Huckabee: Under ObamaCare, Kennedy would have had “to take pain pills and die”
posted at 9:07 pm on August 28, 2009 by Allahpundit
Audio here. So much for conservatives’ insistence on not injecting Teddy’s death into the health-care debate, I guess. Although Stephanopoulos is right: This is less about The One and ObamaCare than it is about Huck’s growing rivalry with a certain darling of the base who was way ahead of him on this subject.
Which Democrat will toss it back first?
Will any Republicans jump on it by challenging Huckabee head-on?
One thing’s for sure: by joining the debate in this time in this way, Huckabee is showing how determined he is not to be outmaneuvered by Sarah Palin in the early 2012 bidding for the GOP’s conservative base
How will Mitt Romney respond?
Minor inconvenient point overlooked in the rush to condemn Huck for politicizing Kennedy’s demise: If and when rationing begins, isn’t someone in Teddy’s situation precisely the sort of person who’ll end up at the back of the line for treatment? He was elderly and suffering from a terminal condition; if resources are scarce, he’s the worst possible investment.
Related: If you missed this Ron Rosenbaum piece in Headlines laughing at liberals for underestimating Palin’s shrewdness about “death panels,” dive in. It’s candy for the many, many ‘Cuda lovers among the Hot Air faithful.
Blowback
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if by “hmmmmmm” you mean “true dat” then I agree.
Ampersand on August 28, 2009 at 9:09 PM
One might even say it’s an inconvenient truth. (See what I did there?)
amerpundit on August 28, 2009 at 9:09 PM
No, Huck. Royalty has it’s own rewards.
Fletch54 on August 28, 2009 at 9:10 PM
If Obama wasn’t on the record implying such a thing it might have less sting. By the way, the Huckster, for all his flaws somehow always managed to avoid the evil conservative thing. By the way, if Democrats are using Kennedy’s death , its fair game for the GOP.
rob verdi on August 28, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Hmmm, an argument FOR Obamacare.
exdeadhead on August 28, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Kennedys and other prominent Democrats will be exempt from the Death Panel provisions….
MrScribbler on August 28, 2009 at 9:11 PM
what do you think would have happened if Sarah would have said this???? anyone
ousoonerfan15 on August 28, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Who insisted on that?
Have you read a Kennedy obit that didn’t mention Obama’s gamble?
Chris_Balsz on August 28, 2009 at 9:12 PM
I suspect Sarah Palin may reinforce Huck’s comments.
Don’t look for “Teh Cuda” to be biting anyone who’s not an Ayatollah. Huck is NOT a GOP Ayatollah.
Mitt better watch his ass though.
HondaV65 on August 28, 2009 at 9:13 PM
Huck’s only a social conservative. One leg-of-the stool populist. Not that it excuses his statement here, just wanted to point that out.
BadgerHawk on August 28, 2009 at 9:13 PM
As soon as I saw the headline, I groaned. Even if I agree with Huckabee on something, he just makes the position sound so…stupid.
That said, I did enjoy him on Red Eye last night.
Emily M. on August 28, 2009 at 9:13 PM
The Kossaks are spitting nails over this right now. *insert devilish grin*
MobsterinVA on August 28, 2009 at 9:14 PM
Isn’t that pretty much what happened anyway?
ronsfi on August 28, 2009 at 9:14 PM
Yeah, Kennedy would’ve still gotten the best care possible. It’s the working schmucks who would be given the pain pills.
But Huckabee’s a little late to the dance.
ddrintn on August 28, 2009 at 9:14 PM
Huckabee may or may not be right. Either way, he just shouldn’t say stuff like that because it makes the anti-ObamaCare crowd look bad.
SoulGlo on August 28, 2009 at 9:14 PM
The GOP candidate that will get my quote will be the first one to say, “should I be elected and Obamacare was passed into law, I will personally challenge the Constitutionality of the program and take it all the way to the Supreme Court. To restore liberty and protect it for generations to come we must reaffirm the limits on the federal government so well spelled out in the Constitution. Further, I will not sign any bill that isn’t rooted in the enumerated powers granted by the Constitution.”
