Grandma is okay with the Tea Party | Eastern North Carolina Now

    I'm writing to address Ms. Winborne's letter, published in Greenville's Daily Reflector on April 29, which accused the Tea Party and the GOP of trying to put grandma in an early grave by seeking budget cuts. Well, that is simply outrageous and ridiculous. The fact is that our government promises too much to too many people but continues to relieve too many of them from contributing. We continue to fund lifestyles that place a huge burden on our fiscal well-being. You eventually run out of other people's money, which is where we are now. If Ms. Winborne wants to accuse leaders of sending grandma to an early grave, then she should look no further than Obama himself and his group of healthcare advisors.

    Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a bioethicist chosen by President Obama as a special advisor to the OMB for health policy, advocates cutting spending for the elderly to cut costs. He wrote in a leading medical journal: "Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination; Every person lives through different life stages rather than being a single age. Even if 25-year-olds receive priority over 65-year-olds, everyone who is 65 years now was previously 25 years." (Lancet, Vol. 373, Jan. 31, 2009). He says doctors take the Hippocratic oath too seriously. He doesn't believe that doctors should "do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others." (JAMA, June 18, 2008).

    Section 3403 of the Healthcare bill sets up the Independent Payment Advisory Board (15 presidentially-appointed experts to set caps on healthcare spending). By 2018, it will be tied to our nation's GDP. Perhaps the IPAB will consist of those who think like Emanuel.

    So, if people like Ms. Winborne want to embrace federalized healthcare and trust Obama, then they should know what is coming down the road and not be so tough on the Tea Party and the GOP. Fiscal conservatism allows more money for our beloved seniors.


    Publisher's note: Here below is the original opinion piece by Shirley Winborne of Greenville, NC, published in the Greenville Daily Reflector.


Tea Party, GOP Bad for Grandma

    Thank God I still have health insurance. Even though I have benefits, I'm still required to make a co-payment before a doctor will even consider seeing me. If I'm sick and don't have the co-pay, I'll either get better by the grace of God or die from my illness.

    We are no longer a country that embraces caring for the poor, feeble or hungry. Personally, I think there's a movement of ethnic cleansing without the bullets. It's raising its ugly head through the new Tea Party and scared politicians who want to hold on to the power that comes with the position. Some of the same people who were screaming that President Barack Obama wanted to "pull the plug on grandma" are now in favor of making drastic cuts or eliminating Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- all programs that support grandma at a time when she can't.

    They want the elderly to pay more toward their health benefits. Have these people looked at the average check of someone on Social Security?

    A two-night stay in the hospital can quickly exceed $10,000 not including lab testing, anesthesia and doctor bills. If the cuts are made that the Tea Party and some Republicans are advocating, the results will be more homeless, crime, spreading of disease and more people using the emergency room for medical care. And who will pay for that? The taxpayers. The poetry on the Statue of Liberty may as well be rewritten and state, "We don't want your tired, poor, sick or old. We only want the rich, young, healthy and well educated -- preferably those of European dissent."

    Oh yes, I believe the new form of ethnic cleansing/genocide is by use of the pen, under the disguise of balancing the budget.

    Diane Rufino has her own blog For Love of God and Country. Come and visit her. She'd love your company.