senate dems move to close loophole in health care reform bill
By American Girl in Italy on September 13, 2009 at 8:01 AM in Congress (House & Senate), Democrats, Health Care, Keith Olbermann, Sara in Italy
From Politico: Wilson wins?
The controversy over Republican Rep. Joe Wilson’s shouting out “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. Baucus later that afternoon said the group would put in a proof of citizenship requirement to participate in the new health exchange — a move likely to inflame the left.
And from FOX: Rep. Wilson Outburst Leads Senate Dems to Close Loophole in Health Reform Bill
In the Senate, Democrats in the so called “Gang of Six,” began moving quickly to close the loophole Rep. Joe Wilson helped bring to light with his outburst during President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.
House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner amplified the complaint that without proof of citizenship, illegal immigrants could be insured.
“There were two opportunities for House Democrats to make clear that illegal immigrants wouldn’t be covered by putting in requirements to show citizenships,” he said. “Both of those amendments were, in fact, rejected.”
In the Senate, Democrats in the so called “Gang of Six,” a group of bipartisan senators on the Senate Finance Committee which is the last panel yet to release its bill, began moving quickly to close the loophole that Wilson helped bring greater attention to.
“We absolutely assure that those who are here illegally would not get the benefit of any of these initiatives,” Sen. Kent Conrad said.
So, I guess Joe didn’t yell this out just because he’s a junky hooped up on No-Doz? (yes, someone really tried to make a scandal out of this…)
I wonder when Joe Wilson is going to get an apology? For sure Olbermann owes him one. (I didn’t watch the video…no need to.)
And Shuster, too. “The fact that Joe Wilson is from South Carolina…it strikes a lot of people as awfully close to the idea that maybe there was some sort of racist or bigoted element there.”
Really Shuster? It couldn’t just be that Obama was lying or misleading?
Oh, and in case you were wondering what the Republicans were waving around during Obama’s speech - they were waving around the 30+ health care reform bills that they have come up with. You know, the ideas that Obama keeps saying his opponents “don’t have”.
Why use the props? “To say in a quiet and respectful way, ‘Here are our ideas,’ ” Price says. “To say to the president, ‘You’re not being honest with the American people when you say that there haven’t been ideas put forward, and that you’ve listened to them, because you haven’t.’ ”
(Release: November 13)
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I’ve had enough of Schuster. Can we go after that guy like they are doin to Beck?
YES WE CAN! And while we are at it, lets go after Keith Olberman,Chris Matthews, and Ed Schultz.
OHhhhh HAILLLLLLLLLLL YES!!! YOu just named my TOP TRAITORS to this COUNTRY!! (don’t forget Maddow)
Let’s kick their sorry butts to the media curb! They deserve NO Quarter! the hardest of partisans on either side scare me but the hardest of partisan MEDIA are starting to remind me of one HUGE SALT PETER BLOCK being fed to COWS! Arrest them for spreading propaganda!! This is NOT a communist country (yet) nor is it part of some 3rd world nation (yet) and I’m not gonna shut up & keep reminding them of it for as long as there are places to POST A MESSAGE.
(and vote you OUT I shall)
Lady: there is a new movement of Independent journalists in this country. We watched a program about it on C-Span BookTV yesterday. Independent presses are organizing and hiring new journalists who don’t want to be controlled by the corporate media companies. It’’s a step in the right direction.
Amen to that. The four of them behave in ways that are tantamount to inciting violence. They really have no business being on the air. It would be one thing if what they said had a semblance of truth. It does not. I hope Wilson sues Shuster for defamation of character.
AGII, great job. I love the Gomer Pyle reference! That says it all. And in this instance, I have to say I applaud the Republicans for waving around their 30 bill suggestions. Obama is still acting like a community organizaer rather than a President — the exact opposite of what he promised he was going to be. He is acting as a divider, not a uniter. Who’da thunk?
Please. What did the Dems think they were getting? Someone doesn’t just magically change their habits overnight.
Someone Shuster bears a strong resemblance to:
http://emergenciexit.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/jack-nicholson_joker1.jpg
This is like watching the keystone cops. If the Dems rush to cover his bare butt are they not admitting that “he lied”?
AIG - You rock!
That is all.
The next step will be to grant citizenship to the illegals here, then everything will be peachy. Anyone who thinks this issue is about Health Care is wrong. The goal is government takeover to ensure PERMANENT radical left ownership of this country.
Like so much rhetoric, everything is either illegals or citizenship, far left or far right.
But there are thousands of LEGAL immigrants.
They are here living and working and if Americans went legally to their countries (like Sara) they would be covered there.
