The Other Shoe About to Drop — Why Joe Wilson Might Defeat Obamacare
Of course, we all know about Bart Stupak and his “gang” who are going to switch and vote “no” on Obamacare this time, but do you know about Nancy Pelosi’s other headache that could derail the bill?
If you recall from President Obama’s September healthcare speech to a joint session of Congress (and, really, who could forget?), Rep. Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” when the President said that Obamacare wouldn’t cover illegal aliens. As a consequence, the President had the Senate version quietly remove the ability of illegals to buy health insurance from government-supported, health “exchanges” — even with their own money. Since the whole idea of these “exchanges” is that they will eventually crowd out private health insurers, illegal aliens could eventually be effectively barred from purchasing health insurance of any kind.
Additionally, the Senate bill would bar legal, permanent residents from buying insurance from the exchange for the first five years. Needless to say, the House Hispanic Caucus isn’t happy, not happy at all. Of course, all this was initially for show to defuse the Joe Wilson controversy, and it was all going to be added back into the bill in conference committee. Of course, in the Scott Brown era, there is no conference committee.
Democrats are anxiously awaiting the CBO report, which should come out tomorrow. If the CBO “scores” the exclusion of illegals and/or the permanent resident clauses with a budget number, then they can be addressed with reconciliation. This is widely considered unlikely. It’s also unclear if the Senate would go along with this, and it’s also unclear if changing that part of the bill would cost Pelosi more votes in the House from somewhat moderate Dems who don’t want to be attacked for supporting illegal immigration.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez says he’s prepared to vote “no” on the Senate bill as a result, and the entire Hispanic Caucus is threatening to vote “no” if they don’t get what they want. As if that weren’t enough, “immigrants’ rights groups” have planned a massive demonstration in DC on March 21 — which just so happens to be the day that Obamacare is likely to come up for a vote in the House.
So, if Obamacare can’t be “fixed,” what’s the other alternative for Pelosi and the President to prevent the Hispanic caucus from voting “no”? Why, it’s to promise to take up “comprehensive immigration reform” next, natch. That way, we won’t have any illegals, see? All those bright-and-shiny-new U.S. citizens will then be able to get Obamacare.
If you think that the President is unpopular now, just wait until the Democrats push for a new wave of illegal immigration to the U.S., which is the effective result of legalization. With unemployment already sky-high, what would happen if a huge wave of immigrants were to come to the U.S. looking for work?
I don't think you're being fair. Why, the damage Obama has done to the economy has accomplished more to diminish the flow of illegal immigrants to America than any other president has accomplished since Carter.
Ah, but the ones who are left are really feeling the pain. Where do illegals work? A lot of the men work in construction, and a lot of the women work as housekeepers, especially at hotels and such. Those industries have been especially hard hit, and so most of them are unemployed.
Now, if they were citizens, they could get welfare, unemployment benefits, social security, Medicaid and Medicare, housing assistance, food stamps, and God only knows how many other federal and state programs. Hence, their eagerness for President Obama to fulfill his campaign pledge to enact "comprehensive immigration reform" and their particular anger at the Senate version of the health care bill.
President Obama is like the mama bird coming back to the nest. All the little birds with their closed eyes are cheeping with their mouths wide open, but the mama bird only has one worm. Who's going to get it?
To elaborate on that last comment, the unions and the Congressional Black Caucus will scream bloody murder if the President tries to push amnesty with unemployment where it is right now. The Democrats are about to start some serious infighting, as all their constituent groups have been patiently waiting for Obamacare to pass so that their pet issues can be next in line. They are going to be angry when they realize they worked so hard to elect President Obama and Congressional Democrats, only to get nothing out of it. That's the kind of thing that discourages a generation of activists and will demoralize the Democrats for a long time.
These are the wages of identity and group politics. If all you can do is play groups off against one another while feeding special interests from a government trough, as is Democrats' stock and trade, inevitably you're going to run into situations where they come into irreconcilable conflicts.
It's a concern, however, that with stakes this high they'll stop at nothing to rig this game and force this grotesque abomination through Congress – while that all but assures the GOP will get majorities in both the House and the Senate in November, it's going to present very daunting challenges to that new majority in attempting to repeal Obamacare.
Then again, if the Democrats lay down a precedent with the Slaughter Rule whereby you don't have to vote on a bill to pass it, perhaps a Republican majority can use that perversion to put through all kinds of things we wouldn't expect would be possible.
What is the slaughter rule and how does it work?
Thanks,
Rose
http://thehayride.com/2010/03/house-dems-well-pas…
EXPLAINS SLAUGHTER RULE.
I don't think you're being fair. Why, the damage Obama has done to the economy has accomplished more to diminish the flow of illegal immigrants to America than any other president has accomplished since Carter.
Ah, but the ones who are left are really feeling the pain. Where do illegals work? A lot of the men work in construction, and a lot of the women work as housekeepers, especially at hotels and such. Those industries have been especially hard hit, and so most of them are unemployed.
Now, if they were citizens, they could get welfare, unemployment benefits, social security, Medicaid and Medicare, housing assistance, food stamps, and God only knows how many other federal and state programs. Hence, their eagerness for President Obama to fulfill his campaign pledge to enact "comprehensive immigration reform" and their particular anger at the Senate version of the health care bill.
President Obama is like the mama bird coming back to the nest. All the little birds with their closed eyes are cheeping with their mouths wide open, but the mama bird only has one worm. Who's going to get it?
To elaborate on that last comment, the unions and the Congressional Black Caucus will scream bloody murder if the President tries to push amnesty with unemployment where it is right now. The Democrats are about to start some serious infighting, as all their constituent groups have been patiently waiting for Obamacare to pass so that their pet issues can be next in line. They are going to be angry when they realize they worked so hard to elect President Obama and Congressional Democrats, only to get nothing out of it. That's the kind of thing that discourages a generation of activists and will demoralize the Democrats for a long time.
These are the wages of identity and group politics. If all you can do is play groups off against one another while feeding special interests from a government trough, as is Democrats' stock and trade, inevitably you're going to run into situations where they come into irreconcilable conflicts.
It's a concern, however, that with stakes this high they'll stop at nothing to rig this game and force this grotesque abomination through Congress – while that all but assures the GOP will get majorities in both the House and the Senate in November, it's going to present very daunting challenges to that new majority in attempting to repeal Obamacare.
Then again, if the Democrats lay down a precedent with the Slaughter Rule whereby you don't have to vote on a bill to pass it, perhaps a Republican majority can use that perversion to put through all kinds of things we wouldn't expect would be possible.
What is the slaughter rule and how does it work?
Thanks,
Rose
http://thehayride.com/2010/03/house-dems-well-pas…
EXPLAINS SLAUGHTER RULE.
[...] it with certain modifications. This includes Rep. Gutierrez, who opposes the bill because it prohibits illegal immigrants from getting Obamacare. Crafting a bill that pleases all of them and keeps the cost low enough to [...]