Well, it appears Joe Wilson was right after all. Obama did lie about illegal immigration and health care coverage. Remember in his little spiel when Honest Barry said this:
There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The reforms — the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.
CONG. JOE WILSON: You lie! (Boos.)
THE PRESIDENT: It’s not true.
Well, according to the Congressional Research office report, the President was telling a whopper. It clearly indicates that the bills before Congress lack an enforcement provision which would prohibit illegal aliens from taking advantage of this bill. In fact, in a missive from Matt's Congressman and a great American John Boehner, the House Dem leadership blocked amendment after amendment addressing the illegal immigrant issue.
Now, over the weekend, the White House backtracks and basically acknowledges that Wilson was RIGHT! The White House chose not to put this release on their website but instead chose to release it to friendly
Verification will be required when purchasing health insurance on the exchange. One option is the SAVE program (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) which states currently use to make sure that undocumented immigrants don’t participate in safety-net programs for which they are ineligible.
Of course, some are saying Obama is not talking about the House bill, but rather some super cool uber bill he is going to sign when he gets it. However, will it be that good if it is written by the same idiots who gave us stimulus and cap and tax? And Barry, if there was not a problem with illegals being covered, why talk about using the SAVE program??? Hmm....Joe Wilson was right!
Don't think so? Check this out from Fox News:
But the underlying policy argument remains, after a Congressman drew fire from both sides of the aisle for his outburst during President Obama's speech Wednesday.
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., was criticized for interrupting Obama's address to a joint session of Congress to accuse the president of lying about his health care reform plan prohibiting coverage for illegal immigrants. Wilson quickly apologized, and the White House accepted the apology.
Wilson apologized again Thursday morning, though he also says a massive loophole could wind up in the health care bill: no requirement to prove citizenship for health care coverage.
Among three House committees to pass bills for health reform, only one expressly bans federal funding for proving health coverage to illegal immigrants.
"The Congressional Research Service has indicated that indeed the bills that are before Congress would include illegal aliens," Wilson said. "And I think this is wrong."
Indeed, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service study found that the House health care bill does not restrict illegal immigrants from receiving health care coverage.
House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner amplified the complaint that without proof of citizenship, illegal immigrants could be insured.
"There were two opportunities for House Democrats to make clear that illegal immigrants wouldn't be covered by putting in requirements to show citizenships," he said. "Both of those amendments were, in fact, rejected."
In the Senate, Democrats in the so called "Gang of Six," a group of bipartisan senators on the Senate Finance Committee which is the last panel yet to release its bill, began moving quickly to close the loophole that Wilson helped bring greater attention to.
"We absolutely assure that those who are here illegally would not get the benefit of any of these initiatives," Sen. Kent Conrad said.
To quote Homer Simpson: D'OH!
