People say the darndest things, don’t they? I mean, politicians, they’re certainly given to hyperbole. But “death panels?” Please.

Elections, man. They have consequences. I guess that doesn’t sink in, though, when you think that elections only count when your side wins.

The Republicans promised “sensible alternatives” to Democratic health care reform. They have offered none. Instead, they have chosen this debate as the one to use to “break” the president. And, as promised, they’re engaging “in every activity we can” to do so.

This is a fear-based ideology that depends on lies to keep its citizens under control with absolutely no sense of irony. They lie to people already afraid. Pity.

The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

– Sarah Palin

When will someone stand up and say, “Traitor?” When will someone stand up and say, “Thieves?” … The American way of life is being systematically dismantled and destroyed! The republic is in danger!

– Glenn Beck

The AARP just held a tele-town hall supporting Obama on his health care takeover plans, and this is at odds, it seems to me, with the best interests of millions of AARP members, given that that health care plan puts a discount on the lives of elderly people and would result in the redistribution of health away from the elderly and the infirm to other special favored interests and patients.

– Michelle Malkin

Some people are saying, well, this is a health care reform, other people say — maybe me — that this is a subtle form of euthanasia. And when you start looking at the proposals, you say, God, what’s happening? One of the proposals, Section 1233, talks about advanced care planning consultations. And that’s a fancy term where a doctor goes to you every five years once you’re 65, or more if you’re chronically ill, and explains to you the benefits of so-called palliative care, of not giving active treatment.

– Peter Johnson Jr.

Who needs to learn what here? This president has exposed himself, I think, as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or white culture.

– Glenn Beck

Democrats, they’re continuing their efforts to attack average Americans who are speaking out at town halls all across this country. They’ve been called ‘angry mobs.’ They have been dismissed as Republican operatives but why are liberals so afraid of freedom of speech?

– Sean Hannity

I’ve never heard in my life a president tell the American people to shut up … As a matter of fact, if you look at the people around him, he’s got Al Capone there, who is Rahm Emanuel; he’s got Meyer Lansky, who is David Axelrod; He, I think, would be Saul Alinsky, so if they want to call names, we can call names, too.
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As a matter of fact, let me suggest that if there’s anything that happens at these town hall meetings, if anybody’s hurt or anything really stupid happens, this white house has some responsibility for it … If something terrible happens at one of these town hall meetings, I think the president in part can be held accountable.

– Mark Levin

What does it say about this president, what does it say about the Democratic Party that they would now orchestrate attacks against Americans and smear them and discredit them and besmirch them?

– Sean Hannity

It says, number one, the president is at war with the American people, politically. He’s literally at war with the citizens in this country, in a political sense. What Obama and the Democrats really want is government-run, single-payer (health care) plan … because they want to steal your liberty, steal your ability to choose what doctor you have… They want to ram this home while they can, but we’re going to slow ‘em down.

– Mark Levin

The government is getting in between you and your doctor.

– Sen. Orrin Hatch

We’ve been battling this socialist health care, the nationalization of health care, that is going to absolutely kill senior citizens. They’ll put them on lists and force them to die early because they won’t get the treatment as early as they need. … I would rather stop this socialization of health care because once the government pays for your health care, they have every right to tell you what you eat, what you drink, how you exercise, where you live. … But if we’re going to pay 700 million dollars like we voted last Friday to put condoms on wild horses, and I know it just says an un-permanent enhanced contraception whatever the heck that is. I guess it follows that they’re eventually get around to doing it to us.

– U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert

Last week Democrats released a health care bill which essentially said to America’s seniors: drop dead.

– U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite

This is a scary time in Washington. It’s a very frightening time. I see Barack Obama is creating an enemies list of people who oppose this miserable health care plan. I think that’s frightening. That’s from a guy that can’t even show a long-form birth certificate. I think we all ought to be prepared to fight that.

– U.S. Rep. John Sullivan

That this bill will lead to a rationing of health care to such a degree that if you fall into a certain age group or category, you will be denied coverage. You will be denied service. It is that simple.

– RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Back home for the August recess, rank-and-file Democratic Members of the House are facing a backlash from their constituents, who are already fed up with Washington’s job-killing agenda and don’t support Democrats’ government takeover of health care. … Unless Democratic leaders agree to work with Republicans on a bipartisan plan that achieves real reform that Americans are seeking, it will be a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress.

– House Minority Leader John Boehner

The Republican National Committee will engage in every activity we can to slow down this mad rush while promoting sensible alternatives that address health care costs and preserve quality.

– RNC Memo

If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.

– U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint

What they don’t want you to hear. It’s not perfect — that would require cooperation instead of obstruction from the other side. But there’s no comparison with what we have now. And “death panels?” Oh my god, could you be anymore blatantly manipulative and untruthful.

But that’s what the former governor of Alaska was told about the Democratic plan’s advanced planning option. Notice the word — option. And the other two words — advanced planning. That doesn’t mean euthanasia, you idiots. That means being responsible and thinking about what comes next, although I know that’s part of what this is all about for — you can’t bear the thought of dying.

Guess what? Everybody dies. Planning for it means more than writing up a will about who gets what of your lifelong accumulations, because, and this may be hard for you to grasp, but there’s more to life than material gain.

And there’s more to end of life planning than death. Maybe, just maybe, if we all got over our obsession with death we’d actually think about things a little more clearly.

So, let me explain what reform will mean for you. And let me start by dispelling the outlandish rumors that reform will promote euthanasia, cut Medicaid, or bring about a government takeover of health care. That’s simply not true. This isn’t about putting government in charge of your health insurance; it’s about putting you in charge of your health insurance. Under the reforms we seek, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.

And while reform is obviously essential for the 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, it will also provide more stability and security to the hundreds of millions who do. Right now, we have a system that works well for the insurance industry, but that doesn’t always work well for you. What we need, and what we will have when we pass health insurance reform, are consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and that insurance companies are held accountable.

We will require insurance companies to cover routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms, colonoscopies, or eye and foot exams for diabetics, so we can avoid chronic illnesses that cost too many lives and too much money.

We will stop insurance companies from denying coverage because of a person’s medical history. I will never forget watching my own mother, as she fought cancer in her final days, worrying about whether her insurer would claim her illness was a preexisting condition. I have met so many Americans who worry about the same thing. That’s why, under these reforms, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage because of a previous illness or injury. And insurance companies will no longer be allowed to drop or water down coverage for someone who has become seriously ill. Your health insurance ought to be there for you when it counts – and reform will make sure it is.

With reform, insurance companies will also have to limit how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses. And we will stop insurance companies from placing arbitrary caps on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime because no one in America should go broke because of illness.

In the end, the debate about health insurance reform boils down to a choice between two approaches. The first is almost guaranteed to double health costs over the next decade, make millions more Americans uninsured, leave those with insurance vulnerable to arbitrary denials of coverage, and bankrupt state and federal governments. That’s the status quo. That’s the health care system we have right now.

So, we can either continue this approach, or we can choose another one – one that will protect people against unfair insurance practices; provide quality, affordable insurance to every American; and bring down rising costs that are swamping families, businesses, and our budgets. That’s the health care system we can bring about with reform.

There are those who are focused on the so-called politics of health care; who are trying to exploit differences or concerns for political gain. That’s to be expected. That’s Washington. But let’s never forget that this isn’t about politics. This is about people’s lives. This is about people’s businesses. This is about America’s future. That’s what is at stake. That’s why health insurance reform is so important. And that’s why we must get this done – and why we will get this done – by the end of this year.

– President Barack Obama