Healthcare Death Panels

I saw Newt Gingrich speaking of Obama's Plan leading to Death Panels. We have such panels right now. They decided on the allocation of very scvarce resources, essentially deciding who lives and who dies; they typically deal with organs: hearts, livers, etc. Those who received transplants have a chance; those who do not receive them have no chance. "Death Panels" are not something new. In an economic and political and moral system such as ours, there will always be allocation of resources to where the "market" deems it best they be allocated to; some will not get the resources. The decision, whether made by a panel of experts or an impersonal market, is a decision either way. We decide who even gets any healthcare whatsoever. We decide who has insurance and how much; we decide whether they get prescription coverage; we decide who gets food and who dives into dumpsters. What an amusing notion Republicans have: that we do not already decide on the Quick and the Dead !