Immigration

Rep Gutierrez States Intent to Vote For Healthcare Reform – Peter Roskam Continues to Obstruct

On March 18, 2010, in Healthcare, Immigration, Medicare, Peter Roskam, Senior Citizens, by RSR
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We owe a big thank you today to Democratic Representative Luis Gutierrez who today, together with the rest of the House Hispanic Caucus, announced his intent to vote for the Democratic healthcare reform bill when it comes to the floor, possibly as soon as Sunday. Representative Gutierrez had been hesitating to offer his support for the plan because of its ban on undocumented immigrants buying into the plan, and because of  the administration’s failure to push aggressively for immigration reform during the President’s first year in office. We too are disappointed on both fronts but we think that Rep. Gutierrez chose the best course in agreeing to vote for healthcare reform. We fear that a defeat on the present healthcare plan, with all of its weaknesses, would not only set the cause of improving our healthcare system back by years, but would probably jeopardize any chance of movement on immigration reform for the foreseeable future. We thank Representative Gutierrez for his vote and for his determined efforts on behalf of justice for immigrants. I’d encourage you to call and thank him but the best thanks is probably to give his staff a break from phone calls.

Republican Peter Roskam is another story. Roskam appears to be unbending in his decision to vote against increased access to healthcare for residents of the sixth district. Indeed, Roskam today unveiled a new talking point on Twitter designed to work the anti-statist teabaggers up into a frenzy: that healthcare reform will give enormous new powers to the Internal Revenue Service and that we will all be soon set upon by an army of 16,000 new auditors. We find Roskam’s anti-IRS rhetoric a tad frightening in light of the recent suicide attack on the IRS facility in Austin.

Roskam had to change his tactic todaywhen the Congressional Budget Office today released its scoring of the Democratic bill, making ridiculous Roskam’s claims that it would increase the debt. The CBO found that the bill actually REDUCES deficits by $130 billion over the first 10 years, and by a staggering $1.2 trillion over the second 10 years. This while providing an additional 32 million Americans with coverage and eliminating the worry of denials based upon pre-existing conditions. Plus the seniors who Roskam has been trying scare about Medicare cuts will have their prescription drug doughnut hole, a gift from President Bush and the last Republican Congress, closed, making their prescriptions more affordable and thereby preventing avoidable hospitalizations related to drug non-compliance.

Peter Roskam is on the wrong side of history in his opposition to this bill.


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Is Representative Luis Gutierrez Really Going to Unite with Peter Roskam to Kill Healthcare Reform?

On March 17, 2010, in Healthcare, Immigration, Peter Roskam, by RSR
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There is no uncertainty what Peter Roskam will do when the Democratic healthcare reform package comes to a vote, probably later this week. Roskam will vote “no”. Roskam vote will be just the culmination of a year of effort on his part to block the President and Congress from doing anything meaningful to help Illinois residents who are suffering because the can’t afford to purchase healthcare insurance, because they have a pre-existing condition that makes getting coverage impossible, or because the insurance they have won’t pay for the care they need.

Roskam has not only argued against healthcare reform in Committee and on the House floor. No, rather than listen to his constituents and understand their needs, he has undertaken an intensive misinformation campaign designed to promote fear and confusion about the Democratic plans amongst his constituency. And he has used your tax dollars in this war of deception, spending them on huge volumes of direct mail, robo-calls, and town hall meetings designed only to air his point of view. Why is he doing this? First and foremost to cause the President to fail for political gain – a failure on health reform may make other Democratic reforms on immigration and finance more difficult and improve Republican prospects in the 2010 election. And, of course, because it is the will of the big insurance companies who help fund his campaign.

If Roskam is successful in his efforts, and the Democratic healthcare plan fails, thousands will continue to die and suffer needlessly due to lack of care. The bill that is expected to emerge this week will not be a perfect solution. A single-payer plan or national health service would do more to improve quality and reduce costs, but this is a huge first step.

More troubling than Roskam sure “no” vote at this point is an expected “no” vote by Democratic Representative Luis Gutierrez, of the 4th Congressional District in Chicago. Representative Gutierrez is a fine and principled legislator who is an outspoken advocate for badly-needed immigration reform. Representative Gutierrez is rightly upset that the healthcare reform plan on the table would exclude undocumented immigrants from coverage. This exclusion is not merely unjust, it is also bad policy. It will continue to force undocumented immigrants to use emergencies rooms for care. Care rendered will be less effective and more expensive than it would if these workers were included in reform plans. And undocumented workers tend to be younger and healthier than the population at large so their addition to risk pools could reduce premiums for everyone.

Representative Gutierrez is also upset because he feels that President Obama abandoned his pledge to make immigration reform a top priority during his first year in office. We too are disappointed, but I’m not sure that candidate Obama had any real sense of how difficult the healthcare fight would be or of the depths to which the Republican Party would sink in obstructing the Democratic agenda. We think it unlikely that the President could have, practically speaking, advanced immigration reform during the first year but we don’t see that as an abandonment by the President of the cause.

But whether that is true or not, we feel certain that Representative Gutierrez has the potential to kill both immigration reform and healthcare reform in one fell swoop, along with the rest of the Democratic agenda, if he casts a “no” vote on healthcare reform as he has suggested he may do. If healthcare reform fails, we believe that it is over. Neither immigration reform nor any other progressive reform is likely to go anywhere, and Representative Gutierrez will likely end up fighting for immigration justice with a Republican Congress and a Republican President hostile to immigrants.

