Redstate

contribute (basically) nothing, be handed (for the most part) everything, break (technically) every law possible-I want me some

By haystack Posted in Congress — Comments (23) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Get caught coming in...mulligan. A bus ride home and a next-day-do-over - check. Make it through and get caught, appear in Court, get a hearing date, skip bail...mulligan. Check. Find a place to live in a safe city, get sick, get free care and meds at the local ER - check. Find a job, get 10 X what you could have made at home, pay no taxes, get cash under the table - check. Have kids (marriage - optional) at the ole ER (paid for by the locals). Put them in school (paid for by the locals) and refuse for them to learn the language (spoken by the locals). Get them into college free or at a resident's tuition rate (paid for by the locals) - check. Come on hard times along the way, need food or shelter assistance...maybe some help with the electric bill (paid for by the locals)- check. Make it to retirement, receive Social Security and/or disability until you die (paid for by the locals) - check. Leave whatever's left of your "estate" to your survivors, tax free and with no State intervention...check.

All I have to do in exchange is what? Vote Democrat? Phhhhht...I'll do it as many times per day as you want, man...so long as you all keep that "no ID required" gizmo going...

I. Am. In.

Being an American citizen is quickly losing any vestige of benefit. Free-falling into a socialist-state abyss, we are increasingly taxed and otherwise impinged to cover the whims and fancies of Congress as they dole out favor and portent to those who care least about what it takes to acquire or enjoy either.

More below the fold...

Amnesty, outright, was tried. Next it was open (but secure) borders. A free ride continues unabated by virtue of safe-haven cities and free medical care at the modern-day Doctor's office (formerly known as Emergency Rooms). Each of these offenses to our sensibilities has been equivalently achieved, ostensibly, by our political poltroons choosing to do nothing about the problem except continue to offer unacceptable solutions to the general population, who in turn explode and revolt and ultimately settle into some simmering stew on the back burner...waiting for the next round of antics from on high.

Never fear, sports fans, fresh from vacation they're at it anew. Last week, it was the so-called "Dream Act" which will offer legal status to illegal immigrant students who have graduated from high school." Now, ain't that special? [2-fingered whistle] "Hey-I graduated from high school. Can Imove to any city in the country and get in-state college tuition rates?"

This week's way excellent adventure? Enter the Dragon, SCHIP Legislation which has been compromised downto a sufficiently palatable alternative for the Democrat aristocracy in Washington to shove down our throats. It's bad enough that this trash furthers the Democrat majority's mockery of Conservative First principles by taxing the free choices of socially second-class citizen groups (smokers) insufficiently numbered to represent themselves against this aberration. It's only been a couple hundred years, you know, but the LAST time Government did such a thing (after a long train of such abuses) a few people got together for some tea and crumpets...and a few fireworks.

This go round, they're looking to pass a bill which raises spending by $35 billion, focuses solely on SCHIP and pays for it with a cigarette tax increase of 61 cents a pack. Hmm...this sounds vaguely familiar. But wait! It's for the children right? Am I not already paying the highest tobacco tax in the country down here in Texas for their education? At this rate, I'm going to need to smoke 12 cartons a day to keep them healthy and fill their brains with mush. But I digress...

This SCHIP (health) and DREAM act (education) business isn't about the children at all...it's about pandering to illegals. Another, in a long train of abuses of the collective will of the people who have repeatedly insisted on small incremental fixes which start with existing laws and more secure borders. How does Congress expect to achieve these things when they shroud a "For The Children" perk in another illegal alien enticement to stick around and vote?

Consider, first, McCrery's letter (in its entirety)to his "colleagues" about this latest debacle:

Oppose SCHIP Expansions That Will Make It Easier For Illegal Aliens To Get Medicaid

September 25, 2007

Dear Colleague:

As the House prepares to debate the expansion of the State Children’s health Insurance Program ("SCHIP"), I wanted to make you aware of a provision in the bill that will make it significantly easier for both legal and illegal aliens to fraudulently qualify for the Medicaid and SCHIP programs.

Current law requires that states must determine whether persons applying for Medicaid and SCHIP are U.S. citizens and therefore entitled to participate in these programs. States can satisfy this requirement by having applicants show specified types of identity documents, like drivers’ licenses, passports or birth certificates, when they apply for these programs.

Section 211 of the new bill will substantially weaken the current requirements and make it easier for both legal and illegal aliens to break the law and qualify for Medicaid and SCHIP. The language in the bill would allow states to disregard the current requirement to review actual identity documents and instead submit the names and Social Security numbers of applicants to the Social Security Administration (“SSA”).

In order to better understand the impact of these changes, on Friday I wrote a letter to the Social Security Administration, asking whether this type of process could detect and prevent legal and illegal aliens from improperly qualifying for Medicaid and SCHIP. In his response (copy attached), SSA Commissioner Astrue indicated that the new provision would fail to identify and therefore prevent the following categories of persons from illegally getting healthcare benefits through Medicaid or SCHIP:

· Legal aliens who are not naturalized citizens;

· Illegal aliens fraudulently using another persons valid name and Social Security number;

· Individuals who have illegally overstayed a valid work permit.

Commissioner Astrue’s letter makes it explicitly clear that this new provision will not prevent legal and illegal aliens from violating our laws and qualifying for Medicaid and SCHIP. I would therefore urge you to oppose this bill, and maintain the current law protections that prevent the abuse of these taxpayer funded healthcare programs.

Sincerely,

Here is what we know, given the letter (folks-this is a MUST read-apologies for a slow pdf download) from Social Security Administrator Michael J. Astrue sent in response to a letter from Ways & Means Ranking Member Jim McCrery which he asks those few "clarifying" questions about Sec. 301 of H.R. 976 ("free-for all money handout" for those listening at home). As interesting as the questions were, the answers were (expletive removed in deference to the posting guidelines) horrifying:

The SCHIP bill will NOT allow the SSA to verify if someone is a "naturalized citizen."

The bill would NOT provide for verification of citizenship. Worse, once qualified and receiving this benefit, it "would create a conclusive presumption that a person is a citizen."

This bill will NOT detect or prevent a "legal" alien (but not a naturalized citizen who is generally ineligible for Medicaid) from receiving Medicaid benefits (to which they are not currently entitled.

This bill will NOT ensure the person claiming the benefit is WHO they say they are.

This bill will NOT prevent an illegal alien from fraudulently using another person's valid name and SSN to obtain Medicaid or SCHIP benefits.

This bill will NOT prevent anyone who has illegally overstayed a work visa from receiving SCHIP or Medicaid benefits.

This bill will NOT improve the number of "false positive" or "false negative" matches to legitimate SSN's and those who SHOULD be eligible for benefits and those who should not.

If I leave, and come back, and declare myself an "undocumented" illegal, I stand to gain far more "gimmes" and hope to offload a whole lotta "gotchas."

Where do I sign up?