"The Show-Me State showed Obamacare the door yesterday. And what they need to do next there in Missouri is to show the rest of the states how to raise the collective voice of We the People, and say that Obamacare is overreached, it's unaffordable, it's not supported, it's unconstitutional, as the 10th amendment and the Commerce Clause applies to government taking over that section of our private sector in healthcare." Governor Sarah Palin, speaking on “Hannity,” August 4, 2010 Fox News Channel
The Bold Pursuit congratulates the people of Missouri for overwhelmingly rejecting a fundamental provision in Mr. Obama’s health care reform bill. The citizens of the “Show Me” state, in a 71 – 29% vote, rejected the federal mandate to purchase health insurance.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010, was a bad day for Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Missouri’s Prop C passed in a landslide vote disallowing a core element of the bill and, earlier in the day, Virginia scored a victory when U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson ruled against Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius’ motion to dismiss Virginia’s lawsuit, allowing the action against the federal government to go forward.
Virginia was the first state to enact legislation preventing the federal government from forcing Virginia’s citizens to purchase or participate in new national health care system. The legislation, the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act, was pre-filed in December, in anticipation of the passage of H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “ObamaCare,” and was the catalyst for the states current lawsuit against the federal government.
Last March, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell signed into law the VHCFA which provides that “no resident of this Commonwealth . . . shall be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage…”
According to Virginia’s Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, the PPACA violates the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the Constitution (the Ninth Amendment protects rights not specifically covered elsewhere in the Constitution and the 10th Amendment states that the federal government has no authority beyond the powers granted to it under the Constitution). Judge refuses to dismiss Virginia’s health-care lawsuit | LoudounTimes.com
Those are just the first two salvos across the bow of the government’s titanic health care bill; Florida is leading a flotilla of 20 states in another charge against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Treasury and the U.S. Department of Labor alleging the health care bill is unconstitutional.
Florida's Attorney General Bill McCollum filed a lawsuit on March 23, 2010 against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Treasury and the U.S. Department of Labor alleging the Health Care Reform bill is unconstitutional.
Initially, the Attorneys General from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho, and South Dakota joined Florida’s lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida; the suit was amended on May 14, 2010 to add another seven states, the National Federation of Independent Business and two individual plaintiffs.
Missouri, Virginia and Florida with its coalition of states aren’t alone in this battle to repeal the bill or portions of it: Arizona and Oklahoma will vote on similar referendums on November 2, 2010.
What is the significance of Missouri’s landslide referendum on ObamaCare, along with the numerous lawsuits and legislation already in progress by almost half the states in the Union?
Something happened last March when Congress voted to pass H.R. 3590 amidst accusations of shady deals, political chicanery and public disapproval: our elected officials completely disregarded the will of the People … and the People took offense.
Regardless of whether the states’ laws, lawsuits or referendums have a real effect on the PPACA, the People are sending a message to Mr. Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: We will be heard and our message is this: don’t force your ideologies and poorly-conceived legislation through without acknowledging your constituents concerns or objections. We will fight for what we believe is best for our nation and we’ll do it in the voting booths and in our courthouses!
If there is any question as to why we have so little respect for our elected officials, note this remark by Speaker Pelosi (March 9, 2010) regarding the vote on health care reform:
“But we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”
Congressional Democrats heeded her advice, they voted to pass a hefty 2409-page bill … amidst a cloud of controversy and that dark haze still billows around the Capitol Building.
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