David Herszenhorn of NYT misleads about ObamaCare

David Herszenhorn of the New York Times offers "Check Point: Examining Obama’s Assertions" (link). He lists some of the things Obama was truthful and not truthful about in last night's speech; reviewing all of those for accuracy is left as an exercise. However, he leads off with three paragraphs (two below) in which he falsely claims that illegal aliens won't be able to get coverage. The Congressional Research Service says that's false. Further, the deceptive plan Obama and the Democrats have in mind is to legalize current illegal aliens; someone could go from being an illegal alien one day to a legal resident the next and eligible for Obamacare.

Excerpt follows.

[Joe Wilson's shout] was an angry retort to Mr. Obama’s statement that illegal immigrants would not benefit from proposed health care legislation. And while other points in Mr. Obama’s speech were debatable, this one was not.

The legislation approved by three House committees clearly states that only lawful residents will qualify for new health insurance subsidies. “Nothing in this subtitle,” it says, “shall allow federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”

Thu, 09/10/2009 - 10:47 · · Importance: 4