I've learned over the years not to trust every claim that someone makes, especially if the claim is outrageous or bizarre. So when I see that someone claims that Obama's health advisor, Ezekiel Emanuel (Rahm Emanuel's brother) supports rationing health care only to those who serve the needs of the government, I wanted to verify this. Yup! Back in 1996, Dr. Emanuel wrote this article in which he says, quite bluntly:
Procedurally, it suggests the need for public forums to deliberate about which health services should be considered basic and should be socially guaranteed. Substantively, it suggests services that promote the continuation of the polity-those that ensure healthy future generations, ensure development of practical reasoning skills, and ensure full and active participation by citizens in public deliberations-are to be socially guaranteed as basic. Conversely, services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia. A less obvious example Is is guaranteeing neuropsychological services to ensure children with learning disabilities can read and learn to reason. [emphasis added]It's not quite down there with the rationalizations for the T4 program, but it makes my blood run cold. How far do you have to go from there to justify not wasting resources on the retarded?
UPDATE: Just to clarify: Dr. Emanuel wasn't arguing against you being able to spend your own resources or purchase private health insurance if you aren't sufficiently a member of the master race for the government to consider you a worthwhile investment. But the combination of this view with Obama's maybe he's for single payer, maybe he's not, is a bit worrisome.
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