(9/11/09) The president has thrown his Hail-Mary pass on ObamaCare with his speech to a joint session of Congress. From watching the speech, it seems that a Congressman from South Carolina may have considerably more courage than the president.
While perhaps lacking in timing, respect and certainly appropriate language due the office of President of the United States, Joe Wilson expressed what anyone paying attention can clearly see: Currently, HR 3200 - ‘ObamaCare’ - does not really stop illegal aliens from accessing the public option in the House health care reform bill.
In this space recently it was pointed out that no less than the near century-old Congressional Research Service published a report on HR 3200. It states: “a Health Insurance Exchange would begin operation in 2013 and would offer private plans alongside a public option…HR 3200 does not contain any restrictions on noncitizens whether legally or illegally present, or in the United States temporarily or permanently.”
The president is now disputing the CRS with his statement to Congress: “There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false – the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”
Someone is very wrong here.
Maybe the president isn’t proposing that HR 3200 be passed? Maybe the president hasn’t read the more than 1000 pages of the House bill? Maybe the president - along with many in the media – is forgetting that two amendments that would mandate verification of immigration status for benefits were voted down in committee?
Maybe the president is calling the more than 450 policy analysts, attorneys, information professionals and experts in law, economics, foreign affairs, public administration, education, health care, immigration, energy, environmental protection, science and technology… liars?
Is Obama saying that the contents of the CRS report "Treatment of Noncitizens in H.R. 3200" are…“false?”
Can we expect the president to demonstrate the courage to come out against HR 3200?
Congressman Joe Wilson has apologized to the president.
Can we expect Barack Obama to apologize to the entire staff at the Congressional Research Service?
Don’t hold your breath.
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D.A. King is a nationally recognized authority on illegal immigration and president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society.
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