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Anyone for a Little Immigration Reform?
Congress is expected to vote on health care reform this weekend, so what’ll all those senators and representatives have to busy their idle hands with next? Giving Wall Street the what for? Not likely. Well, how about a big debate on immigration? If the thousands of people who reportedly plan to descend upon Washington on Sunday succeed in prodding elected officials to take up the cause, immigration reform may rise a notch or two on Congress’ to-do list, which probably would lead to the re-emergence of Lou Dobbs on the national scene. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.  —KA CNN: Thousands of people are expected to pour into Washington for a Sunday rally demanding immigration reform, launching the first public battle over the issue since the announcement of a new bipartisan plan endorsed by President Obama. […] The organization Reform Immigration for America, which supports a path to citizenship for those in the United States illegally, says the changes it wants to see will help bring about “economic justice for all Americans.” In response, the Federation for American Immigration Reform—which staunchly opposes amnesty—called on Americans to contact their representatives and demand tougher borders and an end to illegal immigration. FAIR says it seeks “effective, sensible immigration policies that work for America’s best interests.” “The American people deserve more than empty rhetoric and impractical calls for mass deportation,” the two senators behind the new immigration plan wrote Friday in the Washington Post. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, lay out broad ideas for fixing a “badly broken” system. Read more

Congress is expected to vote on health care reform this weekend, so what’ll all those senators and representatives have to busy their idle hands with next? Giving Wall Street the what for? Not likely. Well, how about a big debate on immigration?

If the thousands of people who reportedly plan to descend upon Washington on Sunday succeed in prodding elected officials to take up the cause, immigration reform may rise a notch or two on Congress’ to-do list, which probably would lead to the re-emergence of Lou Dobbs on the national scene. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.? —KA

CNN:

Thousands of people are expected to pour into Washington for a Sunday rally demanding immigration reform, launching the first public battle over the issue since the announcement of a new bipartisan plan endorsed by President Obama.

[…] The organization Reform Immigration for America, which supports a path to citizenship for those in the United States illegally, says the changes it wants to see will help bring about “economic justice for all Americans.”

In response, the Federation for American Immigration Reform—which staunchly opposes amnesty—called on Americans to contact their representatives and demand tougher borders and an end to illegal immigration. FAIR says it seeks “effective, sensible immigration policies that work for America’s best interests.”

“The American people deserve more than empty rhetoric and impractical calls for mass deportation,” the two senators behind the new immigration plan wrote Friday in the Washington Post.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, lay out broad ideas for fixing a “badly broken” system.

Read more

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Kitchen sink: Fox smears more Dems with baseless insinuations of handouts

Fox continues to smears Democrats who plan to vote for health care reform bill, concocting baseless allegation of shady handouts in the legislation.

Fox smears Dems with insinuations of shady special deals

From the March 19 broadcast of Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier:

BRIAN WILSON (correspondent): Deals still alive for the moment? Well, Republicans claim that Democrat Bart Gordon changed his vote from “yes” — from “no” to “yes” after he got $100 million for Tennessee hospitals that treat the poor. Other deals still in play? Yes, the Louisiana Purchase: $300 million in Medicaid money is still alive; Connecticut hospital handout — $100 million sought by Senator Dodd.

From the March 19 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

HANNITY: Retiring Congressman Bart Gordon is doing a 180 as well. Now he voted “no” in November, but after securing millions of dollars in Medicaid funding for low-income patients in his home state, well, he’s now in the “yes” column.

CT isn’t only state eligible for hospital funding

Connecticut would reportedly have to compete for the hospital funds. The Hartford Courant includes a provision — often referred to as the “Louisiana Purchase” by conservative media — that would adjust the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) rate for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.” The bill requires that it only apply to states “for which, at any time during the preceding 7 fiscal years, the President has declared a major disaster” and “determined as a result of such disaster that every county or parish in the State warrant individual and public assistance or public assistance from the Federal Government.”

The Department of Health and Human Services states that FMAP is “used in determining the amount of Federal matching funds for State expenditures for assistance payments for certain social services, and State medical and medical insurance expenditures. The Social Security Act requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to calculate and publish the FMAPs each year.”

Times-Picayune: Temporary post-Katrina spending “spiked” per capita income “long enough” to skew Medicaid funding formula, causing state Medicaid funding shortfall. The Times-Picayune reported on January 22 that “FMAP refers to the percentage of a state’s payments under Medicaid that are covered by the federal government. Louisiana usually gets a higher match because of how poor the state is, but because of all the recovery and rebuilding money that poured in after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, state per capita income spiked long enough to throw the formula out of kilter and threaten to blow a hole [in] the state budget. [Sen. Mary] Landrieu’s fix was, according to state officials, only the beginning of a solution for a huge Medicaid shortfall the state is facing.” The article stated that Landrieu said “attaching the Medicaid provision to a health-care bill made sense, and there is no obvious and feasible legislative alternative.”

Jindal: “If not corrected in Washington, D.C.,” FMAP problem will cost $500 million a year. Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal’s fiscal year 2010-2011 budget proposal states that the “Louisiana state government faces significant, multi-year budget challenges, compounded by a faulty federal FMAP formula that, if not corrected in Washington, D.C., will cost the state approximately $500 million a year in Medicaid funding, impacting services for the poorest in our state, and often those who need care the most.” The proposal also says that “[w]hile there is discussion in Washington about extending the enhanced federal Medicaid match rate for six months for all states, without a permanent fix to Louisiana’s faulty FMAP calculation, combined with the loss of federal stimulus funding, Louisiana will still face a projected $1.7 billion shortfall for FY 12.”

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