Well, I wouldn't care if it did. But at the bare minimum, I'd settle for a lot less gasping and "New York City?! Get a rope!" on both fronts.

I think its easier to expand a passed bill than to pass an expansive one.

I'm impressed they're going for as much as they are on this round, actually. It could have just been a smack down of no-you-cannot-drop-people-for-getting-sick reform proportions.

Flashback: Rep. Wilson Also Had To Apologize After Attacking Strom Thurmond's Illegitimate Daughter

Flashback: Wilson Shouted At Dem Opponent, Ranted About His “Hatred Of America” — On Live TV!

Flashback: Rep. Wilson Also Had To Apologize After Attacking Strom Thurmond's Illegitimate Daughter

Oh, he apologized to the octegenarian woman who was the product of Strom committing rape or statutory rape or just plain old being a cad... but he still said she should have kept her mouth shut.

The guy I'm debating with claims that even if the bill explicitly forbids spending fed funds on illegal alien health insurance, "we will end up paying for everything."

I just had lunch with my dad (who, remember, last week said that pharmaceuticals are NOT part of "health care" and that Obama hadn't yet done anything to help him [Dad L.] personally), who said that the big flaw in the healthcare reform is that illegal aliens will "take our healthcare."

I told him that the bill excludes illegal immigrants, and Dad said, "Well, you know they'll cheat the system anyway."

I pointed out that if, indeed, they "cheat the system," that's not really the fault of a bill that excludes them. That's like blaming speed limit laws for people who speed and crash and die.

Dad admitted that was a good point.

Frankly, I think the bill should cover illegal immigrants. And abortions, but that probably just makes me a communist.

I totally agree.

Flashback: Rep. Wilson Also Had To Apologize After Attacking Strom Thurmond's Illegitimate Daughter

Flashback: Wilson Shouted At Dem Opponent, Ranted About His “Hatred Of America” — On Live TV!

Ah, stay classy, Wilson. Stay classy.

That's like blaming speed limit laws for people who speed and crash and die.

Lovely logic.

Gah. I can't even parse the guy's response, due to unclear antecedents and my own ignorance of economics. Hivemind help?

We will be buying it for them* because there is no way that illegals will be able to pay the actual cost of health insurance. So it will either be subsidized (we pay), or it will be rationed by scarcity when reimbursements are mandated at below cost levels (we pay in lowered quality of care). Economic laws are binding as laws of physics. Prices and their effects are as incontrovertible as gravity.

* health insurance for illegal aliens

If the aliens are uninsured, don't we taxes in some ways pay for their health care now, as they may end up in emergency rooms?

We will be buying it for them* because there is no way that illegals will be able to pay the actual cost of health insurance. So it will either be subsidized (we pay), or it will be rationed by scarcity when reimbursements are mandated at below cost levels (we pay in lowered quality of care). Economic laws are binding as laws of physics. Prices and their effects are as incontrovertible as gravity.

My thought on that is "And this is different from today how?". We are not going to directly subsidize illegals, so number two would apply, but that's exactly what we have today with ER care.

Or, exactly what Sophia said.

If the aliens are uninsured, don't we taxes in some ways pay for their health care now, as they may end up in emergency rooms?

I was just going to say, don't we already pay for it. Many uninsured people end up at the ER becauase they can't afford to see a doctor and the ER's have to treat them. We pay in taxes and higher hospital costs which are translated to higher insurance premiums for the insured.