Joe Wilson—Rude But Right

            One commentator summed it up well, “Wilson is rude, but right.” The Wilson in question is Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) who stirred national controversy when he spoke out during President Obama’s speech on health care. When Obama claimed that proposed health care legislation would not cover illegal aliens, Wilson replied, “You lie.”

            No, that wasn’t a good idea. But it’s not hard to understand the congressman’s exasperation. No matter how many times refuted, the falsehood that the proposed health bill, H.R. 3200, will exclude illegals keeps rearing its head again and again—especially in the mainstream media. A supposedly reputable website called “fact check” says that benefits for illegals is a “myth.” That claim itself is mythology.

            Here are the facts: The bill has a provision excluding illegal aliens, but House Democrats on two committees have voted down amendments to give power of enforcement to that provision. Illegals will get benefits because, by design, there is nothing in the bill to stop them. This prompted the Congressional Research Service, the “research arm” of Congress to state, “H.R. 3200 does not contain any restrictions on noncitizens—whether legally or illegally present. . . .”

            It is reasonable to assume that President Obama would know these things. Certainly he and leading members of his party in Congress must know also that publicly-funded health care for illegal aliens is highly unpopular with the American people. If one has any doubts about this, reflection on a recent Rasmussen poll would lay them to rest. It found that 83 percent of voters believe that people should have to prove they are citizens before receiving public health care benefits. Only 12 percent disagreed, and five percent were unsure.

            Thus it is understandable that supporters of H.R. 3200 want to maintain the myth that benefits for illegal aliens are a myth, particularly those in Washington. They fear the wrath of voters awakened to the truth. Thus it is no surprise that they and their allies are on the warpath against Wilson for telling it. The South Carolina congressman should have expressed his outrage in a more appropriate manner—but that outrage itself was entirely appropriate and justified.