Let’s Make A Deal: Immigration Reform
Author: Marguerite Higgins from Heritage
So why don’t President Barack Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi want to allow CSPAN to televise the final health care negotiations? What deals are being made to secure the votes necessary to pass a plan that vast majorities of the American public are against?
TPM reports that Democratic lawmakers who were upset that illegal immigrants would not be allowed to participate in the new health care system may vote for final passage of a merged bill, “so long as the White House offers a substantive promise to start pushing comprehensive immigration legislation this year.”
“Those familiar with the talks say any immigration legislation will include various amnesty provisions to allow for health care coverage,” TPM notes.
Not only would there be a “substantive promise” from the Obama administration to take up sweeping immigration reform this year, but there also could be a promise from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to include an amendment in the final health care bill that would eliminate a five-year waiting period that currently is imposed on legal, naturalized immigrants before they can receive Medicaid benefits, according to The New Republic.
This potential deal follows a long list of other sweetheart arrangements that Reid and other members have worked out to keep on-the-fence Democrats in-step with passing Obamacare.
