Cal Thomas misleads on "death panels"

The Cal Thomas column in today's (Tues. Jan. 4) Free Press in unfortunately misleading and should be considered warily by readers as an opinion based on facts.

Thomas fails to mention one or two key facts about the new provision in Medicare rules that allows Medicare to pay for end of life counseling between a physician and patient.

Here's the column in the Washington Examiner.

He doesn't mention anywhere that this discussion is totally voluntary, and the government does not mandate this discussion, though Thomas' column would have you believe so.

In my opinion, Cal Thomas is intellectually dishonest in this argument. I have no problem with him arguing this policy will evolve into his so called "death panel" ( a very inaccurate term for the policy), but to leave out pertinent facts to help readers decide if your opinion is sound is pretty much unconscionable as a columnist.

So, as editor, why do I allow his misleading and unconscionable column to be printed?

Well, I guess that's just my belief that most people will be able to tell misleading when they read it and give him less credibility in the free marketplace of ideas.

I do reserve the right however, at some point, to stop paying for his misleading columns should they become too numerous. Fortunately, he doesn't always act this way. I have even been known to agree with him at times.

So we'll cut him some slack for now.