Blame Joe Wilson, Not the Immigrants

Too many people wanted to know what I thought about Rep. Joe Wilson for my taste. The answer is I didn’t think anything much of him before President Obama’s address on Wednesday, and think even less of him now. Aside from heckling the sitting President of the United States during a nationally televised address, he hadn’t done anything of substance.  His one contribution to the health care debate –- proclaiming the president was lying when he said illegal immigrants would benefit from health care reform –- was all anger and no accuracy. Despite the national fascination, he was utterly irrelevant to health care reform.

Until today, of course, when first the centrist Democrats of the “gang of six” and then the White House capitulated to the concerns of the heckler. Apparently we reward you in the United States Congress for being an ass clown. (Some would joke it’s probably a requirement.)

Wilson’s continued assertion that he was set against health care reform because it would benefit those here illegally was false in a way that defies logic. The House bill expressly reserves the tax credits for low- and middle-income people to afford insurance premiums in the Exchange to “an individual who is lawfully present in a State in the United States” (Sec. 242 (a) (1). Sec. 246 takes it a step further and proclaims, “Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.” This is as open-and-shut as it gets, and even nonpartisan sites like FactCheck.org, prompted by Wilson’s outburst to check again, concluded, “They receive no government funds for this and cost the taxpayers nothing.” This was a net political win.  The opposition to health care reform embodied in Wilson looked both unreasonable and wrong.

So why, then, did both Sens. Kent Conrad and Max Baucus publicly re-open the issue as though Wilson had made a legitimate claim? Baucus’ framework document already said, “No illegal immigrants will benefit from the health care tax credits.” That’s pretty damn clear. But when confronted with an unsubstantiated, inappropriate, angry outburst from an idiot, Conrad began a-thinking: “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.” In their totally improvised new regulation, when you apply for a tax credit, you’ll need proof of citizenship... because apparently using your previous year’s tax return as proof that you qualify for a tax credit isn’t enough paperwork or proof that you’re a tax-paying resident. If it’s just to really double-dog guarantee that no undocumented worker gets an affordability tax credit, it’s redundant and needlessly bureaucratic. If it’s a move to prevent that immigrants aren’t paying for health insurance even with their own money, it’s a libertarian’s nightmare. As Ezra Klein writes, “there's a reason Best Buy doesn't have a citizenship requirement and Safeway doesn't ask for papers. It's cumbersome and inefficient and, at the end of the day, we want people to spend money on things anyway.”

Conrad later clarified to say he only meant there’d be a citizenship requirement for the tax credit –- so he’s merely being redundant. But honestly, combined with the hugely problematic and needlessly weak ideas negotiated into Baucus’ framework document, it makes me wonder who Baucus and Conrad won’t roll over for.  What's next -- specific legislative language that forbids an assassination squad going after Sarah Palin's baby?

But then, it got worse.  Baucus and Conrad, I understand. But this leaves me speechless:

A White House spokesman, Reid Cherlin, said that the president’s proposals would bar illegal immigrants from purchasing private insurance through the new government marketplace, known as an exchange, and that verification of immigration status would be required for anyone seeking to purchase coverage.

Yes, that would be the White House overreacting worse than conservative Democrats. And you know what? Joe Wilson is still wrong! He will continue railing against funding the health care for undocumented workers even despite these redundant and potentially oppressive changes. His argument had zero basis in fact -- you can’t have less than a zero basis in fact. This nets no new vote for reform. And it makes the health care bill that Joe Wilson wasn’t going to vote for anyway a little worse for all of us -- including those of us who were born here, were naturalized, or are here through work visas, who now must verify our own papers before buying health insurance.

I guess you can get pretty far in life just being an ass clown.

(Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/notionscapital/ / CC BY 2.0)

For more on health care reform as it relates to immigration reform, please see these previous posts:

• "Everybody Knows" Is Not a Credible Source on Immigrant Health Care
• For Democrats, Immigration + Health Care = Run Away
• SCHIP: Will This Be the Day?