf.html

I was just thinking of that very law, eve. Thanks. All that drama over Terri Schiavo and the truth is she was just a prop in their everyday fakery.

I know why we have to deal with these "bastards"....it's because they're just sore losers. Obama has only been in power for 7 months but they tend to forget just how inexperienced Bush was when he first took office. They lost BIG time and now they're allowed to call him anything under the sun without any repurcussions. They're the party of "do as I say, not as I do". You better believe in God, but to hell with you if you want to die with dignity. I can't believe that they think most Americans buy this shit from them.