EDITOR'S NOTE: The column below was first posted on the Illinois Family Institute's website on 10/1/2009. http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=34569
Today, the Senate Finance Committee will vote on a health care bill. Here is another reason why Senators should vote "NO".
Liberal Media Does Not Tell Whole Story
By Daniel T. Zanoza
The issue of President Barack Obama's proposal that would reform America's health care system has certainly received a great deal of attention. However, sometimes, it's what the liberal press doesn't reveal that is most telling.
When Obama recently addressed a joint session of Congress, he said illegal immigrants would not be covered under any health care plan he would sign into law. If we split hairs, the President's statement was accurate. It would be political suicide for both Democrats and Republicans to sign any bill that would provide taxpayer funds for those who are in America unlawfully. Well, technically, the language in one of the health care reform proposals tries to have it both ways.
According to a CNN.com article http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/obama.heckled.speech/index.html
When Obama recently addressed a joint session of Congress, he said illegal immigrants would not be covered under any health care plan he would sign into law. If we split hairs, the President's statement was accurate. It would be political suicide for both Democrats and Republicans to sign any bill that would provide taxpayer funds for those who are in America unlawfully. Well, technically, the language in one of the health care reform proposals tries to have it both ways.
According to a CNN.com article http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/obama.heckled.speech/index.html
...noncitizens who can be considered "resident aliens" under tax law -- which doesn't distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants--would be required to buy health insurance.
Yet the proposal clearly says that federal subsidies would go only to U.S. citizens and immigrants who are in the United States legally.
Sound confusing? Well, perhaps that's how it's meant to be.
But here is something you won't learn from the liberal media. High on President Obama's agenda is the issue of comprehensive immigration reform. This was legislation that was backed by George W. Bush and members of both sides of the political aisle in 2008. The bill faced a firestorm of criticism from the American people primarily because the comprehensive immigration reform legislation would have granted amnesty for an estimated 12 to 20 million individuals who are now residing in the United States illegally.
Now here's the catch. If a health care reform bill, including a public option, is passed by Congress and signed into law by Obama, illegal immigrants would technically not be eligible for public-subsidized health care. But Obama's plan that would grant amnesty to "undocumented aliens" will soon come on the Congressional docket and Americans can expect legislators, both Democrat and Republican, to be in favor of the bill.
If health care reform with a public option becomes law, together with a bill that would provide amnesty to those who are in America illegally...POOF...illegal immigrants and their health care will become the responsibility of U.S. taxpayers.
As usual, as far as Congress is concerned, the devil is in the details. Bush's plan for comprehensive immigration reform was put on the back burner when the lines of legislators were deluged with phone calls from the public. For the first time in memory, the American people got their way. Bush and immigration reform supporters were intimidated by the response from citizens who believed in the rule of law.
But don't be fooled. There are politicians on both sides of the political aisle who are yearning to make comprehensive immigration reform a reality. Republicans see the influx of illegal immigrants as a cheap labor force which helps big business. Democrats view illegal immigrants as a huge potential voting bloc.
Conveniently, the liberal press is not giving Americans all the facts concerning Barack Obama's political agenda. The health care reform issue does not stand alone. The issue is inexorably tied into a plan which most Americans are not aware of.
But here is something you won't learn from the liberal media. High on President Obama's agenda is the issue of comprehensive immigration reform. This was legislation that was backed by George W. Bush and members of both sides of the political aisle in 2008. The bill faced a firestorm of criticism from the American people primarily because the comprehensive immigration reform legislation would have granted amnesty for an estimated 12 to 20 million individuals who are now residing in the United States illegally.
Now here's the catch. If a health care reform bill, including a public option, is passed by Congress and signed into law by Obama, illegal immigrants would technically not be eligible for public-subsidized health care. But Obama's plan that would grant amnesty to "undocumented aliens" will soon come on the Congressional docket and Americans can expect legislators, both Democrat and Republican, to be in favor of the bill.
If health care reform with a public option becomes law, together with a bill that would provide amnesty to those who are in America illegally...POOF...illegal immigrants and their health care will become the responsibility of U.S. taxpayers.
As usual, as far as Congress is concerned, the devil is in the details. Bush's plan for comprehensive immigration reform was put on the back burner when the lines of legislators were deluged with phone calls from the public. For the first time in memory, the American people got their way. Bush and immigration reform supporters were intimidated by the response from citizens who believed in the rule of law.
But don't be fooled. There are politicians on both sides of the political aisle who are yearning to make comprehensive immigration reform a reality. Republicans see the influx of illegal immigrants as a cheap labor force which helps big business. Democrats view illegal immigrants as a huge potential voting bloc.
Conveniently, the liberal press is not giving Americans all the facts concerning Barack Obama's political agenda. The health care reform issue does not stand alone. The issue is inexorably tied into a plan which most Americans are not aware of.
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