Today's opinions and editorials

Nuggets of Truth In 'Death Panel' Rhetoric CQ Politics
Tactically, however, (former Alaska Gov. Sarah) Palin's move was pure brilliance: in but a few keystrokes she synthesized the underlying suspicion at least half of Americans have about a government role in health care delivery and created a visual metaphor from which the Obama White House and congressional Democrats still haven't fully recovered. So would it surprise you that Palin has a legitimate point? Well, sort of (John Edgell, 9/4).

If Death Panels Were Real, This Measure Might Need One The Washington Post
So eager was Obama to avoid the mistakes of 1993, when the Clinton administration tried to present Congress with a fully formed health-care proposal, that he left Congress to its own devices on the issue. That led to a disastrous summer: Democrats on the defensive, the left wing snarling, and splits within the White House. It's almost enough to make one nostalgic for George W. Bush's theory of congressional relations: my way or the highway (Dana Milbank, 9/4).

Let's Get Fundamental The New York Times
Instead of true reform we got a series of bills that essentially cement the present system in place. The proposals do not fundamentally challenge the fee-for-service system. They don't make Americans more accountable for their own health care spending. They don't reduce costs. They just add more people into the mess we've got (David Brooks, 9/3).

A Doctor's Plan For Legal Industry Reform The Wall Street Journal
Since we are moving toward socialism with ObamaCare, the time has come to do the same with other professions—especially lawyers. Physician committees can decide whether lawyers are necessary in any given situation (Richard B. Rafal, 9/3).

Access To Care, Respect For Life Are Key Reform Principles The Newark, N.J., Star-Ledger
For decades, the Catholic bishops of the United States have advocated consistently for comprehensive affordable health care for all, including the weakest and most vulnerable.
We bring to the debate a unique perspective. Our teaching insists health care is a right not dependent on where your parents work, where you live or where you were born. Our tradition insists the moral measure of health care reform is how it touches the weak and vulnerable, babies in their mother's womb, the very sick and old at the end of life, those without access and power (Archbishop John J. Myers, 9/4).

In Defense Of Lobbying The Wall Street Journal
Through a series of executive orders, presidential directives and other actions, Mr. Obama has embarked on a program to systematically disadvantage individuals who properly register as lobbyists and the so-called special interests they represent. In regulations governing employment in the administration, stimulus package projects, and campaign contributions, this administration has discouraged communication between government officials and registered lobbyists. (Joel Jankowsky and Thomas Goldstein, 9/3).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.