So it’s one thing to say ILLEGAL immigrants and another to try to get political points by saying “Citizenship requirements” when you know that can’t be put into any bill. Legal immigrants are guaranteed by law to have the same rights as American citizens.
I just hate how stupid the discussion in the media has become.
I agree, Ellen. Another thing, if the strict citizenship requirement is upheld and leaves out legal immigrants, will they still be mandated to buy health insurance?
listingstarboard: ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! The issue about who is lying is a distraction: When the Lefties re-introduce McCain-Kennedy next year, they will make all the illegals instantly legal, and therefore eligible for health care benefits, and they will ALL vote for Lefties until Kingdom come.
AGII:
The use of Gomer Pyle was a stroke of genius on several levels. Excellent commentary within a commentary.
Demand that Obama admit to a full session of Congress that he indeed did lie.
That’s the ticket! As long as apologies are in order, he goes first.
(snicker) omg that would be priceless! I’d have to break out the old recorder and TAPE that event!
hahaha! neva gonna happen, nawp! not bambi
he’s toooo preciousssssss
ughhhhhhupchuck
That’d be a whole lotta beer he’d have to buy….
yet again, the move to fix something that supposedly was a non-issue hyped by the right. didn’t they basically just admit that he was right?!
is it “torch & pitchfork” time yet? i’m happy about the huge turnout for the DC march yesterday (est. over a million!!), but at this point - with this administration doing so much that is blatantly unconstitutional- protests don’t seem to go far enough. at what point do people seriously consider taking the hill by force? nothing would make me happier than hearing about senators & reps huddled in fear as an angry mob swarms over the capital.
According to the Dems, the protest yesterday was of no importance. From the Washington Post story that appeared on the 8th page of the news section:
I love being told I don’t count, don’t you?
Those boneheads don’t understand that a simple monkey wrench thrown in a small gearbox in any big machine will cause the entire apparatus to come to a grinding halt.
They ignore these citizens at their own political peril.
great analogy - and so true!
Great analogy, Ferd. And Diana L.C., the DNC has been telling me I don’t count since the primaries. It’s mind-boggling that they just don’t care tht the country is in revolt against them.
No they don’t, as evidenced by the obumbletrons who come here daily to advance their losing cause whilst being handed their backsides on a platter. And yet they continue to come as though such action will actually work. I don’t know if it is collective insanity or the last great act of defiance. Either way, they are losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the country because they appeal to neither.
Taking a page right out of Rove’s playbook.
The spin:
What they really meant:
We really thought we’d put the issue of illegals so deep and scattered in the bill that no one could find it without leaving a trail of bread crumbs, but as we found our inboxes full with intense reaction to the President’s speech last night we wanted to go back and ensure that our phoney-baloney jobs were protected during the next election cycle,” said Senator Kent Conrad, one of the Democrats in the talks after a meeting Thursday morning.
I like your translation, Ferd. That about says it all.
ditto
Ferd: What you’re saying applies to the issue of illegal entry as a whole and amnesty. They have allowed to many of these people to come into the country (ALLOWED, before Dubya, there was never more than a trickle who could manage to get through) for two main reasons:
A. Now they can say there’s just too many of them to round up and deport–the cost would be prohibitive
B. The politicians had to let millions of the hispanics in so when they grant the amnesty it will give them an unbeatable, permanent majority.
All Americans should consider, if the party you don’t like did something unconstitutional to get a permanent majority, would you be uspet about it? So, shouldn’t you be upset about the party you prefer doing something unconstitutional to get a permanent majority? Once this kind of social engineering is unleashed, it’s the end of the democracy and probably of the United States.
As an average lassie, who was always on a tight budget, I have shrugged at the cost of a doctor’s visit, been anxious about the cost at the pharmacy, and literally had my hand shaking while writing the check for a specialist.
I have seen more than one itemized hospital bill in my day as well, which could cause a relapse.
When those of us who have paid our way are about to be victimized by all who haven’t, we are right to take to the streets, and we had better storm the voting booths as well!
AGiI, this from Byron York’s article in the Washington Examiner from which you quoted above makes me wonder if the Republicans don’t know that O has no mind of his own, really, that he is a brand, a puppet of others’ agendas–Pelosi’s, Reid’s, the MSM’s, and on and on. They must stop falling for the idea that he ever wanted to cross the aisle.
I, a simple voter, knew from the very beginning that he was lying about that too. I’m going to say it now. “YOU LIE!”
On another note, I wonder if Billy Ayers was a little nostalgic yesterday for his “glory days.” Bet he was itching to bomb a police station after watching a march on Washington. Will the ex-radicals from the sixties every think that maybe this is another expression of the will of the people?
