Huffpost Politics   Francine Hardaway Headshot  John Murtha Died
for Our Sins  Posted: Updated:  But everyone knows that the
long-term debt problem is a health care problem, we spend far
more on health care than we get back in outcomes, and cutting
health care cost growth is the key. If we don't, then we're
completely screwed no matter how much we cut Medicare-someone
has to pay those health care costs, and if we cut entitlements
we're just shifting the problem onto individuals.-The Baseline
Scenario  It is now an accepted fact that Rep. John Murtha died
of a medical error: he was undergoing "routine" laparoscopic
gall bladder removal, which has been around for almost two
decades, and a surgeon nicked an intestine. As a result, he
developed an infection. In medical journals, there have been
articles about the limits of laparoscopic gall bladder surgery.
All this happened at Bethesda Naval Hospital, the place where
the members of Congress, with their "Cadillac" health plans,
routinely go. He was not poor and