DerKrieger on August 28, 2009 at 9:15 PM
I was wondering when someone in the GOP was going to point that out. What surprises me is that it was Huckabee who had the balls to mention it first.
Hellrider on August 28, 2009 at 9:15 PM
Just wait til TOTUS emotes on Teddy’s lifetime goal.
ddrintn on August 28, 2009 at 9:16 PM
Outrageous outrage. Huck will get pretty much a yawn.
ddrintn on August 28, 2009 at 9:17 PM
Oh, that is simply not true.
Everyone knows that the elites will not have to suffer under Obamacare. We can look forward to generations of misogynist Kennedys ruling us with the very best health care the country can provide, damn the expense.
18-1 on August 28, 2009 at 9:17 PM
I don’t think Huck qualifies as conservative. Blue dog democrat would be closer I think.
Knife Tornado on August 28, 2009 at 9:18 PM
No he wouldn’t, one of the last things Kennedy did was to exempt himself from ObamaCare…
ninjapirate on August 28, 2009 at 9:18 PM
No, under ObamaCare Kennedy as a sitting US Senator would have been on a different tier of the Healthcare Plan and would have been treated. Because a drunken, lecherous, murdering Senator is more important to keep around than you or me. On the plus side, we would have paid for his most excellent care.
Tommy_G on August 28, 2009 at 9:19 PM
Kennedy left to die? No. His “moral clarity” is worth the lives of hundreds of middle-class drudges.
Joe the feed salesman with brain cancer? Screw him. Dirty prole needs to learn his place.
spmat on August 28, 2009 at 9:20 PM
Huckabee’s just toooooo slick and smarmy. He makes Romney look unbeatable.
ddrintn on August 28, 2009 at 9:20 PM
BTW, huck should no that he is no good at this type of thing… and he has no chance whatsoever…. neither does palin…
We need to get them two to pledge not to run in 2012… they have no prayer in winning…
ninjapirate on August 28, 2009 at 9:21 PM
Let’s hope so, he’s dead.
fogw on August 28, 2009 at 9:21 PM
OT
I just don’t get this TV coverage for Kennedy at all–but FOXNEWS?! what are they thinking?
DrStock on August 28, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Keep it coming Republicans. We need all the voices out there we can get to destroy this. If Huckabee wants a swat at the Obama Pinata I say “Swing away sir”
Palin can’t do it all for you.
portlandon on August 28, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Rating$.
Tommy_G on August 28, 2009 at 9:23 PM
OK, neither does Romney or Newt or Bachmann or Pawlenty or Rudy. I guess that leaves us with McCain 2012!
ddrintn on August 28, 2009 at 9:24 PM
I would understand in MA, but they are really doing prime time coverage of the funeral of a lecherous aristocrat? We still have Countrywide Dodd, so it isn’t like we are running out.
18-1 on August 28, 2009 at 9:24 PM
Actually, that is about how I feel about most of the programs they are trying to create and many that have been created over the last 70 years since the supreme court broadened its ruling on the interpertation of the interstate commerce clause.
TKSnider on August 28, 2009 at 9:25 PM
Well, the ratings for the Kennedy stuff pretty much sucks, from what I’ve heard. To most people he was just a fat, jowly lefty who was the brother of JFK and who left a woman to drown. RIP anyway.
ddrintn on August 28, 2009 at 9:25 PM
I don’t care that this man died, beyond the fact that he was a human being and his family is mourning. Ted Kennedy was a drunk, womanizer, and murderer. But, you know we’re supposed to just forget about all that, erect a statue in his honor and talk about what a great pro-choice Catholic he was. Give me a break.
church on August 28, 2009 at 9:26 PM
Read the Roesenbaum piece.As I commented there,Ron doesn’t realize Sarah rope-a-doped him TWICE.
I relish the brilliant Ivy League Liberals getting owned by SARAH the GREAT.
Huck doesn’t want to be out-manuevered by Sarah?That’s kind of like a hippo racing a cheetah.
