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Sarah Palin’s Canadian Health Care Link Has Critics Sick
CALGARY — A weekend admission by former Alaskan governor and U.S. vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin over her family’s use of the Canadian health care system while growing up in Alaska has critics of the outspoken hockey mom crying foul online.
Sarah Palin gives a speech at the BMO Centre in Calgary, March 6, 2010. (Handout) “My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse,” Palin said during a speech in Calgary on Saturday. “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."
It was little surprise that Sarah Palin’s first visit to Canada would be in Calgary. And there was little shock that she was able to curry favour with the local Albertan crowd by speaking at length and with much authority about the Alaska government’s process of securing TransCanada for the Alaska Pipeline Project.
But given Palin’s previous warnings about the ills of expanding government role in U.S. health care, American media and the general blogosphere were buzzing over the claim.
On the Daily Kos website, one post — entitled Sarah "The Death Panel Queen" Palin Went to Canada for Health Care — called the former Alaskan governor “opportunistic” and “hypocritical.”
“It’s good enough for her, but not for the rest of the American people who don’t have easy access to Canada and a system that isn’t based on wage discrimination?” the post made on the left-leaning political blog stated.
And Gawker.com also pointed out Palin’s comment, writing that her family put her brother on a train “and sent him to Canada for the socialism.”
Palin has previously claimed Canada should dismantle its public health care system and called the push by U.S. President Barack Obama to nationalize the American system “irresponsible,” suggesting the move would allow “death panels” to choose whether Americans would live or die.
The Yukon reference was the only time heath care was mentioned in Palin’s speech, or in her subsequent interview with Conservative Senator Pamela Wallin, who is still best known as a veteran TV journalist.
Wallin instead pressed Palin on why she wanted to be a political leader if she was warning members of the Tea Party Patriots — a disparate group of anti-tax, libertarian activists — not to take someone on as their leader because "a politician will disappoint."
Palin also spoke about how, as governor, she significantly hiked state taxes for oil companies, or, in her words, "readjusted the value" of extracting a resource that belong to Alaskans.
Several conservative Alberta politicians were in attendance at the Calgary event, including former premier Ralph Klein, federal cabinet minister Stockwell Day, Calgary MPs Rob Anders and Lee Richardson, and Wildrose Alliance leader Danielle Smith — who has drawn many comparisons to the former U.S. vice-presidential hopeful.
With files from Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald
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35 Comments so far
Show AllThis is rich! Sarah goes to Whitehorse for Canadian "socialism" but thinks the same health care for Americans would lead to "death panels".
Now who would have thought the lipsticked pig was a hypocrite?
Hypocrisy is the primary prerequisite for advancing in the Democratic and Republican Parties.
The two parties are competing to see who can be more hypocritical.
Although Republicans have succeeded in being more hypocritical than the Dems in recent years, Obama is striving hard to close the gap. Palin is giving him a run for his money.
this freak is a distraction from the person that WILL probably be the next president - Jeb Bush....
the bush family has been in power for well over 100 years -
and like cockroaches they won't just "go away"
but will show up regardless of whether you want them to or not.....
which is why we constantly get pushed roomey and palin - 2 people that won't win a presidential race -
Everyone has a right to be stupid, but Palin abuses that right.
Sarah Palin doesn't have to be rational, she's a conservative (or so she poses, if that seems to be what a crowd of idiots wants).
Narcissism and hypocrisy go hand in written hand with Sarah Palin.
The whore MSM loves the airhead, pistol packin, mama from Alaska. Talk about making people sick! Why not some good articles on 911 or Cindy Sheenan, to name a couple of examples? PLEEEEASE CD, ENOUGH!
Paul Revere, i agree!
Palin stated this about a new Alaskan Dept. of Transportation Commissioner: “...a lot of politics were played in the past, and that is why we changed characters,” bringing in sound transportation minds to figure out “how people who are reliant on the ferry system can get from point A to point B with a reliable schedule and service. 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.
Palin is nothing less or more than an opportunistic politician. It’s more evident with her personality; sycophant, manipulative of everything that is real to reach an end goal.
Dafoe
She would feel quite at home in Calgary with ex premier Ralph Klein and federal minister Stockwell Bray oops Day the man who believes the world is 6000 odd years old and that man walked with dinosaurs. Alberta would feel at home with Palin with God, Gays and Guns. Are we regressing? It seems we are becoming less educated than ever despite the profusion of business schools and religious schools, ignorance and lack of common sense prevail everything now has a price tag.
Dafoe,
Not only Stockboy but the rest of the evangelical cabinet. Even the Science Minister doesn't believe in evolution.
It's true, Alberta is a guns 'n bibles Republican state. Rednecks always welcome.
"Alberta is a guns 'n bibles Republican state. Rednecks always welcome."
True, but it is still left of most states - blue or red - in the U.S. Pathetic, eh?
Oh i disagree entirely that it a Guns and Bible province. Churches are poorly attended in all parts of Alberta I ever lived in.
Church attendance is Higher in parts of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. (Specifically the fraser valley) All Provinces have a Bible belt and Albertas runs through the South of the Province.
You go up North and it an entirely different story. Over a third of those in FT Macmurray are from the Maritimes.
