FactCheck furiously spins healthcare coverage for illegal aliens; Obama still right!

Posted Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 1:58 pm

FactCheck offers "Obama’s Health Care Speech/We fact-check the president's address to Congress and the nation" (factcheck.org/2009/09/obamas-health-care-speech) which to a certain extent contradicts claims made by their own director Brooks Jackson back on August 14. At that time, he said it was "False" that "Illegal Immigrants Will Be Covered" under the House bill; his claim itself is false.

With the new article they're at least admitting that those who point out that illegal aliens would be covered "have a point", but they furiously spin things - surprise! - to Obama's benefit:

[In his speech] Obama was correct when he said his plan wouldn’t insure illegal immigrants; the House bill expressly forbids giving subsidies to those who are in the country illegally. Conservative critics complain that the bill lacks an enforcement mechanism, but that hardly makes the president a liar.

They're giving Obama too much credit. Way, way, way too much credit. He knows there are loopholes and he supports such loopholes. The only reason he isn't pushing to cover the entire population of Mexico is because he knows he couldn't get away with it. Obama is being deliberately deceptive; he's a liar.

They follow the quote above with a longer section; the first part of that reprises their previous false claim. Then:

However, conservative critics object to a lack of specific enforcement measures in the bill. They argue that the lack of a specific verification mechanism constitutes a loophole that would allow illegal immigrants to get benefits despite the legal prohibition. Republican Rep. Dean Heller of Nevada proposed an amendment to the bill that would have required the use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program to check the citizenship of anyone applying for federal coverage or affordability credits. SAVE is the program used by Medicaid and similar entitlement programs. That amendment was voted down along party lines by the House Ways and Means Committee.

Republicans have a point here: More could be done to enforce the ban. But it’s worth remembering that, as a spokesperson for the American Immigration Lawyers Association told us, attempting to get a health care credit would have legal repercussions. "Making a fraudulent claim to an entitlement program when you’re not actually entitled to it would have serious consequences for any person," the spokesperson told us, "but especially if it’s considered a false claim to citizenship, that would have serious immigration consequences that could ultimately lead to deportation." And Rep. Wilson certainly was out of bounds to call the president’s statement a "lie." He later issued a statement apologizing for his "inappropriate and regrettable" comments.

It was at the mention of the AILA that I broke out laughing. While to a certain extent most illegal aliens will try to lie low, the idea that most illegal aliens would be afraid of falsely claiming to be a citizen is absurd. They crossed the border illegally or overstayed their visa; they may be using falsified documents; they know that the chance of being deported are remote due to racial power groups and corrupt politicians. They aren't about to be deterred by a checkbox on a form.

And, of course, FactCheck is trying to imply that Joe Wilson retracted his claim that Obama was lying, when in fact Wilson maintains that Obama was lying.

In addition to Jackson, those responsible are: Jess Henig, DAngelo Gore and Lori Robertson.

Tags: 
factcheck
american immigration lawyers association
obama healthcare
joe wilson
brooks jackson
lori robertson
jess henig
dangelo gore

Comments

eh (not verified)

Fri, 09/11/2009 - 21:39

_...despite the legal prohibition._ What "legal prohibition"? _...More could be done to enforce the ban._ What "ban"? As I pointed out yesterday [1], even the Congressional Research Service's report of Aug 25 says there is nothing in the House bill that says illegals cannot enroll in the public option: _H.R. 3200 DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY RESTRICTIONS ON NONCITZENS -- WHETHER LEGALLY OR ILLEGALLY PRESENT, OR IN THE UNITED STATES TEMPORARILY OR PERMANENTLY -- PARTICIPATING IN THE EXCHANGE._ I think the situation is pretty clear: there is no "prohibition", there is no "ban". And anyone who writes otherwise is, themselves, a liar.

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[1] www.haloscan.com/comments/lonewackodotcom/9467/#480305

eh (not verified)

Fri, 09/11/2009 - 21:43

_liar_ Or ignorant. One of the two.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 09/12/2009 - 02:50

'The only reason he isn't pushing to cover the entire population of Mexico is because he knows he couldn't get away with it.' Sad, but true. He revealed the way he thinks early on with the just make 'em legal 'solution' to any illegal alien exclusion.

