I suppose it’s no surprise to those of us in Arizona that the most talked-about moment in President Barack Obama’s health-care address revolved around illegal immigration. Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst—yelling out “You lie!”—came after Obama said that “The reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

Now there’s a big debate on the right over whether Wilson should have apologized and whether Obama was telling the truth.

Factcheck.org, in a listing of Seven Falsehoods About Health Care, says Obama was not lying:

One Republican congressman issued a press release claiming that “5,600,000 Illegal Aliens May Be Covered Under Obamacare,” and we’ve been peppered with queries about similar claims. They’re not true. In fact, the House bill (the only bill to be formally introduced in its entirety) specifically says that no federal money would be spent on giving illegal immigrants health coverage:

H.R. 3200: 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.

PoliFact rates the claim that illegal immigrants will get free health care as a “pants on fire” falsehood.

Matthew Yglesias has this to say to those who claim Obama is lying about insuring illegal immigrants:

…though the bills would prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving any taxpayer assistance in purchasing health insurance, the proposals on the table don’t do anything special to prevent an undocumented immigrant from buying health insurance with his own money. To characterize this as “insur[ing] illegal immigrants” strikes me as about on a par with claiming that Obama’s health care plans give ibuprofen to illegal immigrants. After all, nothing in the bill stops illegal immigrants from buying ibuprofen in a store! And the very same FDA regulations that assure citizens and legal residents and tourists of the safety of ibuprofen will also benefit illegal immigrants.

This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.

Getting hassled by The Man Mild-mannered reporter

5 replies on “Who’s The Liar?”

  1. The extreme right HAVE health care.. Sorry… Why would they want to pay for people who chose to not have it or people who are not Americans? Why would anyone who has something they like and pay for want to change? It is not governments job constitutionally to provide health care.. This whole thing is bizarre.. Fix the medical mess using the current system.. Get the damn attorneys OUT first of all! Tort reform for Gods sake!Caps on punitive payments is critical. Put out the raging fire in the current system and see what things cost.. Then, ban medical care for ALL NON US citizens including a ban on allowing babies born here to be US Citizens.. Also, bring in the medical insurers and read them the riot act. Increase fines and jail time for insurers abusing patient rights.. The money saved would pay for the whole mess.. The government is TERRIBLE at running everything! Who can’t admit that? Even the libs here must agree on that. Something must be done now but government run health care will be a colossal disaster and is financially unsustainable.. It won’t work.. Neither will the current system.. We can agree on that.. 46 million uninsured include only 12 million who truly can’t afford health care. The rest are illegally here or chose to have a big screen over insurance.. Why do a massive overhaul for 5% of the population? Silly and terrible money management.. Step back and think.. We can’t save everyone! I fired half my staff and made the others become their own corporations to avoid any problems requiring me to provide health care.. simple fix.. I write checks to the companies my former “employees” now own..lol.. And if they crack down on that I will fire the companies.. See, I am not paying for what I don’t want to pay for.. And shouldn’t be forced to.. We aren’t Cuba yet are we? Those who create jobs, innovate, work hard, and pay taxes deserve better than a bigger tax bill and abuse.. When WE stop creating jobs and working hard who will?

  2. The bill as written does not allow for Federal payments to benefit illegal aliens, BUT it also does not allow for citizenship verification. Without verfication, there is nothing to stop the illegals.

  3. What’s sad is so many moron americans actually believe Jo-liar in spite of documented proof otherwise. Perhaps with mandated health care they will get the medical care they need to think for themselves.

  4. I posted this on AzStarNet and got booted, banned and blocked forever.
    My point is that Joe Wilson’s crazy outburst about the so-called Illegal Immigration issue is indicative that there is strong thread of racism about this. Especially from this South Carolinian with a history of racist tendencies.

    Joe Wilson is a racist.
    South Carolina continues to be proud of its’ slavery history and Wilson fought every attempt to remove the confederate flag from the capitol building in South Carolina. He is being staunchly defended by racist christian identity white supremacist groups. “One of the most enthusiastic endorsements of Wilson’s histrionics came from the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), a group that Wilson has belonged to according to his own biographical materials.
    SCV leader Kirk Lyons harbored dream of creating a seemingly benign front group for a more sophisticated version of the Ku Klux Klan. Veteran white supremacy activist Kirk Lyons calls SCV “a modern, 21st century Christian war machine capable of uniting the Confederate community and leading it to ultimate victory”.
    If it walks like a duck….

    So, it should come as no surprise that he comes unglued in a presidential speech and calls the President a liar in front of the entire nation over the issue of “illegal aliens”, the new “N” word.
    The Secret Service is reporting that President Obama has had three times as many threats on his life than President Bush.
    Those of you who defend Wilson’s actions need to take a step back and decide whether you want to see this kind of racially charged behavior continue. I know there will be those who will try to change the subject to argue he was right about the health insurance bill but, that is not my point. If the President were a black or Mexican Republican, Mr. Wilson’s inexcusable behavior would still be outrageous and he owes the entire country and congress an apology.
    Worst of all, the spectacle of our first Black President being heckled by a South Carolina white power conservative congressman, with its’ history of slavery and the Confederacy, is an insult to all Americans.

Comments are closed.