Palin Crossed Border For Canadian Health Care

Palin Crossed Border For Canadian Health Care

www.huffingtonpost.com

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.

"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada," Palin said in her first Canadian appearance since stepping down as governor of Alaska. "And I think now, isn't that ironic?"

(visit the link for the full news article)


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www.theglobeandmail.c om

Don't ya just love hypocrites?

On top of this she uses medicare (heaven forbid its socialized medicine) for her son Trig.

Like a lot of very vocal conservatives who rail against government programs yet are quick to take advantage of them...she rails against the public option (yet uses one) spreads disinformation about the senate/house plans (like death panels) to people less intelligent than her who lap it up like mother's milk...

All the while she takes and uses what she can.

Now if she had the courage of her convictions she would say to Medicare...no thank you we can take care of our own.

By the way for those who will rail about my source...you will find a link to the Canadian news article about the interview it is taken from.

www.huffingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Never mind it wasn't her choice, unless you think a 5-year-old was capable of redirecting her parents. But it's good spin. Does a political motive good.

The more honest and troubling aspect of this is that her story changed in 2007 from going to Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada to treat her brother's burned ankle to Juneau, Alaska according to Skagway News.

To say someone's a hypocrite because they don't believe in something their parents did is like saying someone's a hypocrite because their father abused their mother and they're against domestic violence. We don't convict children of their parents' crimes in the US, and we shouldn't hold people accountable for their parents' politics.

Fair enough.

Still my critique of her using medicare for her son stands.

reply to post by iMacFanatic


Do you have the source for that? Every article I've seen about this is talking about her parents' son using Canada's medicare 3 years after it was implemented, not that she's doing so now.

reply to post by junglejake

yes at the additional links at the bottom of the post.

BTW I am sure I will be smeared because of this thread from some but note I agreed with Junglejake.

I do not see how this is relevant to the fight against the healthcare reform as our government is attempting to pass.

One can be in favor of healthcare reform, and the need for it, and still be completely and utterly opposed to what our government's current design for such a thing should be.

I don't normally defend Palin as I am not really one of her fans, however, she is not at all hypocritical in this sense.

Why? Because what our government is proposing is not a mirror copy of Canada's healthcare system.

If the US government were planning on copying -- EXACTLY -- Canada's system, and Palin opposed it, and THEN went to Canada for treatment, THEN she would be a hypocrite.

However, that is not the case and you are attempting to compare apples to oranges.

As a final note, being in favor of Medicare also does not warrant acceptance of the ridiculousness to the bill currently before our government for passage. Apples - oranges. Besides, Obama wasn't the one that designed Medicare and every program he has put into place to date has been an ugly, costly failure. I wouldn't trust this administration to put shoes on my horse.

Using Medicare for a disabled Child is not much of a choice. I had good insurance when my child was born 3 months early, but the Dr's and Nurses and Social workers at the hospital convinced me that I had to at least fill out the paperwork.

In Florida, any premature child is eligible, so he got the Medicare (or caid, not sure). It worked out great because Florida also has a lot of Medical Advocates for Children through the Department of Health, and anything that was not covered by Insurance and/or Medicare was fought for and approved through the state!

He was able to receive some $80,000 each injections that he might have missed without that Advocates input!

I'm just saying, it isn't necessarily an endorsement of the system, and I am dead-set against the Healthcare Bill as it is written, mostly because it could be simpler! Why not use the Medicare/Medicaid system with a "Pay as You go" option? Why reinvent the wheel?

Anyway, Not a Palin fan, or a fan of this Bill, but still see some faulty logic in your OP comparisons.

“My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse (180km away. see map). Believe it or not – this was in the ‘60s – we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse. I remember my brother, he burned his ankle in some little kid accident thing and my parents had to put him on a train and rush him over to Whitehorse and I think, isn’t that kind of ironic now. Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada."

Palin drew from her Skagway past to illustrate her point. Her brother burned his foot badly jumping through a fire, and her mother had to take him down to Juneau on the ferry to the hospital. “All these years later, that’s still what people have to rely on here in some instances,” she said.

So what is the true story?

Ohhh Former Governor Palin, you are just full of surprises aren't you?

Will you ever be able to keep your foot out of your mouth? Will ever be able to lie and get away with it?

Or will you continually misinform and blow things out of proportion, only to be schooled months later by the very people you were speaking to?

The Tea Partiers aren't going to like this one bit!

I like my Canadian Health Care, I think Palin does too..

~Keeper

reply to post by tothetenthpower


She was 5 years old.

reply to post by Berserker01


Ohh, well that's a different story then...

Sorry folks, let my dis-taste of her cloud my reading skills there for a second.

Yeah, her parents decision, not hers.

~Keeper

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Don't worry about it, that kind of thing is the norm for ATS. People read the headline of a thread and cant help but let their fingers fly.

Originally posted by Berserker01
reply to post by tothetenthpower

 

She was 5 years old.

Yes, but she did use the imagery in 2 entirely different contexts to support 2 entirely different points, and she did that as part of a Political / Money Making Campaign!

It isn't her fault that she had the experience, but it is certainly her fault that she "remembered" it a couple of different ways according to what the situation required!

Just another Press Wh*re and Politician "spinning" their story to fit their agenda.

BTW.....I am a Tea Partier, and we never liked her to begin with! She is entertaining and pretty for her age, but not much else!

Edit to Add:

See JBAB's post for the two versions!

[edit on 8-3-2010 by getreadyalready]

reply to post by JBA2848


We'll probably never know. She was 5, and theoretically, could have gotten confused. More likely, though, she changed the locations to the audience. The first was at a payed speaking engagement in Canada, the second in the US somewhat recently (2007).

I would lean toward the political motivation.

reply to post by getreadyalready


Well snip her then.



Mod Edit: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.

Mod Note: One Line Post – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 9/3/2010 by Sauron]

I think that what Palin's disabled son receives is Medicaid, not Medicare. You have to have worked a minimum number of quarters to be eligible for Medicare, which is generally a program for the elderly and retired people. Medicaid, on the other hand, is given to the poor and the disabled.

I would think that the Palin household would make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but maybe a disabled child is automatically eligible, regardless of need.

Public assistance should be given to those who have a legitimate economic need, but it doesn't seem like a very Republican thing to accept money from the government when you don't really need it.

That makes you one of those "welfare queens" Republicans love to rag on.

reply to post by Sestias


I've not seen any evidence that her son is on either Medicare or Medicaid. As I said earlier, the only articles I've been able to find are ones that say her brother, when she was 5, used Canada's medicare program, but nothing on her using Medicaid for her son.

reply to post by junglejake


I was referring to this statement in the OP:

Originally posted by iMacFanatic

On top of this she uses medicare (heaven forbid its socialized medicine) for her son Trig.

If this is not true, then I would like it to be clarified.

No point in passing along inaccurate info.

reply to post by junglejake

There were a couple of articles about it a few months back...I recall seeing them but they have been lost in all the noise about the Family Guy episode and more recent news.

I have looked for them and eventually I will find them.