DDT on August 28, 2009 at 9:26 PM
Not true. As with all government programs, the wealthy, politically connected, and children of privilege are exempt from the “mercies” bestowed upon the rest of the rabble.
Lehosh on August 28, 2009 at 9:27 PM
I know in the media and political world this a momentous passing, but if you are under 40 it’s who the hell is this guy, and if you are over 40 and not a leftist it’s just what happened to Hannity?
church on August 28, 2009 at 9:27 PM
Who are these insisting conservatives who think Teddy’s image is more important than my healthcare? If Huck wants to share a great point and make headlines for it, good.
Ronnie on August 28, 2009 at 9:28 PM
In the Boston area there were a couple of radio stations that preempted Rush for Kennedy coverage, so you’re probable right about the ratings.
Tommy_G on August 28, 2009 at 9:28 PM
A few above have alluded to what I wish to add:
.
Huckabee is a political opportunist in stealing both
Sarah Palin’s “death panels” logic and conciseness
by stating the obvious “follow-the-logical-consequences.”
.
That’s not a bad thing…just
give credit where credit is due.
Lockstein13 on August 28, 2009 at 9:30 PM
Now let Big Mike politize that old drunks passing.
Kennedy would have never made it to the pain pills. He would have been in front of the Death Panels 1 year ago. He should have been in front of the Death Squad several years ago when he committed Murder which happened while he was inebriated!
BigMike252 on August 28, 2009 at 9:31 PM
I’m so glad the Kennedy thing is now over. It was all a fabrication to begin with. I just hope none of those kids rises up and continues this line. The original three are gone and I don’t want to see any of their offspring.
church on August 28, 2009 at 9:31 PM
Ugh!
MEMO TO RNC!!
DO NOT REPEAT,the infighting,of the Republican nominee
dejavu,do-over 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
canopfor on August 28, 2009 at 9:32 PM
Chuck Krauthammer, George Will, Peggy Noonan and the rest of the Whig “serious conservative” talking heads and bloggers now furiously typing columns scolding Huckleberry for his rhetoric, “because it makes us look bad.”
james23 on August 28, 2009 at 9:33 PM
That’s old news huck,Rush said that when this o/care started.
ohiobabe on August 28, 2009 at 9:34 PM
That’s right. The “elite” are always treated better than the rest of us, even in the worst Socialist systems. Just look at Cuba. When Fidel got sick a couple of years ago, he flew in the best docs he could get from abroad — he didn’t check himself into a government-run hospital and let some Cuban surgeon do the job.
AZCoyote on August 28, 2009 at 9:34 PM
Actually, that brings up an interesting question. Can these people lionizing Ted actually name an actual accomplishment?
I’ve heard “he stood up for the little guy” (snicker) again and again…but nothing specific.
18-1 on August 28, 2009 at 9:34 PM
The trolls would’ve set the thread on fire.
Chaz706 on August 28, 2009 at 9:35 PM
……Dateline 9:00 PM Aug. 28, 2009….At the Exclusive Kennedy Memorial at the JFK Library, Chris Dodd was seen placing a sandwich in the casket of Senator Dead Ted Kennedy….
Huckabee…I like you better as a talkshow host. Tell it to Oprah and shut up. Please.
HornetSting on August 28, 2009 at 9:36 PM
Is this Teddyfest still going on? Good Lord. Let the man go to his rest.
Philly on August 28, 2009 at 9:36 PM
I’ll bet they don’t bother. That particular fight was over as soon as Palin posted “death panels”.
ddrintn on August 28, 2009 at 9:36 PM
note to RNC.
Watch out for us conservative folks here hucky dude….you don’t qualify in my eyes to run the president. rino in disguise. I don’t believe he is fiscally responsible enough for what this Nation needs.
Love you Sarah, my support to you-
hawkman on August 28, 2009 at 9:37 PM
I don’t think so. As far as I know, people of Kennedy’s age under Medicare get this kind of treatment. When people speak of rationing, it’s really about “non-life threatening” treatment. You can throw in preventative medicine to that mix too. The whole end of life planning thing is an attempt to cut care, but only shall we say “wasteful” care that occurs when people don’t make their wishes known and are kept alive an extra week when, if they had thought about it, would not have wished for that.
