Kirsten Powers: Tweets 'apologies' for insisting 'Bush put in place end of life

Administration reverses on end-of-life counseling
WASHINGTON (AP) — Reversing a potentially Controversial decision, the Obama Administration will drop references to end-of-life counseling from the ground rules for Medicare’s new annual checkup, a White House official said Wednesday. The latest shift on the sensitive subject comes ahead of a vote next week in the new GOP-led House to Repeal President Barack Obama’s landmark Health Care overhaul. The decision is not likely to have much impact on patients and doctors already disc...

Administration reverses on end-of-life counseling
Reversing a potentially Controversial decision, the Obama Administration will drop references to end-of-life counseling from the ground rules for Medicare's new annual checkup, a White House official said Wednesday. The latest shift on the sensitive subject comes ahead of a vote next week in the new GOP-led House to Repeal President Barack Obama's landmark Health Care overhaul. The decision is not likely to have much impact on patients and doctors already discussing options for care in the last ...

No More "Death Panels"
The move is an abrupt shift, coming just days after the new policy took effect on Jan. 1. Many doctors and providers of hospice care had praised the Regulation, which listed "advance care planning" as one of the services that could be offered in the "annual wellness visit" for Medicare beneficiaries. While administration officials cited procedural reasons for changing the rule, it was clear that political concerns were also a factor. The renewed debate over advance care planning threatened to be...

Reference to End-of-Life Planning Dropped in New Medicare Rule
The Obama Administration reversed course and dropped a specific reference to end-of-life planning in a new Medicare rule explaining what is covered in annual check-ups. The rule change, removing references to "advance care planning," does not affect a Medicare recipient's "ability to have those voluntary conversations with their doctors" about end-of-life decisions, an administration official told the New York Times. Reporter Robert Pear said it was clear "political concerns" accounted for the r...

A Physician's Take on the "Death Panel" Revelation
Over the Christmas holiday weekend, The New York Times revealed that the Obama Administration's Medicare Regulators have enacted new regulatory guidelines, in complete defiance of Congress, that will result in Health Care providers receiving payment to give annual “end-of-life counseling” to their patients. As a physician, I can tell you that we doctors do routinely have end-of-life discussions with our patients. This is a necessary part of our job. But we do it when it is appropriate and in...

Obama Administration Reverses Decision On End-Of-Life Counseling
WASHINGTON — Reversing a potentially Controversial decision, the Obama Administration will drop references to end-of-life counseling from the ground rules for Medicare's new annual checkup, a White House official said Wednesday. The latest shift on the sensitive subject comes ahead of a vote next week in the new GOP-led House to Repeal President Barack Obama's landmark Health Care overhaul. The decision is not likely to have much impact on patients and doctors already discussing options ...

Kirsten Powers Fesses Up; The Hill and Politico Silent on Truth about Bush Veto Override
The other day I pointed out that Fox News analyst Kirsten Powers should really Fact Check any talking point coming from the White House and held her responsible (fair is fair) for her own ignorance of the end-of-life provision that she debated on Hannity. To review, Powers said that President George W. Bush’s Veto of the bill that included the end-of-life provision was “not true.”  I reported at Big Government, Big Journalism, and HotAir that Bush vetoed that bill which Pow...

CHANGE: Kirsten Powers Fesses Up; The Hill and Politico Silent on Truth about Bush Veto Override.
CHANGE: Kirsten Powers Fesses Up; The Hill and Politico Silent on Truth about Bush Veto Override. ...

Obama Regime: On Second Thought, Maybe We Wont Use Death Panels
Many doctors and providers of hospice care had praised the Regulation, which listed “advance care planning” as one of the services that could be offered in the “annual wellness visit” for Medicare beneficiaries. While administration officials cited procedural reasons for changing the rule, it was clear that political concerns were also a factor. The renewed debate over advance care planning threatened to become a distraction to administration officials who were geari...

A Crash Of Symbols
The newly-Republican House has announced two of their first planned actions once they formally take office and power. First up, they're going to read the entire Constitution on the floor of the House. Then, the first bill they will file will be the Repeal of ObamaCare. On the former, I wonder just what they will read --the whole thing, including the parts that have since been repealed and amendments, or just the main body as amended? But that's just the nerd in me. Silghtly more important, I w...

Administration Reverses on End-of-Life Counseling
Wednesday, January 05, 2011 By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press Washington (AP) - Reversing a potentially Controversial decision, the Obama Administration will drop references to end-of-life counseling from the ground rules for Medicare's new annual checkup, a White House official said Wednesday. The latest shift on the sensitive subject comes ahead of a vote next week in the new GOP-led House to Repeal President Barack Obama's landmark Health Care overhaul. The decision is not lik...

No More Mister Nice Blog
IF WE WERE A NATION OF SPOCKS, THIS MIGHT WORK Republicans, unsurprisingly, plan an early vote on Health Care Repeal: Incoming House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said the new Republican-controlled House will look to repeal Democratic Health Care overhaul Legislation before President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address later this month.... Yes, it can't...

Washington Week
President Obama’s administration issued 16,200 Regulations the previous year as compared to 28,400 in the period from April 1996 through Dec. 31, 2000. If this doesn’t get your jaw dropping, a 57 percent increase in the staffing and the federal Budget monies devoted to developing and enforcing federal Regulations should have you shaking your head. Also, in order to get an accurate picture of Regulators run amok, you need to add to these 16,200 regs the thousands of Regulations ...

