FAUX News Front Page - "You Lie" - No, Joe Wilson, You Lie.

[Bolo Boffin]

As you can see, they've put Wilson on the left and Obama on the right so that the word LIE is on Obama.

Of course, the only thing Fox is concerned with is the lack of decorum Wilson exhibited. They don't bother to point out that indeed, the health care bill doesn't allow for illegal immigrants to be covered:

http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/twenty-six-lies-about-hr-3200/

...the bill does explicitly say that illegal immigrants can’t get any government money to pay for health care. Page 143 states: "Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States." And as we’ve said before, current law prohibits illegal immigrants from participating in government health care programs.

So for the conservatives and Fox News, the problem isn't that Wilson lied about what's in the bill AND heckled the President in a gross breach of decorum. No, he should have saved the talk about "lies" for later. They are using this very act to advance the lie that the bill will cover illegal immigrants.

As if that would be so terrible, by the way. God forbid this nation act like a bunch of Christians and do what they can to help any human being in need of health care. But it simply isn't true that this bill will cover illegal immigrants.

ETA: The Republicans are claiming that even though the clear language of the bill excludes illegal immigrants from federal subsidies to afford health insurance, there is no verification process in the bill to make sure that abuse is prevented.

Technically, they are right, but they are actually wrong. The bill is being added to current law, and current law does have that verification in place.

Here's the best article I've found describing this:

http://www.alternet.org/immigration/141739/right-wingers_are_stirring_up_xenophobia_to_swiftboat_health_reform_/

The 1996 welfare law (the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act" for those scoring at home), which governs all federal benefits for the poor (not just health benefits), divides noncitizens into two categories in terms of eligibility for government assistance: "qualified" and "not qualified." All unauthorized immigrants are "not qualified," but there are also limitations on public benefits for "qualified" legal immigrants. (Even if they work and pay taxes and have all their papers in order, they’re still ineligible for the first five years of their residency.)

That means that even without the rather clear wording in the health bills released so far, unauthorized immigrants would still be ineligible for benefits under the legislation, just as they are for Medicare, Medicaid, S-CHIP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), foster care, adoption assistance, the Child Care and Development Fund, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, most federal food programs, unemployment insurance, low-income federal housing and everything else the federal government offers citizens and eligible permanent residents.

Also contrary to popular belief, a person can’t simply offer up a fake Social Security number and access benefits from which he or she is barred. Another piece of Clinton-era legislation, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IRRIRA), requires federal, state and local agencies administering any federal benefit to independently verify the immigration and citizenship status of all applicants.

So YOU LIE, Representative Joe Wilson, and every blogger and Republican talking head lies when they say this bill will give federal money to illegal aliens so that they can buy health insurance. In fact, the bill may actually require them to purchase health insurance but not allow them any federal subsidy whatsoever if they were otherwise eligible for it. Illegal aliens would be forced to buy health insurance at full price, which sounds to me like a deterrent to illegal immigration.

Here's a PDF for lots more information about how immigrants both legal and otherwise can or cannot access federal benefits:

http://www.nilc.org/immspbs/special/overview-immeligfedprograms-rev-2009-05.pdf

[bridgit]

1. Foxnews is coast to coast broadcast gibberish and they fucking know it...

I'm sure it's in their charter

[ddeclue]

2. Is anyone surprised...

no matter how low Fox gets, they always manage to drain a little more from the pool the next time.

[orleans]

3. he apologized? really? what did he say? never mind--i found it...

“This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the President’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.”

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/09/wilson-apologizes-i-let-my-emotions-get-the-best-of-me/

so i guess that makes him an over-emotional twit. (or should we just call him: O-EMO)