Ed Morrissey posts about the Wisconsin Attorney General asking for authorization to sue over ObamaCare today. The interesting part is the AG’s take on the legal process and why he thinks suits will be successful:
Based on my preliminary review of the Act, I have concluded that a sufficient legal basis exists to contest the individual mandate to carry health insurance or pay a penalty under the Act. It is not clear that Congress has an enumerated power under Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution to impose this requirement on a citizen. Further, the tax imposed on a citizen for failure to carry such insurance may not comport with the requirement that any direct tax be apportioned among the states in accordance with Article 1, Sections 2 and 9 of the U.S. Constitution.
In addition, I am very concerned that the Act upsets the proper balance of power between the federal government and the states that was envisioned by the Founders. The federal government is a government of limited, enumerated powers. For Congress to act, it must have power given to it by the U.S. Constitution. Any power not given to the federal government resides with the states under the Tenth Amendment, unless the exercise of state power is limited by a state constitution. What Congress has approved in the Act is a sweeping mandate that every citizen in the country purchase health insurance or face a penalty. The power asserted here is unprecedented and unique. The United States Supreme Court has not had a prior opportunity to evaluate an equivalent exercise of power by Congress under the Act. As the state attorney general, I have a unique obligation to ensure that the citizens of our state, through their elected representatives, retain the power to determine our own laws without encroachment from the federal government, except as authorized by the U.S. Constitution. Importantly, the Wisconsin Legislature has never enacted a law to require our citizens to carry health insurance or face a penalty.
As the state’s lawyer, I take very seriously my duty to protect our State’s sovereignty. Although several states have initiated legal action and there are likely to be more challenges to the Act made by other states and individual citizens, I believe that Wisconsin must act to protect its sovereign interests and the interests of the citizens of this State by bringing an action to contest the constitutionality of the Act. I therefore request authorization under section 165.25(1m) of the Wisconsin Statutes to bring such an action.
In addition there are the group of 13 Attorney Generals who have filed suit in Florida (PDF here)
Then we have Georgia where the AG there refused to file suit….but hold your horses:
Gov. Sonny Perdue is butting heads with the state’s top lawyer, threatening to “go it alone” and sue the federal government over a new federal health care law. And, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and other Republicans leaders are urging Perdue to file suit anyway.
Attorney General Thurbert Baker on Wednesday declined the Republican’s governor request to sue over the health care law, arguing the state doesn’t have a “a viable legal claim.”
“I cannot in good conscience file a lawsuit against the United States that I believe has little or no chance of success and will undoubtedly consume significant state resources in a time of severe budgetary crisis,” Baker wrote in a letter to the governor. Baker is seeking the Democratic nomination to succeed Perdue.
But Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley fired back that the state could “go it alone” with an outside counsel.
“His refusal to participate doesn’t preclude us from going forward,” Brantley told reporters.
Late Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Senate Republicans urged Perdue to file a lawsuit, calling the federal health law “an unprecedented attack on our citizens’ liberty and our state’s sovereignty.”
Attorney General Jim Hood has decided that it is too early to file a lawsuit on behalf of Mississippi that would challenge the constitutionality of the new health care reform law.
In a news release sent to WTVA this afternoon, the attorney general said, “the matters are too complex, too time consuming, and too expensive to make an uninformed decision on potential constitutional issues that will more than likely be in litigation in various state and federal courts over the next several years.” He says, “careful consideration of all of these matters will allow the state of Mississippi to reach a wise decision as to whether we expend our scarce resources on a lawsuit.”
Governor Barbour has said that if the attorney general did not agree to file a suit by noon Thursday, then he would file one himself.
Here is the Virginia complaint also.
Being a resident of the Socialist State of Kalifornia I thought this was amusing….our AG, Jerry Brown, would consider bringing the suit:
California Attorney Jerry Brown said late Tuesday he’d consider challenging President Obama’s “universal coverage” health-care law at the behest of some of the state’s Republican leaders, but he didn’t sound enthusiastic about it (to say the least).
Ever the team player, Brown expressed his willingness to explore the state’s legal options in regard to the federal health care package. “I’ve instructed deputies in my office to carefully review these claims in light of applicable constitutional principles,” Brown stated.
Ain’t going to happen with the Democrat Ahnuld in power.
The Socialists have a fight on their hands either way….which is a good thing.
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