Bachmann: Senior Citizens' 'Lives Literally Are On The Line With ObamaCare'

[RedEarth]

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is continuing to warn that senior citizens are in danger from "death panels" under President Obama's new health care legislation, predicting that seniors could lose their lives -- and their money, too.

Bachmann visited Duluth over the weekend, a city that is located in the district of Democratic Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN). Fittingly enough, the local Republicans put their speaker's podium in the middle of a boxing ring, and Bachmann was putting up her rhetorical dukes.

"Senior citizens have followed this issue more than anyone," said Bachmann. "Senior citizens are very smart. And they have been absolutely opposed to ObamaCare going forward, because senior citizens are the ones whose lives literally are on the line with ObamaCare."

"Because if you have 500 -- over $500 billion in new taxes, and senior citizens have the bulk of the wealth in United States," Bachmann explained. "So you have 500 -- and they should, they've worked their whole life for it -- $500 billion in new taxes, huge increases in health insurance premiums, over $500 billion in cuts to Medicare. "No new doctors, by the way. Thirty-two million more people in the system, but according to Barack Obama it's gonna be over 50 new million people in the system, what do you think is going to happen? It's called rationing.

"And when you ration care, that means you get less. You don't get in to see the doctor, you don't get an appointment, you don't get a surgery. You don't, you don't, you don't.

"That's the death panels. And of course, the Democrats go crazy when you talk about death panels. But when you have a senior citizen who is told, no, you can't have an MRI; no, you can't have a CT scan; no, you're not getting a hip replacement; no, you're not getting the bypass, what is that? What is that, when you're told no?"

Here is the video of Bachmann's full speech, courtesy of The Uptake. The key moment comes at 41:30:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/bachmann-senior-citizens-lives-literally-are-on-the-line-with-obamacare-video.php?ref=fpb

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Lives are on the line without Obamacare, so what's her solution-- do nothing?

[emulatorloo]

2. Bold-faced Liar or Stupidest Person Ever Born?

I guess it doesn't make much difference, the fearmongering results are the same.

[City Lights]

3. You're an idiot, Michelle.

How the hell did you get elected?

[Bitwit1234]

7. Go look at her district...

It winds it's way thru all the republican strongholds in Minneapolis and surrounding areas. Phewlenty and his minions redrew the district after the last census to make it republican. BUT the next governor is going to change it. Bye bye bachmann good riddance.

[City Lights]

8. Ah, Michelle is a re-districting miracle. That explains it.

Thanks for the info. :hi:

[Flying Dream Blues]

4. Her version of logic is breathtaking.

Seniors have all the money, so they are really going to suffer? And no new doctors? I guess all the med schools have shut down. And she also has that habit of defining two-syllable words that she stole from her hero, *, :
"And when you ration care, that means you get less."
:rofl:

[midnight]

5. Who does she think put the donut hole in medicare?

[gratuitous]

6. Bachmann better hope she's wrong

Because if the senior citizens she was addressing are indeed "very smart," they'll know what a liar she is. But, I suppose since the passage of the new health care law that some older folks have indeed died, Bachmann can hysterically point to those deaths as her "proof" that the law is flawed: People are still dying! ZOMG!

[Blue Owl]

9. The death panels are coming to give Michelle a lobotomy

oh wait a second -- there's nothing inside that empty head!

[spanone]

10. when truth is no longer relevant, all bets are off

[marmar]

11. Hopefully health reform will include expanded mental health coverage....

Michele sure needs it.

[RandomKoolzip]

12. "Literally?" So, there's a...uh...line somewhere? Like a median strip on a highway?

And there's old peoples', uh, like LIVES on this line?

Just forget the actual intent and content of what she's saying - obviously it's despicable - it's the mangled misuse of the word "literally," when one actually means its opposite, that irks me the most.

[RB TexLa]

13. Sometimes the answer is no to MRIs, CT scans, hip replacements, and bypasses. Medicare does not

just pay for any and everything a doctor wants. Can you imagine what taxes and insurance premiums would be if government and private plans just blindly said yes to everything doctors and facilities asked for?

Under the current system and any future system the answer is going to sometimes be no to things. Thankfully.