Ask better questions about illegal aliens receiving healthcare at townhalls

Apparently some of the questions at recent townhalls have been about illegal aliens receiving Obama healthcare. Unfortunately, if the report at [1] is accurate, the questions have been weak and may have actually helped the Democrats rather than revealed what they intend to do. As detailed by Obama himself, the Democrats do intend to give UHC to current illegal aliens by changing their status first. Someone could go from being an illegal alien one day to being on the "path to citizenship" - and eligible for Obamacare - the next. In other words, the Democrats are being deceptive, and those asking questions need to incorporate that into their questions.

And, I need you to contact persons and groups who might be going to townhalls and get them to ask better questions. I've included one sample below, and if anyone can make it more conversational or wants me to edit a question they have for maximum effectiveness, leave a comment.

A better question might go something like this:

"Sen. SoAndSo, at the last meeting you said illegal aliens won't get UHC. But, isn't that because you intend to put them on the 'path to citizenship' first, then give them healthcare? That is, someone could be an illegal alien one day and on the 'path to citizenship' - and eligible to get UHC - the next. Weren't you being deceptive before? You said illegal aliens won't get UHC, but you didn't reveal that's because you're just going to change their status first. Isn't that deceptive?"

You could also "work the crowd" by adding in a brief example of a similarly deceptive magical name change.

UPDATE: Here's another question, based on this. You'll need to do some research first to make sure that it applies, because if it doesn't then you'll make yourself look bad, which isn't what you want to do. Also, make sure and print out the URLs and source text that backs up your claim and have copies available in case the politician tries to pretend it doesn't apply:

"Sen. SoAndSo, on [date], you said that illegal aliens wouldn't be able to get coverage under the House bill. However, now the Congressional Research Service (part of the Library of Congress) says that due to loopholes illegal aliens will be able to get coverage under the House bill. That contradicts what you said before. Rather than asking whether you actually read the bill or not and asking whether you were trying to deceive your constituents or not, let me ask what you intend to do about this. Will you promise right now to push for an amendment that will close all those loopholes and that will guarantee that illegal aliens will not be able to access healthcare under the bill? We'll leave the details up to you about how you do that, but will you in general promise to close those and all the other loopholes?

[1] Daphne Eviatar offers the misleading "Anti-Immigration Activists See Opportunity in Health Care Debate" (washingtonindependent.com/55044/anti-immigration-activists-see-opportunity-in-health-care-debate):

As the heat gets turned up on the health care reform debate, anti-immigrant activists are using the issue to whip up fear and anger toward immigrants, portraying them as a costly and burdensome drain on any taxpayer-supported U.S. health care system. Angry questions about illegal immigrants getting health care at town hall meetings across the country have put many lawmakers on the defensive... At his town hall meeting in Pennsylvania, for example, Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter had to assure protesters that illegal immigrants would not be covered. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has gone out of her way to make that point as well. Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) faced similar shouted questions at his town hall forum on Wednesday, and repeatedly emphasized that illegal immigrants are not covered by the House bill. President Obama has also made the point, although it’s not clear that the anti-reform activists have heard it.

Fri, 08/14/2009 - 10:54 · · Importance: 4