The President's Speech

[Here4Good]

I guess people were a little cranky about Rep. Wilson's "outburst"; his web website (Joe Wilson - Offline) is down this morning (I was going to send an email asking him how he could embarrass his mama that way, good Lord, you KNOW he was raised better than that) but I guess a few million other Americans had the same idea.

I'm appalled. Many Republicans were also appalled, and it would be a great thing if this jackass's behavior could be what returns us to civility and removes the tin hat crowd from the spotlight.

 

[Lake View Too]

I know this sounds simplistic, but why doesn't someone just produce the text from the plan that specifically excludes illegal aliens from using "the public option" or the "exchange"? Wilson's rudeness is one thing, but is he ill-informed as well?

 

[Here4Good]

Here it is, from Politifact.com:

"
We read all 1,000-plus pages of the health care bill and were struck by the fact that it is largely silent on health care for illegal immigrants. Keep in mind that experts estimated there were 6.8 million uninsured illegal immigrants in the United States in 2007, out of a total of 11.9 million illegal immigrants. Right now, most states have laws on the books that require hospitals to treat severely ill people who arrive at the hospital, regardless of immigration status, and we didn't see anything that would change those laws, either.
Most illegal immigrants are also now excluded from Medicaid, the government-run health care for the poor. We didn't see anything that would change that.
One place where the bill does mention immigration status is for "affordability credits." These are tax credits for people of modest means need to buy health insurance. The credits would help them buy insurance on a national health insurance exchange. The bill specifically says that people in the United States illegally are not eligible for tax credits, on page 132, section 242."

 

[Lake View Too]

We just had an easy exchange of information pertaining to an important item in the bill and it took less than five minutes and no exchange of insults whatsoever. How come congress can't do that?

 

[Here4Good]

We just had an easy exchange of information pertaining to an important item in the bill and it took less than five minutes and no exchange of insults whatsoever. How come congress can't do that?

Because neither of us is wearing tin hats or posturing for the cameras?

 

[lerxst]

So, how are we going to pay for this bill to be implemented again and remain deficit neutral?

 

[floridafarm]

The same way we pay for everything these days.........print more money.

 

[Winnie]

The exchange system is interesting. If it's national, then it would solve the problem of areas that have bad coverage. I haven't read whether or not that's the case though.

If the current rules that prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines were changed there would likely be no need for the exchange at all.

 

[Winnie]

We just had an easy exchange of information pertaining to an important item in the bill and it took less than five minutes and no exchange of insults whatsoever. How come congress can't do that?

There is more to it than you found in less than five minutes. For example from CNN (Health care bill has curious coverage for illegal immigrants - CNN.com):

While the report found that federal subsidies to obtain health coverage would be restricted to U.S. citizens and legal residents, it also noted that the bill does not specify a citizenship verification system, something that critics say creates a loophole for undocumented immigrants to receive subsidies anyway.
The report, released Tuesday, "undermines the claims of the president and others that illegal immigrants would not be covered under the House version of the bill," Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, told CNN.
The bill specifically bars illegal immigrants from receiving payments, but opponents of the reform say that without verification, the system is open to abuse.

Republicans tried to include an amendment for status verification. Democrats defeated all attempts. If it were really a simple point, it would already be agreed.

Just this morning I was wondering how the government would enforce fines on illegals who don't comply with mandatory coverage. They aren't really known for following government regulations.

 

[Lynnie]

That outburst was disrespectful. I suspect each President has dealt with disrespectful comments/outbursts. However, we do currently cover illegals here. I would like to see some 'stops' in place regarding this.

When I travel, I ensure my plan will cover me outside the country. 'Cause if something happens, in most countries, you're looking at cash only to receive medical treatment.