Palin pushed this kind of planning as governor of alaska. Republican congressmen have pushed this kind of planning in bills. It’s incredibly hypocritical for them to suddenly start with the death panel talk. Intellectually dishonest and broke.
Tom_Shipley on August 28, 2009 at 9:38 PM
This Obama HealthCare,I can`t wait till the mini-civil war
within the Liberal Party breaks out,
between the ObamaBots,
and the Ted KennedyBots in who’s name the
attempted HeathCare Bill will be named after!!!!!
canopfor on August 28, 2009 at 9:39 PM
Does anyone want to guess how much inheritance tax the Rotund Royalist’s heirs will pay?
MB4 on August 28, 2009 at 9:39 PM
I’m not much of a Huck fan but if he is willing to join the fight that Sarah picked then more power to him. His statement just adds to Palins “death panel” argument and we need all the help that we can get to stop Obama and his priorities.
farright on August 28, 2009 at 9:40 PM
Kennedy wouldn’t get the pill, he’s a Kennedy.
V15J on August 28, 2009 at 9:42 PM
Slow Joe Biden is speaking in front of the mourners. What could possibly go wrong?
Philly on August 28, 2009 at 9:42 PM
If filed in Massachusetts it would be substantial. I’m sure they will file out of state or something.
farright on August 28, 2009 at 9:43 PM
So Teddy got the very same treatment that Joe the retired 85-year-old window washer got? I somehow doubt that.
ddrintn on August 28, 2009 at 9:44 PM
Where he’s going he won’t be able to rest.
spacewife on August 28, 2009 at 9:45 PM
The differences would be magnified under ObamaCare, especially with budget stresses every year. How are costs going to be brought under control?
ddrintn on August 28, 2009 at 9:47 PM
Good point, spacewife.
Did Joe just call Ted “John” moments before he told the story of seeing Ted naked? Did I hear that? I’m turning the channel.
Philly on August 28, 2009 at 9:48 PM
I think most of the Kennedy clan’s ill-gotten loot is of in Fuji somewhere so they may even pay zip.
MB4 on August 28, 2009 at 9:48 PM
No, because he was a Senator and the royalty is exempt from the plan the peasants would have.
johnsteele on August 28, 2009 at 9:49 PM
Since when did Huck become an atheist?
The Ugly American on August 28, 2009 at 9:50 PM
Sarah won’t touch it….too much class.
takeamericabackin10 on August 28, 2009 at 9:51 PM
Slow Joe just said GD. Boy, those pious Kennedys will go nuts. SNORT
Philly on August 28, 2009 at 9:51 PM
Yes
SouthernGent on August 28, 2009 at 9:52 PM
When FOX does this kind of thing I
keep thinking they are all turning
into Shep.
spacewife on August 28, 2009 at 9:52 PM
Does anyone want to guess how much inheritance tax the Rotund Royalist’s heirs will pay?
MB4 on August 28, 2009 at 9:39 PM
MB4: Isn`t the tax supposed to be 50%!!:)
canopfor on August 28, 2009 at 9:53 PM
HIS ATTEMPT AT “DEATH PANELS” ATTENTION GRABBING?
Of course he’s partially right. Actually:
1. Had he part of the PEON Plan (a/k/a Obamacare) he would have been given the pill when he became obese.
2. Since he’s on the Platinum Congress plan he died with dignity (the kind Mary Jo didn’t get by the way).
He’s fighting for position with the Conservative base. Good news for Obama though. Huckleberry can do like he did in 2008 and split Conservatives so that some RINO might get the nomination in 2012. Thanks Gomer!!!
9-12 anyone?
PappyD61 on August 28, 2009 at 9:53 PM
That’s because there are no specifics. He was loudmouthed blowhard with no real accomplishments other than being a cutty sark sponge with a pedigree name.
