Joe Wilson's "You Lie!": A Revisionist Interpretation

Joe Wilson has apparently fooled us all. When he yelled out at the President, "You lie!" regarding the President's claim that the healthcare reform measure does not permit undocumented migrants to partake of its benefits, the immediate thought was that Wilson was upset because he was an anti-illegal immigrant reactionary.

But, really, the evidence seems to indicate that he was upset because he is pro-illegal immigrant and found it maddeningly frustrating that Obama, by making such a claim, was refusing to embrace and own up to a shared commitment to providing benefits to illegal immigrants.

Surely, given that Wilson happily voted to commit taxpayer dollars in support of the healthcare of undocumented immigrants in the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, what else can be motivating Wilson's outburst?

Let's compare: the best-known of the healthcare reform proposals out there, HR 3200, contains a specific part, Section 426, which declares that illegal immigrants are not eligible for coverage under the bill. In fact, this particular section of the bill is titled: "No Federal Payment for Undocumented Aliens" and it reads: "Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States." Furthermore, nowhere else in the bill that I can find is there language that mentions benefits specifically intended to cover expenses incurred by undocumented immigrants.

Now, the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, which Joe Wilson voted for, contains Section 1011, which is titled: "Federal Reimbursement of Emergency Health Services Furnished to Undocumented Aliens," with language that clearly and repeatedly mentions benefits to the tune of $250,000,000.00 for each of fiscal years 2005-2008 that are specifically intended to cover expenses incurred by undocumented immigrants.

So, with such love by Wilson for spending taxpayer dollars on the healthcare of undocumented immigrants in the past, there's only one way to interpret his outburst this time around. He simply fantasized the inclusion of benefits to undocumented immigrants in the current healthcare reform bill because he desperately wanted such benefits to be in the bill, and he just couldn't accept the President's truthful declaration that such benefits were simply not there.