One Mad Americano

CBS under fire over illegal aliens report

Recently, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reported on the staggering costs of health care for illegal immigrants, the bill for which, of course, is entirely footed by the American taxpayer. Now, Mexican groups like La Raza are up in arms over the report, which they claim promoted "anti-Latino falsehoods" and "demonized" illegal aliens.

Well, I've got news for our cousins from south of the border. Anyone that's here in the U.S. illegally deserves demonizing and immediate exportation (not necessarily in that order). And I'm not going to play the political correctness game and dance around the issue.

In the report, CBS reporter Byron Pitts talked with a pregnant Mexican woman who underwent an emergency C-section at a south Texas hospital. This woman did not pay anything for the $4,700 procedure because she qualifies for emergency Medicaid. The report also pointed out a study estimating that Americans are forced to pay - are you ready for this? - $1.1 billion per year for illegal immigrants' health care.

Of course, the illegal immigrant groups like La Raza and others had no facts to counter what they called the "anti-Latino falsehoods" in the CBS report. I guess we have to assume that it's just not fair to point out the negatives about the growing illegal population in our country.

Here's the most outrageous part: I looked into the Rand Corporation (a non-profit global policy think tank) study that the CBS report was based on, and La Raza is right - the CBS report was inaccurate. In fact, the report UNDER ESTIMATED the size of the financial kick-in-the-teeth that the American taxpayer is getting from illegal Mexican immigrants.

According to the statistics that appeared on-screen during the CBS report, the $1.1 billion per year was what taxpayers were paying for "all undocumented men, women, and children." However, the Rand study said the $1.1 billion tally was the healthcare costs ONLY for "non-elderly participants - those between 18 and 64."

So the TRUE cost of illegal immigrant healthcare in this country is likely SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER than the $1.1 billion claimed in the report. Take, for example, the child born during that emergency C-section mentioned in the CBS report. He or she will have 17 years of healthcare (not to mention the cost of postnatal care at the south Texas hospital where she was born) that won't be factored into Rand's figures.

Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Media Institute, called the CBS report a breath of fresh air, considering that most media coverage is largely biased heavily in favor of illegal immigrants.

"The mainstream media has pretended that there is no cost or downside to the millions of people coming over the border illegally," Knight said. "So these groups are trying to intimidate Couric and her colleagues at the major networks."

Knight rightly points out that America's left-leaning media essentially approves of the massive influx of illegal aliens as a way to increase the Democratic voter base. According to Knight, liberals think that once illegal aliens are enrolled in liberal welfare programs and government subsidies, they will eventually become what he calls "a new generation of Democratic voters."

Which is true enough. But I think it's wrong. Because if these brazen illegals have proven one thing, it's that they care little for American citizenship. All they want is American rights and jobs. I'm sure they'd happily accept the right to vote too, but they won't bother to attain citizenship to get it. They believe they're entitled to it. And liberals are not bothering to disabuse these criminals (yes, CRIMINALS - that's what they are) of the notion that they're not deserving of these privileges. After all, California came close to giving ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LEGAL DRIVERS LICENSES. I wish I could believe that this won't happen. But some day, I'm sure it will.

Quite frankly, groups like La Raza make me ill. These people routinely have the gall to march through the streets of American cities carrying MEXICAN FLAGS while they are demanding the rights and privileges that are afforded only to AMERICAN CITIZENS. What's more, when protesting the CBS News report, a group similar to La Raza called the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) threatened the network by saying, "If CBS is playing to immigration hawks to boost its sagging ratings, the network risks being tuned out by the expanding Latino community. Advertisers know that by 2011, Hispanic buying power will total $1.2 trillion, almost 10 percent of all U.S. purchasing power."

So, ignore the facts or else? Charming. Isn't it nice that people like this have graced our nation with their presence? We can only hope that someone in our government will seal the borders before it's too late.

One mad Americano,
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

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Posted May 30, 2008 09:03 AM
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