So, Illinois, Peter Roskam already has his mind made up. Calling him will do you know good. Please call Representative Gutierrez instead and thank him for standing up for immigrants while asking him to change his mind and vote “yes” on healthcare reform. His contact information can be found here.

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Resurgence of White Supremacy and Its Relationship to Teaparty Movement

On January 26, 2010, in Civil Rights, Human Rights, Immigration, Racism, Tea Party, by RSR
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A powerful film by Big Noise Films, “White Power USA”. Learned about it from Jeremy Scahill on Twitter. The film makers write:

The inauguration of President Barack Obama was hailed as a turning point in US race relations. The country was said to be entering a new era of post-racial politics. But while crowds flocked to Washington to witness the swearing in, others were refusing to join the party. Racially motivated threats against Obama rose to new heights in the first months of his presidency, with the US seeing nine high-profile race killings in 2009. Meanwhile white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups claim their membership is growing and that visits to their websites are increasing. Is the racial undercurrent that has long structured US politics reasserting itself?

This is some scary fucking shit. I don’t for a minute believe that these nut cases reflect the ideas and values of the mainstream GOP. But I do think that there is ample reason for caution to that party for some of their rhetoric that fans these flames.

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What Would It Be Like If We Had A Human Being As Our Congressman?

On December 10, 2009, in Ben Lowe, Immigration, Peter Roskam, by RSR
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WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 20: House Democratic Ch...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I really like Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. I’m jealous of the 9th district.  You can just tell when you hear her speak that she really cares about the people who live in her district and that she wants to use her position to help them. Today we had a good example when it was announced that the scheduled deportation of UIC student Rigo Padilla to Mexico had been deferred for another year by the Department of Homeland Security. The deferment will allow Rigo to remain here while he finishes his studies at UIC , where he is an A student regarded highly by the faculty and student body.

A citizen of Mexico, Rigo has been in the United States since the age of 6 when he moved here from Jalisco with his family. His undocumented status was discovered when he was arrested on a DUI charge. Representative Schakowsky has been actively working to prevent Rigo’s deportation. She introduced legislation last week to grant him permanent residency. This week’s decision is due, no doubt, in no small part to Jan’s efforts on Rigo’s behalf. Thank you, Jan.

Jan issued a statement today in response to the Homeland Security determination:

“The Department of Homeland Security has decided that Rigo Padilla will not be deported next week and I am thrilled that we won our fight to keep him home. Unfortunately, Rigo’s saga illustrates the plight of so many like him who love this country, consider themselves Americans in every way, yet are forced to live in the shadows. We cannot resolve the thousands of heartbreaking cases one-by-one. Rigo’s ordeal underscores the need to fix the broken immigration system in a comprehensive way, and I believe that we cannot wait any longer to do so. Every day we go without reform, we deprive our country of talented students, strong leaders and hard working people who come here from around the world with the simple dream of a better life for themselves and their families.”

Nice. I just wish that here in the 6th district we had a representative who worked to help people like Rigo instead of spending his days in Congress dreaming up new burdens to pile on their backs in his quest for political advantage. But that’s our Peter. Remember this ugly ad from his 2006 campaign against Tammy Duckworth:

Nothing makes me angrier about Peter Roskam than his demonization of immigrants. The 6th District is a diverse place (though maybe not on Peter Roskam’s block). If I am interpreting the 2008 American Community Survey correctly, about 1 in 5 of us was born elsewhere. Roskam likes to portray immigrants as a threat and a drain on the economy. But nothing could be further from the truth. Immigrants, both documented and undocumented, provide a net economic benefit for our communities and enrich our lives in so many other ways. And justice demands that we implement immigration policies that treat people fairly and do not impose undue hardships on those who come among us seeking only a better life for themselves and for their families.

We don’t have to put up with Peter Roskam’s immigrant bashing. We have a chance again next fall to make a change. And there is a Democratic candidate, Ben Lowe of Wheaton, who promises a better way when it comes to immigration policy. I hope that those of you in the district who are immigrants yourselves and those who are concerned that our immigrant brothers and sisters be treated justly, will get acquainted with Ben. I also hope that those of you who have a few bucks to spare will consider making a donation to Ben’s campaign. He really needs help badly right now to get the campaign up and running. You can do both at:

Ben Lowe for Congress, Illinois 6th District

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Peter Roskam’s First Year

On December 30, 2007, in Congressional Elections, Immigration, Middle Class, Peter Roskam, Peter Roskam's Corporate Agenda, by RSR
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“What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?” Abraham Lincoln’s Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860.

“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” Abraham Lincoln’s First Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861.

I can quote from Lincoln too, Mr. Roskam, but that doesn’t make me look like him any more than it does you.

On December 28th, Peter Roskam published a glowing self-assessment of his first year in Congress, complete with liberal quotations from Abraham Lincoln to try and make himself appear a statesman.

By Roskam’s account he spent the year battling against partisanship but in the end triumphed by squeaking out a temporary fix to the Alternative Minimum Tax and an Energy Bill. Nothing could be further from the truth.

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Peter Roskam Not Telling the Truth About E-Verify

On December 15, 2007, in Immigration, Peter Roskam, by RSR
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Yesterday, Peter Roskam’s web site published a “news item” commenting on the State of Illinois’ agreement to allow employers to use E-Verify to validate employee work authorization, while a federal lawsuit against the State is resolved.

According to Roskam the E-Verify system “provides real-time, accurate verification based on identity information in federal databases, giving employers assurance that the people they hire are legally able to work in the U.S.”.

But in reality, the database has been found to be inaccurate and fails to meet the standards set by Congress.

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