The opponents of reforming this system have raised a stink over the last couple of weeks about fictitious "death panels", but the reality is that these people have formed their own national death panel.  They are saying, quite plainly, to the uninsured: Go ahead and die.  They're saying that they don't mind one bit if you die from a disease that could have been prevented.  They're saying that they don't care that your condition could have been treated early and affordably.  They're saying that they'd rather foot the free-rider costs, in the form of ever-increasing premiums, of your expensive, last-ditch treatment when you finally show up in an emergency room.  They're saying to one sixth of their fellow Americans that they'd prefer all of this to reforms that would reduce costs and increase access.

They're openly applauding that healthcare expenditures continue to soar past their current level, fully one sixth of our national economy.

Opponents of reform are demanding the continuation of a status quo that sees 3,000 of their fellow Americans needlessly die on their home soil every two months.

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Cross-posted at dagblog.com