Pleasing Hispanic Caucus or Being a Liar (Obama’s healthcare/immigration tough choice?)

9:30 a.m. — Pres. Obama has scheduled a meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for this (Thursday) afternoon. 

Presumably, the Hispanic Caucus will ask the President to prove himself a liar to the American people.

Obama and his spokesmen have made a very clear promise to a joint session of Congress and  in many national media appearances that illegal immigrants will not benefit from any new federal health care plan.

The authoritative news service Congress Daily reports that the Hispanic Caucus has threatened Speaker Pelosi with voting against a House health care bill if it requires full verification against illegal immigrant participation in all parts of the new federal plan.

At the moment, Pelosi is bowing to the pro-illegal-immigration Hispanic Caucus and turning a cold shoulder to all those moderate Democrats who say their constituents want the House bill to back up Pres. Obama’s promises.

Vulnerable Democrats have launched a last minute push to include language
excluding undocumented immigrants from buying insurance in the exchange
with private money — a provision included in the Senate Finance Committee
bill.

But adding the language to the House bill could jeopardize passage. Rep.
Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., said if the provision is included in the bill, a
majority of the 22-member Congressional Hispanic Caucus will vote against
the rule.

Losing those votes could combine with remaining anti-abortion Democrats to
leave leaders unable to bring the bill to the floor, said Pastor, a chief
deputy whip. “With the issue of pro-life and other people voting against
it, it becomes pretty difficult to deal with,” he said.

— Congress Daily

NumbersUSA members are continuing to phone Democratic Members of the House (202-224-3121), urging them not to make Pres. Obama a liar. 

To fulfill the President’s promise, the House bill needs to have full verification requirements for every single part of the federal plan — not just one part as Speaker Pelosi has now accepted.  And the bill has to bar illegal aliens from being part of the “exchange.”

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said those fulfillments of Obama’s promise would be too much to swallow:

I have already said no tax dollars shall go to support health care for undocumented workers. What more do you want me to do?” Gutierrez said. “I’m being consistent. But now they want to feed the frenzy of the xenophobic, right-wing anti-immigrant. . . . 

A Democratic aide said the CHC should focus any anger on the White House and the Senate, which added the (verification) language after President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress. “The reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally,” Obama said, prompting Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., to shout, “You lie!”

— Congress Daily

Guitierrez and other champions of illegal aliens are willing to have words that bar illegal aliens from benefits but not actual verification procedures. 

Will the Hispanic Caucus this afternoon persuade Obama to prove Joe Wilson correct?

ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA