{"id":495085,"date":"2010-03-31T18:58:42","date_gmt":"2010-03-31T22:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2011493351_stateattorneyrobmckennaslawsuitagainsthealthcaremandate.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2010-03-31T18:58:42","modified_gmt":"2010-03-31T22:58:42","slug":"state-attorney-rob-mckennas-lawsuit-against-health-care-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/495085","title":{"rendered":"State Attorney Rob McKenna’s lawsuit against health-care mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Slade Gorton misses the point<\/strong><\/p>\n

Slade Gorton misses the point in his letter [\u201cState AG McKenna has authority to challenge health-care mandate,\u201d Opinion, March 27] endorsing state Attorney General Rob McKenna\u2019s challenge of the health-care bill President Obama signed.<\/p>\n

He may have the right to do so, but it\u2019s the wrong action.<\/p>\n

McKenna is abusing his authority, improperly representing people who elected him and supporting a movement that is dividing this country because his party opposes anything the \u201cother side\u201d does and because it generates attention to support a 2012 gubernatorial nomination.<\/p>\n

The issue McKenna and others need to understand is that this country needs a better health-care solution. Obama\u2019s plan may not be perfect, but it is a necessary improvement that could favorably evolve if politicians \u2014regardless of party affiliation \u2014work together for the benefit of those who put them in office. Sadly, that effort has been lost in a political game that has gotten out of hand and is a waste of time, money and energy that must be better directed.<\/p>\n

Public servants such as McKenna need to politically \u201cman up\u201d and make the most of attempts to improve his constituencies\u2019 quality of life, even though they\u2019re not originated by his party.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mike Gugliotto, Sammamish<\/em><\/p>\n

McKenna just wants to destroy Obama<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your Sunday editorial [\u201cMcKenna has a case,\u201d Opinion, March 28] concluding Rob McKenna has the authority to challenge our new health-care law\u2019s constitutionality misses the point. The real issue is that decision\u2019s wisdom on a political and a moral level.<\/p>\n

McKenna has calculated his political interests are best served by aligning himself with those whose single-minded mission is to defeat President Obama by any means necessary, including distortions and outright lies.<\/p>\n

To do this, McKenna and his allies are prepared to deny adequate health care to millions of families in Washington and across this country. We can only hope the state\u2019s historically moderate voters will remember the side McKenna chose next time he runs for office.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Barbara Klein, Federal Way<\/em><\/p>\n

Health-care bill is illegal; look at the Constitution<\/strong><\/p>\n

I my not be an expert on the U.S. Constitution, but I do know what is in it.<\/p>\n

Some legal experts allude to the health-care reform bill as \u201cessentially a taxing and spending program.\u201d Yes, Congress can tax us. It can also \u201cregulate commerce \u2026 among the several states.\u201d That is regulating interstate commerce, but not intrastate commerce. The Constitution limits congressional power to regulate interstate commerce. That means Congress cannot give advantage to one state over another when it come to interstate commerce. As the law exists, health-care insurance is intrastate commerce and not interstate commerce. In Washington state cannot purchase health-care insurance outside the borders of this state.<\/p>\n

Insurance is a product. The Constitution gives federal government neither the power to force its citizens to purchase a product nor the power to fine its citizens for not purchasing a product. The recently passed health-care reform legislation \u201cfines\u201d people for not purchasing a product.<\/p>\n

If the recently-passed legislation only \u201ctaxed\u201d people (say a 2.8 percent tax on income, similar to the Social Security Tax), then state Attorney General Rob McKenna might not have a valid lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit McKenna is pursuing is not a \u201cfrivolous\u201d lawsuit. It is very serious. If the federal government has overstepped its power, then we should thank McKenna for protecting us against the federal governments\u2019 abuse of power.<\/p>\n

McKenna\u2019s lawsuit is not about the validity and necessity of health-care reform \u2014 it is about abuse of power. Let this lawsuit play out in the judicial courts and not the court of public opinion or the opinions of \u201cexperts\u201d in the legal industry. I am sure if this lawsuit is successful, will quickly amend the law to change the fines (for not purchasing health-care insurance) to an outright tax on our income.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Charlie Peters, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Slade Gorton misses the point Slade Gorton misses the point in his letter [\u201cState AG McKenna has authority to challenge health-care mandate,\u201d Opinion, March 27] endorsing state Attorney General Rob McKenna\u2019s challenge of the health-care bill President Obama signed. He may have the right to do so, but it\u2019s the wrong action. McKenna is abusing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2861,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-495085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2861"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}