Before You Go Off Half-Cocked

I was a bit surprised (as I'm sure you would be) to read on Malkin's site that Democrats on a Senate committee had rejected an amendment by Republicans that, if immigrants wanted to receive healthcare benefits under the proposed government healthcare plan, they would be required to show photo identification (UPDATE) instead of the currently proscribed social security card or birth certificate.

As usual, if you want to understand something (instead of just get upset about it), Michelle Malkin is the last person you should rely on for your information.

My initial thought was, "Isn't targeting a segment of the American population such as 'immigrants' (based on what? accent? skin color? whiff of ethnic food on their breath?) for special scrutiny sort of illegal?"

Yes, it is. And it turns out, yes, Malkin was using a red herring by talking about "immigrants": The Republican amendment wanted everybody in America to provide photo ID in order to get healthcare. The "brown scare" was (as per usual) created out of thin air by Malkin. (And, for those of you who may not know, Michelle Malkin is one of the most important Conservative voices in America.)

So, once having cut through the hysteria and having gotten down to the facts of the matter, of course, a person with a modicum of curiosity like myself wonders why Democrats would vote against requiring photo ID at a hospital. Seems reasonable, right?

Well, for starters, it turns out that Democrats don't like that idea for the same reason that Democrats don't like requiring people to show photo ID's to vote: People without photo identification are usually poor, and keeping them from receiving healthcare is slightly worse than keeping them from voting.

Second, the only photo ID to prove American citizenship that illegal immigrants, or non-citizen legal immigrants, cannot obtain is a passport. So, if somebody shows another photo ID such as a driver's licence, it doesn't prove anything about their citizenship anyway. Either everybody has to go out and get a passport, or America has to finally get a national ID, which Republicans hate the thought of.

Third, how many 6-year-olds do you know with photo ID? Would a barely-conscious 95-year-old man in a nursing home — whose last photo ID expired in the 1980's — have to go out and get a new ID?

So, as always, keep in mind when you read things like this (as I immediately suspected when I read it): There are people out there who are paid to make you stupid. Get the facts.