Health Care For America Now

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) believes that under America's Affordable Health Choices Act, seniors will be "put to death by their government."

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), while trading conspiracy theories with 9/11 truther Alex Jones, said the bill "is going to absolutely kill senior citizens."

You'd have to be crazy to believe that. As Rep. Blumenauer's office explains,

"Advance planning consultations are not mandatory; this benefit is completely voluntary. The provision merely provides coverage under Medicare to have a conversation once every five years if – and only if – a patient wants to make his or her wishes known to a doctor. If desired, patients may have consultations more frequently if they are chronically ill or if their health status changes."

Moreover, "There is no mandate in the bill to complete an advance care directive or living will. If a patient chooses to complete an advance directive or order for life sustaining treatment, these documents will help articulate a full range of treatment preferences, from full and aggressive treatment to limited, comfort care only. Patients that choose to have these documents and can customize them so that their wishes are appropriately reflected."

And finally, "There are no government-chosen professionals involved. The legislation simply allows Medicare to pay for a conversation between patient and their doctors if patients wish to talk with their doctor about end of life care preferences."

The provisions are endorsed by AARP, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, American Hospice Foundation, Consumers Union, Gundersen Lutheran Health System, Medicare Rights Center, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and Providence Health System.

So why do Foxx and Gohmert believe this conspiracy theory? Because they are crazy. Need proof? Foxx called the brutal 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard a "hoax" while his mother was watching from the gallery in Congress. Gohmert said that "the whole truth will eventually be public" on the issue of whether or not President Obama is a US citizen, and that he "will continue to closely follow this important legal issue as it works its way through our judicial system."

Ok, maybe you're a birther too…but do you share Gohmert's suspicion that the White House is "putting stuff in the water to sterilize us"? Really? "Stuff"?

The "birther movement" is, as Politico says, becoming a headache for the GOP. This issue of "euthanizing seniors" could be an even worse one. Whatever representatives hop on that bandwagon have proved themselves just as crazy as the birthers.

Health care reform is a serious issue. Can Republicans cut the lies and the conspiracy theories and debate Democratic proposals like statesmen, or will they continue pandering to a rightwing fringe that is increasingly out of touch with reality?