Of all the places I have been...the strongest "Bible belt" is the Fraser Valley here in British Columbia.
When I did live in Alberta I also though those living in the Southern Part were a bit, strange.
Facts, schmacks! Nothing a good political marketing campaign can't fix.
She obviously doesn't actually get the irony.
Irony? Does that mean it has a lot of iron in it?
A study done in the United States By the Delloite Center for health Solutions concluded 750,000 Americans went out of the Country each year for health care in 2007. This number is expected to rise to 6 million by the year 2010.
This number is far larger then the TOTAL number of people in the Entire World that go to the USA for health care and is orders of magnitude higher, even adjusting for population size, the number of Canadians that use the US system.
It is estimated that 12500 Canadians a year go out of the Country for health care.
I always found it so very odd that when a Single Canadian goes down to the US for health care , every news organization down there reports on it but there little to no reporting on the HUNDREDS of thousands and now no doubt MILLIONS of Americans using the systems in other countries.
"..."readjusted the value" of extracting a resource that belong to Alaskans."
Huh. I coulda sworn Alaska was part of the USA, and that Alaska's resources were OUR resources.
Using her always f**ked up logic, wouldn't said resource belong to the Inuit?
Please, GOP, nominate this crazy bitch. For anything. Please...
Sarah Palin WILL be the next president of the USA. Since bush holds the title of "Worst President in US History", something has to be done to relieve him of it. Now is the time to plan your escape.
The craziest part of the story is that she kinda used the word 'ironic' correctly. Too bad the hypocrisy hasn't quite sunk in yet, then maybe the right-wingnutters would be able to see through her act. http://theendisalwaysnear.blogspot.com/2010/03/this-week-in-wingnuttery.html
Citizens of the United States (about 6 % of the world's population) use about 35 % of the world's resources. This has been used to state that if the rest of the world's people used resources at the rate those in the U. S. do, it would take about 6 worlds to supply all the resources. Looking at this another way, would be to reduce the number of living US citizens to about 10 % of what are currently alive. This would reduce our use of resources down to 4 % of the world supply of resources. That would leave a lot more stuff for other people to use. Their economies could grow and the people left living in the US could use their money to invest in these developing countries.
Thus it seems that the best thing for citizens of the US is to die off by about 90% and that will save US capitalism. This means that the ruling elites really don't want to do anything for health care, if the way to save capitalism is to reduce the population of the US.
So much for health care.
"And Gawker.com also pointed out Palin’s comment, writing that her family put her brother on a train 'and sent him to Canada for the socialism.'"
Where is the legislative progress over a year after securing power, so-called "leftists"?
I'm so sorry my "Sarah Plain & Stupid" schoolgirl Action Figure (US$ 35.95) got raped with an electric drill, slashed, mutilated and burned up in the last voodoo session. I feel a yearning for that plastic imitation of her now, to do it all again and more.
That's the republican way: self-righteously condemn something, then get caught doing it later. See Craig and Foley.
According to most statistics, death is available through the current health care system's iatrogenic mistakes or through the lack of health insurance, through the continuation of the legal alcohol and cigarettes, and through the continued inhalation of air pollution and french fries.
As for that snarky wench ever being president...if this country is that stupid, you deserve every single bad thing that will happen as a result. That she is even able to get air time just boggles my mind. She is not attractive and talks like a stupid bitch with the dumbest voice. She always sounds like she's got a wad of something in her mouth. I am aghast that CD is wasting their precious space with this gutless gag maggot.
One thing that has gone unmentioned here is that her family committed fraud by crossing the border to use our healthcare system and using up valuable resourses needed by those who paid for them through their taxes.
She is gross! If this were Vaudeville, someone would be pulling her offstage with a long shepherd's hook while tomatoes fly at the stage.
Her parents must have taught her young, how to hustle.
I might even feel sorry for her - if she wasn't such a bully and a hypocrite.
She certainly does not walk in beauty or integrity. What a manipulator. Brazen and a fraud.
Palin's family had a choice when deciding to cross the border illegally and receive socialized single payer healthcare as undocumented aliens.
Palin had a choice when she decided to carry her down syndrome fetus to full term.
Palin's unwed daughter had a choice when she decided to carry her illegitimate fetus to full term.
She's had lots of choices available to her that she as a Republican do not want the rest of America to have.
Typical Republican hypocracy.
So who, or what is the joke?
Wallin, or Palin?
Palin or Wallin?
Tune your focus.... these distractions are a waste of your time by design.
Like Charlie Brown trying to kick that fabled football, Common Dreamers have fallen for one of the oldest PR ploys in their devious book:
"It doesn't matter whether they are saying good things or bad as long as they are saying."
Sarah Palin isn't about ethics, morality, ideology, or even politics. Sarah Palin is about celebrity, pure and simple. She is white bread and red meat (think of a baloney sandwich with ketchup!) all rolled into one and not even the Mormon nazi Mitt (who in the world would ever let their kid be called a name like "Mitt") Romney is creating as much of a buzz for the Republicans as Sarah Stupid.
She is a good show and the infotainment (otherwise known as the news and editorial divisions)of US media just love her for exactly that reason. So far she is batting 1000! To her enablers, fans, and detractors (not unlike dumbya, and the white trash Clinton couple), she never disappoints!
Poet