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Monday, March 22, 2010

States to Sue Federal Government

The video below describes the ten states planning to sue the federal government over the health care bill. They include Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Texas, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Utah. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has also announced plans to sue although it isn't known now whether they will join the other states.

According to a CNN press report:
[Attorney General of Florida, Bill] McCollum said the lawsuit would challenge the bill's provision requiring people to purchase health insurance, along with provisions that will force state government to spend more on health care services.

"This is a tax or a penalty on just living, and that's unconstitutional," he said of the mandate to purchase health coverage. "There's no provision in the Constitution of the United States giving Congress the power to do that."

McCollum also said that portions of the bill would force states to spend money they don't have, which he called a violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.

"There's no way we can do what's required in this bill and still provide for education, for foster care, for the incarceration of prisoners, all the other things that are in this bill," he said. (Read the full article here... )
The Washington Times chimed in with an excellent editorial titled Democrats' Death by Suicide which reads in part:
The new system will suffer a tsunami of bad publicity when states sue the federal government over unfunded mandates, when the IRS begins enforcing the aspects of the bill that voters never knew existed, when small businesses start firing employees because they cannot afford the higher costs of the new system, when new and unforeseen costs blow out the already record federal budget deficit, and when seniors begin to feel the impact of Medicare cuts. All of this is what Mr. Obama euphemistically calls "bending the curve" but which seniors will find out is better termed "denial of care." Whether the formal "death panels" will convene before the November elections is still to be determined.
The Democrats flipped off the American people yesterday. Like King George they believe they are too big to lose. But they haven't even begun to feel the anger in this country over their  arrogance and disdain for the people they are called to serve.
 
Suing the government is a good start. Hopefully those with the legal expertise to strategize will think of other avenues to pursue - like recalls of elected officials. 

1 comment:

  1. Idaho has also passed a bill to REQUIRE the state to sue if the federal government requires citizens to buy health care. http://www.einnews.com/pr-news/77094-idaho-passes-law-to-force-state-to-sue-over-healthcare

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