Wilson identifies loophole in health care legislation – Obama lied

If someone calls you out as a liar, and you respond “no, it is not true” – in my book, you just called the person a liar in a polite way. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) – send money here – called out President Obama, Obama then called Wilson a liar, and then on Friday night the Senate took a closer look at the health care legislation and quietly added a citizenship requirement.

Remember, this is not some loophole that was discovered on Wednesday night after Wilson’s appropriate outburst. This was a known issue Democrats refused to acknowledge. As a matter of fact, Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) offered two amendments in the House Ways and Means Committee – the second in early August – that would use existing systems to verify citizenship. From NRO’s health care blog…

The House bill, as currently structured, does not offer clear guidelines to ensure that illegal immigrants cannot access taxpayer-funded health care benefits. Rep. Dean Heller (R., Nev.) introduced an amendment that would use two citizenship status verification systems, the Income and Eligibility Verification System (IEVS) and Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) programs, to establish an individual’s eligibility to obtain the bill’s proposed affordability credits or enroll in the public insurance option. Both programs are currently used to determine citizenship status and eligibility for public assistance programs. Safeguards to guarantee that only citizens can access federal health care benefits are necessary, considering that the US Census Bureau currently estimates that 9.6 million of the uninsured are not U.S. citizens. The first Heller amendment failed on a straight party-line vote.

Democrats insisted illegal aliens would not be able to buy insurance in any federally subsidized plan, but refused to put any type of enforcement mechanism into the legislation. Friday night, I guess they changed their mind.

From Time on Friday.

The controversy over Republican Representative Joe Wilson’s shouting “You lie!” at the President over his claim that illegal immigrants wouldn’t benefit from health-care reform apparently sparked some reconsideration of the relevant language. “We really thought we’d resolved this question of people who are here illegally, but as we reflected on the President’s speech last night, we wanted to go back and drill down again,” said Senator Kent Conrad, one of the Democrats in the talks after a meeting Thursday morning. Later that afternoon, [Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus] said the group would add a proof-of-citizenship requirement for participation in the new health exchange — a move likely to inflame the left.

Rasmussen Reports has a poll showing 83 percent wanted a citizenship requirement included in health care legislation.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of voters nationwide say that people should be required to prove they are a citizen of the United States before receiving government health care subsidies. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 12% disagree and five percent (5%) are not sure.

The desire to limit the benefits to U.S. citizens is found across demographic and partisan lines. It is held by 95% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats and 87% of those not affiliated with either major party. It is favored by nine-out-of-10 conservatives and moderates, along with 56% of those who consider themselves politically liberal. But 32% of liberals hold the opposite view.

Has the Senate’s move to include a citizenship verification inflamed the left? Allah over at Hot Air notes a post over at TMP by Brian Beutler who is ticked off that a non-existent problem is being solved. Why so negative in your post Brian? There is plenty of negativity out there.

A commenter over at Rick Green’s blog – before Friday’s Time story – wrote that my argument was “hateful and absurd” propaganda. Yeah, right. I suppose you think I’m a racist too?

Posts from columnists like Margery Eagan at the Boston Herald who completely twists Wilson’s argument into one that would turn illegal immigrants away from an emergency room and at the same time toss the race card out just serve to drive up the rhetoric. Southerner’s you know, are uncivilized racist bigots. Read her post as she reaches into Wilson’s past and determines he wants all immigrants dead. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

If you’re interested in reading more, Malkin, Gateway Pundit, Power Line and Strata-Sphere are blogging. You can also read a report from the Center for Immigration Studies.

Remember my position on health care. If the people want to have a government option, it must evolve at the state level as the federal government has no Constitutional authority in this area. Does that mean I want Social Security shut down as one of the left’s talking points suggest? (Isn’t that a shocker) No, it means the programs – if offered – must be offered through the states.