as long as end of life counseling is 100% voluntary, then sure I would pay for it as part of an insurance plan.

Didn't know people still watched Olby.  Anyways, the panels are far from fiction and I don't thnk you quite understand what the GOP is opposed to.

I'm just waiting for someone to say 'like the British NHS death panels'.  They don't exist.  No.  They really don't.  Honest.

I just happened to see that video on another site. Regretably, I know full well the kind of choice that people face at the end of their lives. Some folks are lucky and pretty much live their lives out in their own homes and quickly die without too much pain. Even in this case it's hard to say "not too much pain" because even though it may only be a couple of weeks of suffering there is no denying that there is suffering involved. With enough narcotics it can be tolerable but even in that case it's not the pain so much as the loss of dignity and privacy.

On the other side of the scale instead of two weeks in hospice with a morphine drip my wife's father suffered for at least 3 years before mercifully he was allowed to die. He suffered through 2 hip replacement operations at the age of 92 and 93 and neither ever healed. He struggled so much to avoid a wheelchair and used a walker for the longest time. I was constantly reminded of the movie "They Shoot Horses Don't They". In my mind he was the strongest person that I've ever met but even he eventually had to relent and use a wheelchair.

There were a number of almost comical errors, or they would be comical if not so pathetic. He had a DNR (do not resuscitate) order in place but apparently it had been filled out incorrectly and so they had to revive him and give him a transfusion to save his life. Eventually as with all things it came to an end, but I really have no desire to go out that way. That's why I'm determined to retire to someplace where doctor assisted suicide is legal.

Perhaps you folks simply aren't old enough to have seen the like and had to face your own mortality but death itself is not the least bit frightening, it's the potential suffering that you'll have to go through to get there that has me concerned. I just want some control and say in the matter and have the ability to determine for myself when enough is enough. It's very easy to say that you'd just put a bullet through your own head, it's a far different thing to actually have the strength to do it and those that think they will be able to face it easily all I can say is I hope you are right but you *really* won't know until you're faced with the reality of it.

i do think assisted suicide should be legal as long as it is completely voluntary and it can be shown you are of sound enough mind to make that decision.  If not, then it should be up to the family.  Government should not be in the decision.

michaelcook, both republicans and democrats are corrupt beyond recognition.  The dems take plenty of handouts too.

I guess we're just going to have to bite the bullet and choose death or taxes. I know which way I'm going to go. Natural selection should (hopefully) deal with the rest.

Olbermann?  you mean that Sadistic, Narcissistic, Misogynistic, Plagarising, Hypocritical, Lying, Immoral guy?  What a source!

I bet Island Dog also believes in Santa and the tooth fairies.

I can understand. Here in Aus we are still part of the British Commonwealth and there was a referendum to decide if we would become truely independant. The referendum was for only one type of independant government and it basically gave an elite group of politicians the total power to decide who would be the President, it was a totally bogus plan. Thankfully we are still in the Commonwealth, not because people like the monarchy but because the system we were asked to vote for sucked.

However, this is a very different situation. Its not like healthcare in the US couldn't evolve after changes made now and changes do need to be made. Obama will only last max two terms, the Democrats max 3-4 terms and then its more Republican years. Healthcare will never happen under them, they take too much money from the insurance companies.

You have the most progressive government in years in terms of changing healthcare, if they are making backroom deals (I can believe it due to the power of these companies, but also I would need to see the info and if the info is comming from the GOP I'd be thinking "Immense hypocrisy, utterly huge gigantic enormous hypocrisy") then perhaps you should take what you can get. Obama is a diplomat, he will try and engage all significant parties, and the big companies are significant players. Which is extremely sad for the US.

If your holding out for "all or nothing" then you will be getting nothing, for years to come.