Report: 'Death panel' provision removed from Obama Medicare rule
The Obama Administration will remove a brand-new Medicare policy that had reignited the "Death Panel" debate from last year's healthcare fight. The provision to be eliminated would have covered end-of-life consultations as part of annual wellness examinations created by the new Healthcare Reform law, according to a report. The reversal comes a week after some Conservatives accused the Obama Administration of trying to sneak through a Regulation after failing to gain congressional support. A pr...

Schumer urges GOP keep doughnut hole closed
WASHINGTON — Sen. Charles E. Schumer laid some of the groundwork Tuesday for the coming fight in Congress over Health Care reform, predicting that the program's Repeal could force some Senior Citizens back into the Medicare "doughnut hole" that the reform package gradually eliminates. Some Medicare prescription drug beneficiaries already have started to realize savings from the elimination of the doughnut hole, which began to take effect Jan. 1. The doughnut hole is a gap in coverage...

Symbolism on Capitol Hill
Wed Jan. 5, 2011 7:59 AM PST Almost as soon as they take control of the House at noon Wednesday, Republicans will embark on a 20-day plan aimed at undoing major aspects of President Obama's agenda as they seek to take advantage of the weeks before the Senate's return and the president's State of the Union address. ....Much of what Republicans do will be symbolic, given that Democrats still control the Senate and the White House. But the quick action will allow Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the...

End of end-of-life care provision; federal tax credits for home schooling debated
For political reasons, the provision underwriting doctor-patient end-of-life care discussions has been dumped. The Obama Administration, reversing course, will revise a Medicare Regulation to delete references to end-of-life planning as part of the annual physical examinations covered under the new health care law, administration officials said Tuesday. The move is an abrupt shift, coming just days after the new policy took effect on Jan. 1. Many doctors and providers of hospice care had pra...

Fox News Kirsten Powers Falsely Claims Bush Supported Earlier End-Of-Life Law
Where was your outrage in 2008 when the Bush Administration said that Medicare would reimburse end of life counseling? Well, was this to be true it would be awfully dishonest of Republicans to be opposing Obama’s Death Panels now when Bush wanted the same thing, right? Yes, it sure would. Sadly for Powers’ failed analysis, Bush vetoed the very bill she claimed his administration supported. As it happened, the bill — which was called the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Pr...

Too Serious to Win.
David Leonhardt sat down for a long Q&A with Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels , and came away impressed: I recently sat down with him in his office to talk about what Small Government might actually look like. To be clear, it would be very different from the Tea Party dream, in which taxes could be cut; Medicare, Social Security and the Military could be left untouched; and the Deficit would somehow vanish. Mr. Daniels is willing to acknowledge as much. He says he avoids using the phrase “w...

As they beat a retweet...
As they beat a retweet... Via Ann Althouse, I learned that CNN is all atwitter over Sarah Palin's retweet of Tammy Bruce's pro-gay Twitter: Normally, it's what Sarah Palin tweets that makes news. This time it's what she has re-tweeted. The former Alaska Governor Monday relayed a comment from gay conservative pundit Tammy Bruce, who was expressing her criticism over continued Republican opposition to the Don't Ask Don't Tell Military policy that won congressional Repeal late last month. Now th...

Greta Rips Dems, GOP on Transparency, Hypocrisy, Health Care
This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," January 4, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, Fox News HOST: The new Congress is not even sworn in yet. That happens tomorrow. And already, there is some blood on the floor. Democrats are furious at Republicans because Republicans are not allowing Democrats to offer amendments to the Republicans' Health Care Repeal bill, which is what the Democrats often did to them. But what happened to the Republi...

Obama spokesman Gibbs to leave White House
President Barack Obama's Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, will leave the White House after the State of the Union address later this month, he told CNN on Wednesday. Gibbs will become a pundit, supporting White House positions on Cable Television and in speeches, White House staff said. He had an easy, joking relationship with the press, and brought the briefing room down in laughter when he mocked Sarah Palin by writing notes on his hand, shortly after the former Alaska Governor was revealed...

Kirsten Powers Really Needs to Get Her Facts Straight on the Death Panels
Kirsten Powers appeared on Sean Hannity’s show the other night when Tucker Carlson was filling in for Hannity. Powers insisted that former President George W. Bush first dreamed up and enacted the Death Panels that have been regulated into Medicare law. Even when she was confronted with the truth, she still denied it. Transcript courtesy of Hot Air: SCHLAPP: And government itself, let me tell you, the language here right, the language is different. They made the language worse, instead ...

January 4, 1989 - The Gulf Of Sidra And Other Adventures.
Things were looking up - but not the way he imagined. On this morning in 1989, news broke of a dogfight over the Gulf of Sidra off the Libyan coast overnight. Two Libyan MIG's were shot down in what was described by the Defense Department as an "act of self-defense". Libya was becoming a hot-button topic in recent weeks, between fingers being pointed for complicity in the Lockerbee disaster and reports filtering in of a Chemical Weapons plant being constructed in the Libyan desert. Gaddafi made...

Rep. Issa to Business: What Regulations Do You Hate Most? (The Atlantic Wire)
WASHINGTON, DC – Darrell Issa, the California Republican who recently called the Obama Administration one of the "most corrupt" in recent history, is asking America's business titans which Obama regulations are inhibiting job growth, Politico reports. Issa sent letters last month to over 150 trade associations, companies, and Think Tanks in which he solicited lists of existing and proposed regulations he should investigate and elements of the rulemaking process he should reform in his ne...