The will of the people is of no concern, or consequence, to demogogues. They are only for their own ideologies… which are, they are sure, superior to ours.
Every day that I watch this drama unfold I am more aware of the wisdom of our founders. The checks and balances that they have placed in our early documents will…. I believe… triumph. Over time.
SYD: you hit it right on the head. The past two presidents have been nothing but demagogues.
Well, this proves that if enough Americans research the facts and speak out, Congress will pay attention. There are more of us than of them. 300 million American citizens have a voice. Let’s stop letting 545 people–100 senators, 435 reps, 9 SC justices and one fraud in the wh–tell us what to do.
don’t forget the 10 THOUSAND lobbyists
Good post! Geesh–I wish everyone read NO Quarter! The truth IS out there, but it’s hard to get to.
Agreed, Solara 9. The truth is here. It should be required reading.
thats why i get my news right here..
Me, too, foxiladi!
The irony is that illegal immigrants are not “covered” by the bill [until it's rewritten to include specific language prohibiting them from participation in Obama's plan].
But, they are not be MANDATED to participate like you are either; and I read the bill, which contains specific language stating that illegal immigrants will not be FINED by the IRS for not purchasing insurance–which all of us who are legal citizens of the United States will be.
So, illegals will still get their health care at the hospital emergency room for FREE, and you’ll be paying for it. And, if you don’t buy insurance under Obama, you’ll be paying a hefty fine too.
Checkmate by Obama.
You Lie! Yes. He Does.
Manchester Union-Leader Editorial
http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=%27You+lie!%27+Yes%2c+he+does&articleId=aa2e5b88-3b6d-47c0-a2ee-31dbcf7287c4
Actually it is unconstitutional for the government to issue a government funded health insurance plan and not allow anyone living here not to buy it. A consitutional attorney said that the Supreme Court would set aside any effort to deny illegals the opportunity to get it. So the only solution is not have illegal immigrants or not having a government option.
hokma: the solution is for the left to simply make the illegals LEGAL. Then the illegals are eligible for health care. That’s exactly what the Lefties will do next year.
I am glad Joe Wilson did what he did. Of course it is not about race, however, Obama supporters have nothing else to fight with. They can’t defend his and the democrats actions.
As far as I am concerned Obama and the Dems are no better than Bush and congress (and congress is just as much at fault, they could have questions things and THEY chose not to)getting us into Iraq.
I am sick of this president and his supporters blaming Bush for everything. Bush is no longer president and Bush’s actions don’t justify Obama and the democrats going all out doing whatever they want.
Before Nancy Pelosi continues to ruin her own party’s chances of maintaining a majority, let’s look at what Obama said.
Just prior to his falsehood about denying illegal aliens access to our healthcare reforms, he said the following:
Most Americans believe that a government run healthcare plan would be run by bureaucrats who would have life and death decisions over people, particularly those who are elderly and those who are very ill. Palin called them “death panels.” By Obama stating that this would not happen is a lie, but more importantly he therefore infers that anyone believing this was a liar.
It was only after this that Joe Wilson retorted to Obama’s second lie.
So it is okay for Obama to call others liars, but to call him liar makes you a racist according to Maureen Dowd and others.
And don’t forget how the Dems booed Bush during the State of the Union Address. Did they consider that classy?
Wilson did it in the wrong place and time, as did other politicians with other presidents. Neither action is excused.
However I do say that Wilson is the better man for his acknowledgement of it being in the wrong place but not a lie.
Wilson is apparently the first Congressman with the manners to ever apologize for heckling a president. Looks like Joe has more class than other politicians. GO JOE!!!
With all the other information that has come, just maybe they should leave it alone with the apology. I have a feeling that if the Dems push it, they are going to be shooting themselves in the foot.
I’d be happy to hand them the gun.
The current occupants can say whatever they want; I’ll never believe them on anything. They’ve told too many lies. When he actually secures the border (as Bill Clinton did) then I’ll believe he’s trying to combat the problem of illegal entry. I don’t see him going after employers or rounding up the millions of illegals in the country and getting them out of here. Everyday, at least 5,000 people cross illegally into the U. S. and Obama does nothing.
In TX last week, Perry had to call up the National Guard and send them to the border because his pleas to the WH for additional border patrol went unheeded.
Obama has an agenda with these illegals, the corporations are complicit in it; these people don’t give up. They will say anything, do anything to get what they want.
I am with you on that Tek!
And that is the link between That One and Shrub. HRC would never have stood for such nonsense. She didn’t get the nomination, either. Gee, I wonder why…?