Chuck Grassley Loses At Liar's Poker.

Why is it that Democrats are trying to play nice with Chuck Grassley?

From Swampland at Time.com:

You would think that if Republicans wanted to totally mischaracterize a health care provision and demagogue it like nobody's business, they would at least pick something that the vast majority of them hadn't already voted for just a few years earlier. Because that's not just shameless, it's stupid.

Yes, that's right. Remember the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill, the one that passed with the votes of 204 GOP House members and 42 GOP Senators? Anyone want to guess what it provided funding for? Did you say counseling for end-of-life issues and care? Ding ding ding!!

Let's go to the bill text, shall we? "The covered services are: evaluating the beneficiary's need for pain and symptom management, including the individual's need for hospice care; counseling the beneficiary with respect to end-of-life issues and care options, and advising the beneficiary regarding advanced care planning." The only difference between the 2003 provision and the infamous Section 1233 that threatens the very future and moral sanctity of the Republic is that the first applied only to terminally ill patients. Section 1233 would expand funding so that people could voluntarily receive counseling before they become terminally ill.

So either Republicans were for death panels in 2003 before turning against them now--or they're lying about end-of-life counseling in order to frighten the bejeezus out of their fellow citizens and defeat health reform by any means necessary. Which is it, Mr. Grassley ("Yea," 2003)?

Chuck Grassley remains a major obstacle on the road to real health care reform. He's a liar, a hypocrite and his pockets are overflowing with health industry money. It's high time Democrats remember why we voted them in and past time to freeze Grassley's ass out.

In The End, We All Die Alone.

I have posted about health care reform dissembler Betsy McCaughey on several occasions (here, here and here.) She helped kill reform in 1994 with her bullshit, and is at it again.

Anti-reform conservatives--spurred on by McCaughey's spurious insinuations--are fanning out hither and yon, lying to Americans by telling them there is a "mandatory" end-of-life provision that will await them in any new health care legislation. According to ThinkProgress, "(to) substantiate their claims, conservatives point to Sec. 1233 of the House Tri Committee bill, a section titled “ADVANCE CARE PLANNING CONSULTATION.” But while the language allows Medicare to reimburse providers for consulting with patients about end-of-life issues, nothing in the section mandates a consultation."

There's more here.

So, no, America--in the real world, the Grim Reaper disguised as a government bureaucrat will not be required to show up at the homes of our seniors, counseling them on The End. That Goebbels-like, ghoulish lie is straight out of Far-Right Fantasyland.