Grassley: Ted Kennedy Would Die Under Obama Plan

August 7, 2009 (LPAC)--Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, who is one of three Republicans negotiating with three Democrats led by committee chairman Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), told Iowa radio station KCJJ that under the universal health care scheme advocated by Obama, Ted Kennedy would be allowed to die, because his health care services would be "rationed" to a younger person.

Grassley stated: "I've been told that the brain tumor that Sen. Kennedy has—because he's 77 years old—would not be treated the way it's treated in the United States. In other words, he would not get the care he gets here, because of his age. In other words, they'd say, 'Well, he doesn't have long to live even if he lived another four to five years.' They'd say, 'Well, we gotta spend money on people who can contribute more to the economy.' It's a little like people saying when somebody gets to be 85 their life is worth less than when they were 35, and you pull the tubes on them."

Grassley added: "When you run into more complicated things, in particular with older people, you find a great deal of rationing in other countries."

Even though Grassley is involved in negotiations with Baucus on a Senate bill, he told reporters on Wednesday in Iowa that the talks may still fall apart. "Who knows, we may not have a product. But sometimes that's the result of negotiations."