The real death panels are in Arizona

The false, debunked talking point of so-called “death panels” invented by the right and popularized by former half-term Alaska Governor and failed GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin to kill health insurance reform was a bad fairy tale, but it appears there are real death panels, at least in Arizona.

According to CBS News, second person denied transplant coverage by Arizona under a state budget cut has died this month after Republican Gov. Jan Brewer and the Republican-led Legislature reduced Medicaid coverage for transplants under cuts included to help close a shortfall in the state budget.

Republicans are right in saying that U.S. has one of the best health care systems in the world, but the problem is that only those who can afford it have access to it. That’s what the historic health care insurance reform passed last March was all about, access.

A lack of health care coverage has led to the death of millions of Americans, but this latest example has only led to two. But we can expect more deaths.
Dr. Rainer Gruessner, chair of the University of Arizona Surgery Department, said as many as 30 Arizona transplant patients will die because of this cut this year.
What’s even more disgusting is we are talking about $1.4 million of funding. If you divide $1.4 million by 30 that means each life is worth only $46,000 to Brewer and her death panels. It’s sad that in a budget in excess of $8 billon, they can’t find $1.4 million to save lives.

Those are the real death panels.

Arizona Governor tries to punish TV station for exposing her corruption

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s decision to cancel her political advertising on Phoenix TV station KPHO for exposing the real reason she is so supportive of the racist Arizona show-me-your-papers law illustrates why the adverting departments and editorial departments are so segregated at newspapers and TV stations.

Brewer’s campaign manager and communications director are lobbyists for Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest private prison company in the country, and they run most of the prisons in Arizona. But not only that, CCA holds the contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to lock up illegal immigrants picked up in Arizona. The new show-me-your-papers law could send thousands of new clients and millions of dollars its way.

When the station brought that fact to the attention of Brewer’s campaign manager, he lied and said those people racially profiled and picked up on immigration violations go to local, public jails, but that’s simply not true. According to KPHO, “ICE’s spokesman in Phoenix told CBS 5 News the agency gets most of its detainees from local law enforcement.” In fact, the station filed a FOIA request and discovered Arizona agencies turned over 23,000 illegal immigrants to ICE over the past three years. “Hundreds of them ended in up CCA facilities.”

Brewer has refused to talk to the station, both through a formal request for a sit down interview, and via numerous ambush attempts by the TV guy to ask her about it at various campaign events where she basically runs away from the camera.

But to me, the big story is her decision to punish the TV station for doing an excellent job of investigative reporting and canceling her campaign advertising on the station. If the station has any credibility it will tell her to get bent and continue exposing her corruption.

Newspapers and TV stations are the only industries that often lose money for doing a great job.