Hispanic Caucus: Now That We've Got You Over A Barrel, How About That Healthcare for Illegals?

The timing couldn't be better:

A group of Hispanic lawmakers on Thursday will tell President Barack Obama that they may not vote for healthcare reform unless changes are made to the bill’s immigration provisions.

The scheduled meeting comes as Democratic leaders and the White House are struggling to craft a final bill that will attract 216 votes in the lower chamber.

Since last fall, Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) members have kept quiet, at least publicly, about their objections to the immigration provisions in the Senate bill.

The Senate language would prohibit illegal immigrants’ buying healthcare coverage from the proposed health exchanges. The House-passed bill isn’t as restrictive, but it does — like the Senate bill — bar illegal immigrants from receiving federal subsidies to buy health insurance.

Hispanic Democrats say they haven’t moved from their stance that they will not vote for a healthcare bill containing the Senate’s prohibitions.

Damn those Republicans for their intransigence!

More: It will be interesting to see what comes of this. These folks have to know that this only hurts the odds of a bill passing, which means the optimal response from Pelosi and Obama is: "You'll get nothing and you'll like it. Maybe we'll let the Comprehensive Immigration Piece of Shit out of committee this year if you pipe down for the next six months or so."

And now that the Hispanic Caucus has it's hand out and Stupak's Dozen have their hands out, what's restraining unions from demanding another concession on the excise tax? Or other groups from realizing that if the bill is going to collapse anyway, why not make a symbolic gesture for their personal interest group?

posted by Gabriel Malor at 09:26 AM

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