And the ‘hate’ baiting begins....
Immigration Battle Heating Up: Group Accuses Talk Radio Hosts of Supporting “Hate Group”
Over 45 of “America’s finest radio hosts,” according to organizers, have converged on Washington D.C. to hold a conservative event Tuesday and Wednesday in opposition to President Obama’s health care proposal and the possibility of immigration reform.
But the event’s organizer, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, is being denounced by America’s Voice, one of the leading pro-immigration lobbying organizations, as a hate group.
While both groups have long disagreed, and maintain widely divergent views on immigration, seldom have their attacks been so direct.
The FAIR event is a radio-thon called “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” and it’s meant to “bring true immigration reform activists from across the country together in the nation’s capital,” the group said. It seeks to focus on “how best to close the illegal alien loophole” in the health care reform bill being considered in the House, it added.
FAIR refers to conservative claims that illegal immigrants would be able to get free health care, paid for by American taxpayers, after President Obama’s reform package becomes law. That assertion has been largely debunked by several non-partisan organizations — in its latest ruling on the matter, PolitiFact rated it as a half truth.
On Monday, America’s Voice came out blazing-guns style against FAIR in anticipation of its talk radio extravaganza. The featured story on its website read:
“FAIR, a designated hate group, is storming DC to lobby Congress this week. Their goal? To block solutions on immigration and other key reforms– to sow division and fear with lies about immigrants and the President’s plans for reform. America’s Voice has launched a video, ads, and easy ways to take action to ‘fight FAIR.’”
The hate group designation originally comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, [snip]