By Matt Holdridge
From the Washington Times:
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho is leading the charge in a states’-rights push to defeat a proposal in Congress that would require people to buy health insurance, a key reform pushed by President Obama.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, a Republican, used a ceremony Wednesday afternoon to become the first governor to sign into law a measure requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government over any such insurance mandates.
Similar legislation is pending in 37 other states, a point Mr. Otter stressed when asked if the bill he signed can succeed, given constitutional law experts are already saying federal laws would supersede those of states in a U.S. District Court fight.
“The ivory tower folks will tell you, ‘No, they’re not going anywhere,’” he told reporters. “But I’ll tell you what — you get 36 states, that’s a critical mass. That’s a constitutional mass.”
The Washington Post is reporting:
A spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) said this afternoon that Virginia will file suit against the federal government if the Democratic health care reform bill is approved by the U.S. Congress.
Cuccinelli has long said he was examining the legal issues and suggested he would likely file suit. Brian Gottstein, a spokesman for the office, said this afternoon that a lawsuit is now a definite. Gottstein would provide no details of the legal rationale for such a suit, indicating the process is “still being worked out.”
Virginia last week became the first state in the country to pass a state bill declaring it illegal for the government to require individuals to purchase health insurance, a key part of bills under consideration on Capitol Hill.
As the C4L blog recently pointed out, even the New York Times is acknowledging the growing enthusiasm of nullification movements.
If you’re unsure about what nullification is, watch this video where Tom Woods goes through the history of the idea in American politics.
Is state resistance to the federal health care takeover our next line of defense? Does this underscore the importance of using your local and state C4L groups?