Stupid: Critics go after Palin for encouraging end-of-life planning as governor

And you guys say I never defend her. A proclamation from the governor, April 16, 2008:

WHEREAS, it is estimated that only about 20 percent of people in Alaska have executed an advance directive. Moreover, it is estimated that less than 50 percent of severely or terminally ill patients have an advance directive.

WHEREAS, it is likely that a significant reason for these low percentages is that there is both a lack of knowledge and considerable confusion in the public about Advance Directives.

WHEREAS, one of the principal goals of Healthcare Decisions Day is to encourage hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, continuing care retirement communities, and hospices to participate in a statewide effort to provide clear and consistent information to the public about advance directives, as well as to encourage medical professionals and lawyers to volunteer their time and efforts to improve public knowledge and increase the number of Alaska’s citizens with advance directives.

Etc etc etc. The difference between this and ObamaCare pushing living-will consultations for seniors in the context of cutting costs is the difference between a general public campaign asking people to consider organ donation and some government employee visiting you in the hospital after an accident to remind you that a lot of needy folks sure could use one of those kidneys. It’s all a matter of coercion, bad government incentives, and which circumstances are most likely to give rise to it. As the ‘Cuda herself explained last night:

Last year, I issued a proclamation for “Healthcare Decisions Day.” [6] The proclamation sought to increase the public’s knowledge about creating living wills and establishing powers of attorney. There was no incentive to choose one option over another. There was certainly no financial incentive for physicians to push anything. In fact, the proclamation explicitly called on medical professionals and lawyers “to volunteer their time and efforts” to provide information to the public.

Comparing the “Healthcare Decisions Day” proclamation to Section 1233 of HR 3200 is ridiculous. The two are like apples and oranges. The attempt to link the two shows how desperate the proponents of nationalized health care are to shift the debate away from the disturbing details of their bill.

‘Fraid so. If you think it’s hysterical to call the consultations Obama has in mind “death panels,” fine; the Times evidently does, even though its own archives quote The One talking explicitly about a “very difficult democratic conversation” on reducing health-care expenses by providing “independent” guidance to the sick and elderly. But to equate it with Palin’s proclamation is either idiotic or a deliberate smear. Exit question to Palinistas: Second look at AP?

Blowback