Tim Zank on August 28, 2009 at 9:53 PM
Given anchors like Shep Smith, and its frequent global warming updates and this nonstop, all-Ted, all-the-time, funeral coverage, will somebody explain to me why Fox News is said to lean to the right?
whitetop on August 28, 2009 at 9:54 PM
Shut up, Joe. Obama must be sweating bullets right now.
Philly on August 28, 2009 at 9:55 PM
It will be early to rise and late to bed with plenty of hot activities in between.
MB4 on August 28, 2009 at 9:55 PM
Tacky and unnecessary. It also paints us no better than the Left, who just hours after Ted was gone, was trying to use his corpse as bludgeon for Government takeover of Health Care.
michaelo on August 28, 2009 at 9:56 PM
The ones that howl about fox being right wing have never watched fox. They’ve only READ about Fox on websites and kistened to Keef.
Tim Zank on August 28, 2009 at 9:56 PM
No, we LIKE Joe to talk.
spacewife on August 28, 2009 at 9:56 PM
Well, under Obamacare, Kennedy would have been able to afford to travel to a country with first-rate medical care, like Mexico or India, and pay for treatment there.
malclave on August 28, 2009 at 9:58 PM
Soooo, we have kept our mouths shut for much too long
about too many things!
spacewife on August 28, 2009 at 10:01 PM
What is the Kennedy record of actually paying taxes? Ted Kennedy of course is a millionaire. You’d think the inheritance tax would affect him. How has that worked out? The reality is that the Kennedys have set up dozens of trusts around the world to avoid paying the very tax that he says is important to pay in the name of social justice: the inheritance tax. What’s particularly ironic about this is, for a long time, their largest asset was Merchandise Mart, the real estate conglomerate. When they decided to set up a trust, where do they domicile that trust? Anybody want to guess? Was it Massachusetts, their home state? Florida? California? Delaware?
The Kennedys domiciled Merchandize Mart, with more than $600 million, on the Pacific Island nation of Fiji. Has Ted Kennedy ever been to Fiji? I don’t think there’s any record that he has. But they picked Fiji because it avoids IRS scrutiny, the sort that you would get if you domiciled the trust in the United States.
The reality today is that Ted Kennedy receives money from trusts established numerous times, from 1926, 1936, 1978, 1987, and 1997, and those trusts of course are designed to avoid paying the inheritance tax.
What does this actually mean in practical terms? Let me give you the bottom line. Ted Kennedy supports an inheritance tax of 49%. Forty-nine percent of what you have goes to the IRS after you die. Now, what rate did the Kennedys pay? The Kennedys have transferred $300 million, this is all according to their records, they have transferred $300 million from one generation to the other, and out of that, they have paid $132,000 in taxes, which is nowhere near 49%? Actually it’s .004 percent. The Kennedys, like a lot of other people on the left, love the idea of paying taxes for other people. When it comes to themselves, they’re not so interested.
MB4 on August 28, 2009 at 10:02 PM
Prior to FOXN when you would discuss media bias with lefties, they would argue there was no such thing, journalists might also all be lefties, but it has no effect on the news. Conservatives would point to endless example of bias.
This meant that conservatives would invariably win the argument – there is a natural inclination to split the difference when observing this sort of discussion, and such a splitting still leaves the observer with the notion that the media is biased, if less then conservatives claim.
Once FOXN showed up though, the left could make a different argument. Unlike the MSM, FOXN is pretty balanced, which means that the Left can find examples of bias against them. So now, they could ignore examples of FOXN tilting left, and answer criticism of the MSM with selected elements from FOXN. This then leads to a draw in the discussion as the natural inclination now is to presume that both the MSM and FOXN equally biased, and therefore conservatives don’t have much of a claim against the MSM.
18-1 on August 28, 2009 at 10:05 PM
There are A LOT of Americans who travel to India to have operations because they can’t afford them in the U.S.
Tom_Shipley on August 28, 2009 at 10:07 PM
I don’t care too much about how we are judged on points by the Cambridge debating squad. I want to win and restore our nation to some semblance of a representative Republic. And for that to happen we need to start borrowing some of the left’s tactics.