Steve (not verified)

Sat, 09/12/2009 - 05:56

It's clear that by pimping for Obama in this debate (when he is so clearly being deceitful), "FactCheck" has lost whatever credibility it had. And I'm glad Wilson's honesty has brought this debate to the fore and not allowed Obama to get away with this deception.

eh (not verified)

Sat, 09/12/2009 - 06:00

The situation gets curiouser: In the Congressional Research Service report I linked to before [1], in the § titled "Credits" it says: FURTHERMORE, §246 WOULD BAR UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS FROM RECEIVING ANY PREMIUM OR COST-SHARING CREDIT. In a footnote it then quotes the text from §246 of HR 3200, but you can read it here: [2] SEC. 246. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS NOTHING IN THIS SUBTITLE SHALL ALLOW FEDERAL PAYMENTS FOR AFFORDABILITY CREDITS ON BEHALF OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE NOT LAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES. Again you have to ask: If the intent is to bar illegals from receiving subsidized health insurance via the public option of the Exchange (apparently they can avail themselves of the Exchange to buy private health insurance if they want), why did the Democrats vote down the amendment that would have required verification of eligibility? Any final bill can resolve all of this confusion by including provisions that require verification of eligibility. And oddly enough, per the CRS it appears illegals may even technically be required to purchase health insurance if they meet a "substantial presence test". From the § "Individual Mandate" of the CRS report: NOTABLY, THE IRC DOES NOT CONTAIN SPECIAL RULES FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE IN THE UNITED STATES WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION (I.E., ILLEGAL OR UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS). INSTEAD, THE IRC TREATS THESE INDIVIDUALS IN THE SAME MANNER AS OTHER FOREIGN NATIONALS—AN UNAUTHORIZED INDIVIDUAL WHO HAS BEEN IN THE UNITED STATES LONG ENOUGH TO QUALIFY UNDER THE SUBSTANTIAL PRESENCE TEST IS CLASSIFIED AS A RESIDENT ALIEN; OTHERWISE, THE INDIVIDUAL IS CLASSIFIED AS A NONRESIDENT ALIEN. THUS, IT WOULD APPEAR THAT UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS WHO MEET THE SUBSTANTIAL PRESENCE TEST WOULD BE REQUIRED UNDER H.R. 3200 TO HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE. A lot of needless confusion and bullshit.

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[1] www.cis.org/articles/2009/CRS_Report_on_HR3200.pdf
[2] energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090714/aahca.pdf

eh (not verified)

Sat, 09/12/2009 - 06:09

An interesting comment. [1] Worth reading.

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[1] www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=47234&plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey:5e9dee28-6eda-4ab2-9ec2-1baf8bdac4b5#CommentKey:5e9dee28-6eda-4ab2-9ec2-1baf8bdac4b5

eh (not verified)

Sat, 09/12/2009 - 06:43

White House stiffens against illegal immigrants [1] _The White House strengthened its stand against health care coverage for illegal immigrants Friday, and a pivotal Senate committee looked ready to follow its lead...White House press secretary Robert Gibbs sketched a new position that goes even further than some conservative critics had demanded: OBAMA WILL OPPOSE LETTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BUY INSURANCE THROUGH NEW PURCHASING EXCHANGES THE GOVERNMENT WILL SET UP -- EVEN FROM PRIVATE COMPANIES OPERATING WITHIN THE EXCHANGES...VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS ARE "SOMETHING WE\'D WORK OUT WITH CONGRESS," HE SAID._

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[1] finance.yahoo.com/news/White-House-stiffens-against-apf-2344881978.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

Fred Dawes (not verified)

Sat, 09/12/2009 - 07:05

The one thing people forget to ask about is who made the deal with big Insurers and what are the insurance terms made with obama this is in fact not a fight about health care its a fight about who control what and how much money is to be made on the backs of the poor working people who are fools and did vote for that pig obama but are now about to be used real well. get you mind right and ask why is this happening now?

eh (not verified)

Sat, 09/12/2009 - 09:41

_...a fight about who control(s) what..._ Read this for an interesting example of that. [1] Yes, who knows what is going on behind the scenes.

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[1] brucekrasting.blogspot.com/2009/09/sugar-sweet-story.html

Fred Dawes (not verified)

Sun, 09/13/2009 - 16:54

To all read eh posts bruce Krasting, what people are seeing right now is the total dismantling and to destroy our life and remove us as a political and race population. Obama is not hitler but he is our enemy and the government he controls is also our enemy. The politcal pigs in power at all levels is our enemies it hates the ideals of freedom and laws. This government has made laws as tools of murder and political and race opassion and total corruption of the ideals of freedom and justice.