Judge: Suit over health overhaul can go to trial

[Sandra]

Judge: Suit over health overhaul can go to trial

By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated
Press Writer – 19 mins ago

PENSACOLA, Fla. – A federal judge ruled Thursday that parts of a lawsuit
by 20 states seeking to void the Obama administration's health care
overhaul can go to trial, saying he wants hear additional arguments from
both sides over whether the law is unconstitutional.

In a written ruling, U.S. District Judge


Roger Vinson said it
needs to be decided whether the plan violates the Constitution by
requiring individuals to have health insurance or be penalized through
taxes and by overburdening the states by expanding their Medicaid
programs. Another federal judge in


Michigan threw out a
similar lawsuit last week.

Vinson set a hearing for Dec. 16. The lawsuits will likely wind up before
the U.S. Supreme Court.



Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a
statement praising the ruling as a victory.

"It is the first step to having the individual mandate declared
unconstitutional and upholding state sovereignty in our federal
system," McCollum said.

He filed the lawsuit just minutes after President Barack Obama signed the
10-year, $938 billion health care bill into law in March. He chose a
court in Pensacola, one of Florida's most conservative cities.

The Obama administration has argued the federal government can require
that citizens buy


health insurance or
face tax penalties under its constitutional power to regulate interstate
commerce.

The administration's attorneys had told Vinson last month that without
the regulatory power to ensure young and healthy people buy health
insurance, the health care plan will not survive. They also argued it's
up to an individual taxpayer ­ not the states ­ to challenge the section
requiring health insurance when it takes effect in 2015.

But David Rivkin, an attorney representing the states, argued the law
will destroy the states' constitutional sovereignty by burdening them
with uncontrolled Medicaid costs. The federal government is overreaching
its taxing authority by penalizing people for not taking an action ­ not
buying health insurance, he said.

Vinson's ruling comes a week after District Judge George Caram Steeh in
Detroit said the mandate to get insurance by 2014 and the financial
penalty for skipping coverage are legal. He said Congress was trying to
lower the overall cost of insurance by requiring participation.

There is also a lawsuit pending in Virginia. A federal judge there has
allowed the lawsuit to continue, ruling the overhaul raises


complex constitutional
issues.

The other states involved in the lawsuit Vinson is hearing are Alabama,
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan,
Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota,


Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101014/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_overhaul_...

[Sandra]

One has to wonder if any of these judges have even read the Constitution, we know many in DC apparently have not and many state governors as well.. We need to hold our State Capitals accountable for everything. Your power is in your States....