Cuccinelli says Virginia will sue over health care reform
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office has confirmed that the state of Virginia will file suit against the federal government charging that the health-care reform bill is unconstitutional. Cuccinelli argues that the bill violates the commerce clause in the US Constitution.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office has confirmed that the state of Virginia will file suit against the federal government charging that the health care reform bill is unconstitutional. Cuccinelli argues that the bill violates the commerce clause in the US Constitution.
From the press release:
“With this law, the federal government will force citizens to buy health insurance, claiming it has the authority to do so because of its power to regulate interstate commerce. We contend that if a person decides not to buy health insurance, that person – by definition – is not engaging in commerce, and therefore, is not subject to a federal mandate.
“Virginia is in a unique situation that allows it the standing to file such a suit since Virginia is the only state so far to pass a law protecting its citizens from a government-imposed mandate to buy health insurance. The health care reform bill, with its insurance mandate, creates a conflict of laws between the federal government and Virginia. Normally, such conflicts are decided in favor of the federal government, but because we believe the federal law is unconstitutional, Virginia’s law should prevail.
“Just being alive is not interstate commerce. If it were, there would be no limit to the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause and to Congress’s authority to regulate everything we do. There has never been a point in our history where the federal government has been given the authority to require citizens to buy goods or services.
“While we believe the health care reform bill the House just voted on suffers from constitutional problems, we do want to thank Speaker Pelosi for not trying to enact the bill through the questionable “deem and pass” procedure. By requiring an up-or-down vote on the Senate bill, she is living up to the letter of Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution. As someone who is sworn to protect the Constitution, she did the right thing in that regard.”
Stop by the Attorney General’s website for more information.
-
Recommend this
on Facebook -
Report an error
-
Subscribe to our
Weekly Digest
Valerie Catrow
Valerie Catrow is editor of RVAFamily, mother to a mop-topped first grader, and always really excited to go to bed.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Ken Cuccinelli is a demagogue and a bigot, an embarrassment to the commonwealth. But he’s not stupid, and he knows very well how this lawsuit will end.
Wow, first disputing equal rights, then opposing science, and now fighting the Federal Government in health care reform? Is this how our newly elected officials choose to spend our tax dollars?
I wonder how much more of our money he plans to throw away to make a “name” for himself in the political arena? This is what you get when you elect career politicians more loyal to big business that to the citizens.
Cuccinelli is a joke, and makes Virginians look like fools for putting him in office.
Virginians who complain about cuccinelli get exactly what they deserve- MOST, without a doubt, didn’t vote. That’s what happens when you lazily blanket yourself in apathy.
According to the Times-Dispatch, McDonnell supports Cuccinelli in this.
They also quoted former governor Tim Kaine as saying, “”I’m surprised…I thought Ken had his hands full discriminating against people and raising wacky questions about President Obama’s birth certificate.”
OH SNAP.
What a fool.
Isn’t the lawsuit only against the individual mandate and not against the whole thing? I’ll be honest with you, I don’t like the mandate. Shoot, President Obama was against a mandate when this all started. I am quite liberal but wouldn’t mind at all if the individual mandate got ruled unconstitutional. And Cuccinelli said he would do this in his campaign so we shouldn’t be surprised.
I challenge you to spend a few hours in your local city hospital ER and ask patients there how they feel about the mandate. They would love to be ‘forced’ to buy policies they could afford instead of the humiliating process they are forced to go through everytime a family member is sick. It’s funny how many people that are against the mandate are safely wrapped in their heavily subsidized employer plan.
Well, I am self-employed and buy a personal plan that is crappy coverage with high deductible. Shoot, I hurt my knee last week and am going to have to borrow money from my parents(I’m 33 for goodness sake, that’s ridiculous) to cover my deductible if I need surgery.
I’m a fan of doing things to make decent coverage more affordable for everyone but forcing everyone to buy the coverage that I have doesn’t fix the problem. It is only more money for the health insurance companies.
I’m not a huge fan of the mandate either. Then again, as someone with a medical condition who has had the pleasure of losing my job and insurance, and then running up several thousand in doctor-related credit card bills, I don’t think the entire thing goes far enough.
But what do I know… I’m just a lazy, ne’er-do-well who wants to mooch off the hardworking taxpayers out there.
Hopefully, as the Carpenters once sang, health care reform has only just begun…
i despise insurance companies and the govt.
I think there is some questionability to the mandate’s constitutionality. However, I think what we’ve gained here is just AWESOME. This is what change looks like. Frederick Douglas once said, and I paraphrase, that there can be no progress with out struggle. At least this time we got something passed. The republican party is indeed a party of no ideas. All that said, The Cucc and Ronald McDonnell are both jokes.
I’m pretty happy with this course of action. I think it is a disgrace that the jobs our President promised America will be 10,000 new IRS jobs for enforcement of penalties, should Americans not buy the mandatory insurance. The nature of Govt telling its leaders (that’s us, by the way) what we now have to pay for and what we have to do is a slippery slope that doesn’t get undone easily. I respect our AG and the direction he is required to take. His is a political position, but his job requirements are very clear: provide the VA govt a clear understanding of its own constitution. He doesn’t legally get to make any distinctions or toss in his opinion. (which is why I disagree with the last paragraph in this press release… there’s no need to compliment anyone on doing the right thing here.)
cuccikoo and bumpit
Am I missing something? Aren’t there a gazillion examples of public spending and taxation on items that are not used by everyone? Not everyone drives, but taxpayers contribute to interstate highways. Maybe a “mandate” carries different stipulations than taxation and the two shouldn’t be compared. I have no idea – maybe somenone can explain.
Also, I would argue that we are all involved in health-related commerce the minute we buy a bottle of aspirin or a band-aid. Anyone that’s not is DEAD or really sick and is in no physical shape to vote or blog. Maybe “just being alive” IS interstate commerce, unless you are a Christian scientist or a witch.
And did didn’t we all involuntarily gave govornment control to the healthcare sector long ago in the name of regulation, licensure, etc? I don’t agree with the mandate for a few reasons, but it is not unconstitutional or anything new as far as civil liberties are concerned.