As many as thirteen Republican state attorneys general have voiced their concern about the constitutionality of the health care bill to Democrat Congressional leaders and threaten a lawsuit if certain provisions in the bill favoring a few states are not removed:
Republican attorneys general in 13 states say congressional leaders must remove Nebraska’s political deal from the federal health care reform bill or face legal action, according to a letter provided to The Associated Press Wednesday.”We believe this provision is constitutionally flawed,” South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster and the 12 other attorneys general wrote in the letter to be sent Wednesday night to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
“As chief legal officers of our states we are contemplating a legal challenge to this provision and we ask you to take action to render this challenge unnecessary by striking that provision,” they wrote.
I’d say they have a good case.
My prediction for 2010 is that the final health care bill gets passed but its constitutionality will be challenged in court indeed. With the way things have gone in 2009 in the House and Senate regarding this monstrosity, I have no reason to doubt that President Obama’s spell won’t mesmerize the moderate Democrats in the House and Senate. The Blue Dogs will end up just being lap dogs, and there’s no way to depend on the moderate Democratic senators or independent senators.
The Democrats in Congress have reached a point of no return in their support of President Obama’s socialist agenda. If they turn back, they will look like hypocritical fools. But if they press on, they have a chance to appease the White House and a chance to rejuvenate Obama’s popularity among the American public (as remote a chance as that may be). Plus, if they fail then they will gladly point their fingers at the White House and their leaders Pelosi and Reid marching to Obama’s drumbeat. If they are up for re-election they will certainly go out of their way to distance themselves from the president.
