Guess what! Sarah Palin was right- there ARE death panels. Run by Republicans.

[jesidres]

Remember the story about organ transplant funding being cut in Arizona? Here's a human face for it: Tonight on Countdown, Keith Olbermann interviewed two men who have been denied transplants because of this 'budget cut', and their families.

Warning: Potentially triggery.


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Comments

[schexyschteve]

I keep saying that the things Republicans shout the loudest about the other side doing are really things they do or plan to do. It's called projecting.

[hinoema]

EXACTLY this. People (or parties) are most afraid of others doing the things they'd be most likely to do.

[kyra_neko_rei]

WTF Arizona, you have nothing else that could be cut? Nothing that's more a waste of money, or less essential?

Honestly, the fact that they're cutting this program at the same time that they're paying Joe Arpaio's salary sickens me. It's not quite as sickening as the part where they're prioritizing making abstract numbers measure up on an imaginary playing field given importance by common agreement to forget it's an illusion, over actual human lives . . . but still pretty sickening.

[entropius]

Arizona operates under the delusion that somehow immigrants are a drag on the economy, rather than the asset that they actually are, and they seem to think that paying Arpaio and his cronies is actually a net benefit to the state.

We could save so much money by just running that bastard out of Arizona at cactus-point.

[hinoema]

Plus this is the same Arpaio who stole huge sums from the state to pay for perks and vacations for his posse, BUT WHO STILL HAS A JOB. It's just beyond enraging.

ETA:

[hinoema]

Had to look up the number. They suspect that Arpaio made off with as much as $80M. I wonder how many of these people that could have saved?

[firerosearien]

So the guy I'm talking to right now....is a liver transplant recipient. And alive and well.

Also, liver lobes can be donated from a living donor, assuming the donor is a match--which is another matter entirely.

[entropius]

So, there is something to be said for rationing of care from public funds. If we have X amount of money, and we want to use it to save as many lives (or as much quality of life) as possible, it's probably more efficient to use that money treating a larger number of people with conditions like diabetes, depression, appendicitis, etc., than on very expensive treatments like transplants.

You can make an argument that we should be spending more money from the public purse on free health care for the poor (I think we should), but once that amount is set, you're going to have prioritize how to spend it.

But what we did in this case is just plain wrong -- promising things to people and going back on it. That is a whole different ball of wax: we should be able to trust our government's word, dammit.

[thenakedcat]

I think this horrible example of take-backsies is an excellent argument for having a health care mandate and for rationing decisions being made by a non-profit entity. I mean, ultimately this was precipitated by private insurance companies turning down "bad investments".

[ladypolitik]

I cant beleive this SHIT IS REAL, WHAT.