If at first you don't succeed
And you find you can't proceed
When the whole bloody crew
Doesn't know what to do
Well then, brother, it's time to secede
And you find you can't proceed
When the whole bloody crew
Doesn't know what to do
Well then, brother, it's time to secede
-- Midnight Rider's Dad many years ago --
(he was none too fond of government)
Foxnews:
Health Care Reform Fight Shifts From Congress to the Courts
FOXNews.com
Now that the House, in a historic vote, has passed the Senate's health care bill and sent it to the president's desk, state lawmakers and attorneys general already are lining up to challenge its constitutionality and wage an outside-the-Beltway war against it in the courts.
The health care reform fight isn't over. It's just changing venues.
Now that the House, in a historic vote, has passed the Senate's bill and sent it to the president's desk, state lawmakers and attorneys general already are lining up to challenge its constitutionality and wage an outside-the-Beltway war against it in the courts.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was the first to announce Monday that he will file a legal challenge -- as soon as Obama signs the bill.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum also plans to announce Monday morning that he and top prosecutors from nine other states are filing a lawsuit to "protect the rights" of the American people from the bill.
They are expected to sue over the bill's mandate that requires everyone to buy health insurance.
"The health care reform legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this last night clearly violates the U.S. Constitution and infringes on each state's sovereignty," McCollum said in a statement.
The lawsuit will be the first post-passage shot in a legal fight that's been brewing for months.
While some Republicans have threatened to pursue repealing the legislation down the road, the most immediate challenge will take place in the courts.
At least three dozen state legislatures are considering proposals to challenge the federal legislation. Some are pursuing amendments to their constitutions by ballot question; others are looking to change state law.
Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter recently became the first governor to sign state legislation requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government over the mandatory coverage clause.
Constitutional lawyers have questioned whether such a lawsuit could be successful, since federal law trumps state law. But opponents are looking to get around that by questioning the law's constitutionality.
McCollum is joining with attorneys general from South Carolina, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alabama, Washington, Pennsylvania, Utah, Texas and Nebraska.
While Republicans argued that Congress passed health care reform Sunday night in defiance of American public opinion, Democrats have long argued that opponents of reform skewed polls by feeding the public misinformation. They hailed Sunday's vote as the "right" decision.
"Last night was a great step forward for the American people," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told Fox News on Monday.
President Obama delivered a statement after the vote, calling the "reform" the "right thing to do" for families, seniors, businesses, workers and the future and "another stone firmly laid in the foundation of the American dream."
"We proved that this government, a government of the people and by the people, still works for the people," Obama said. "I know this wasn't an easy vote for a lot of people, but it was the right vote."
A bloc of pro-life Democrats turned out to be the key to passing the bill, as Obama sealed a 219-212 victory with a pledge to issue an executive order "clarifying" abortion language in the Senate bill.
The House also voted 220-211 to support a reconciliation bill aimed at "fixing" provisions in the Senate bill that many House Democrats opposed but viewed as better than nothing.
Clearly angered by the impending vote, House Republican Leader John Boehner shouted at lawmakers that they cannot go back to their constituents and claim to have read the bill, saved money, created jobs or acted openly in their pursuit of the legislation.
"Can you go home and tell your senior citizens that these cuts in Medicare will not limit their access to doctors or further weaken the program instead of strengthening it? No, you can not," Boehner said to shouts of support from his GOP caucus. "And look at how this bill was written. Can you say it was done openly, with transparency and accountability without backroom deals struck behind closed doors, hidden from the people? Hell, no you can't."
Despite his dire warnings, Boehner was followed by Pelosi, who earned an equally passionate response from her Democratic colleagues.
"We all know, and it's been said over and over again, that our economy needs something, a jolt and I believe that this legislation will unleash tremendous entrepreneurial power to our economy,"Pelosi said. "Imagine a society and an economy where a person could change jobs without losing health insurance, where they could be self-employed or start a small business. Imagine an economy where people could follow their passions or their talent and without having to worry that their children would not have health insurance."
4 comments:
Thanks - that's the stuff I was hearing on the carpool run this morning.
Ro
New plan given to White House doubles savings from health care bill and pays for public option and cuts the carbon footprint of gov buildings by 50%
http://whitecollargreenspace.blogspot.com/
Here is a major proposal I just shared with GSA, GAO, EPA, Senator Levin's office and professors at Georgetown and GWU.
The fact that the federal government uses over a billion square feet of office at an efficiency level of only 30% borders on malfeasance from a budget and environmental viewpoint. Someone needs to let the White House know there is a way to pay for the public option.
This proposal would save the Federal government close to $50 billion per year enough to pay for the public option with only an executive order. We should get more congressman to sign on if we can show it is paid for and requires no new taxes or fees. New plan cuts overhead costs & carbon footprint of white collar workers by 50%. We can no longer afford to let all white-collar workers that still have jobs work banker's hours when we can work two shifts per day in government and private industry and cut our overhead costs in half. This simple paradigm shifts solves three problems: It jumpstarts economy and fights poverty, cuts pollution, reduces budget deficits. As an American, I would like to present my answer the the health care mess, global warming which actually should be called over-pollution, unemployment, empty buildings and state budget shortfalls.
The Federal government pays for well over one billion square feet of office space. Most office space is very expensive yet it sits unused 70% of the time because most white collar work is scheduled for only one shift per day or only 45 hours out of a 168 hour week. 30% efficiency is completely unacceptable in today's economic and ecological environment. Most buildings are open for 12 hours each day from 6 am to 6 pm. By keeping buildings open an additional 4 or 5 hours each day, we could schedule 2 shifts of white collar workers, thus increasing our efficiency by 100% and reducing our carbon footprint by 50%. We could cut the cost of overhead for each employee by 40 to 50%, half as much infrastructure, half as much office space, half as many computers and supplies. With the overhead for each of our 2 million Federal workers approaching $50,000 per year, the potential savings could be $50 billion per year, enough to pay for health care reform.
What are you smokin'?
Who, me or whitecollargreenspaceguy?
:)
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