18-1 on August 28, 2009 at 10:07 PM
That is why Huckabee will forever be known (thanks to Mark Levin) as Huckaphony.
Sorry Huck, Sarah is the leader of the conservative movement. Get over it.
cubachi on August 28, 2009 at 10:18 PM
Are negative numbers a possibility? The Kennedys have probably figured out how to get royalties from Ted’s greatest legislative hits ala Michael Jackson to offset any death tax. Besides, the Taxachusetts legislature will probably declare the Kennedy clan as a non-taxable state treasure.
Fletch54 on August 28, 2009 at 10:21 PM
So, would those operations be available here under ObamaCare? Who decides?
ddrintn on August 28, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Teddy had his stroke in Hyannis,MA. Did he seek treatment there-no. Did he seek treatment in Boston at Mass General or any other of their fine hospitals- no. Teddy went all the way to Duke in Durham,NC. If we were under Obama/Kennedy Health Care do you think any of us would have those choices?
illinidriller on August 28, 2009 at 10:48 PM
The Huckster is wrong as usual. Under Obamacare only the little people will have their care rationed; elites like Kennedy will be unaffacted.
edshepp on August 28, 2009 at 10:51 PM
edshepp on August 28, 2009 at 10:51 PM
correct ed.
bazil9 on August 28, 2009 at 10:55 PM
I like very much what you stated following your first sentence. But it seems to me your first sentence in principle ignores two things that are needed to “win”. There are significant numbers of Republicans willing in certain circumstances to vote for Democrats and there are lots of Independents willing to to do the same thing in some circumstances. And many of both types use a kind of, figuratively speaking, “Cambridge debating squad” type of thinking to finally judge which of the main two parties they are going to vote for in any given election.
Basil Fawlty on August 28, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Huckabee has been talking about rationing for seniors for awhile. Look back four weeks ago on his show. Yes that was before Palin talked about death panels. But no one paid attention to what Huckabee was saying. Well, except for all the seniors who wrote in to say thanks to Huckabee for telling the truth about Obamacare.
Good for Huckabee to be telling the folks that rationing will happen with Obamacare. The government is not going to be paying for a 77 year old to have surgery for a brain tumor. That kind of money would be saved and used for a 20, 30 or 40 year old. Unless of course they had money and connections or like Kennedy, had a senator’s healthcare plan.
texasconserv on August 28, 2009 at 11:06 PM
Good for Huck. I’ve been thinking it ever since Teddy’s death. Again, good for Huck.
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on August 28, 2009 at 11:07 PM
Huck is a good man…good for him for speaking the truth.
njpat on August 28, 2009 at 11:09 PM
My respect for Huck has grown by leaps and bounds since he dropped out of the race and focused on debating Democrats instead of fellow Repubs. And also since he got his show… having that show has really shown a good side of him.
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on August 28, 2009 at 11:12 PM
I found it interesting that all of the liberals
Ran for cover like cockroaches when the
Story about how the liberals wanted to va
to INSTRUCT or GUIDe our soliders
On when to take their own lives..
For the Sake of the system of course..
Now we see huckabee rightfully asking
Hey how would kennedy have been treasted if he were
under obama care as a regular person.
http://www.veteranoutrage.com
I put some pics up on my site that supposedly are from the wonderful communist run hospitals of cuba..
I wonder if kennedy would have been treated AT ALL
under obama care – or would they have dumped his butt
out on the street and told him to WALK HOME
as they couldnt afford the ambulance to take him back home to die..
http://www.veteranoutrage.com
Because when you go for obamacare..
You wont have any care at all..
veteranoutrage on August 28, 2009 at 11:30 PM
So is Huckabee now supporting Obamacare?
lavell12 on August 28, 2009 at 11:34 PM
Huckabee is right. He keeps getting better. If you watch his show and listen to his radio bits, he’s becoming an impressive and effective Obama opponent. No wonder he does the best against BHO in all the polls.
ceruleanblue on August 28, 2009 at 11:56 PM
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