Pawlenty praises court decision ruling health care reform unconstitutional
Monday, January 31, 2011 at 5:01 pm
- 11 Comments
A Florida judge ruled the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act unconstitutional on Monday in a case filed by 26 states, almost all of which have Republican governors. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson, a Reagan appointee expected to rule against health care reform, said the individual health insurance mandate which goes into effect in 2014 is unconstitutional, and because it’s integral to the entire statute the whole thing should be thrown out. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he was proud to be a part of the lawsuit.
“Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be declared void. This has been a difficult decision to reach, and I am aware that it will have indeterminable implications,” Vinson wrote in his opinion.
The case is the second in which a judge has ruled the mandate to be unconstitutional. Several other judges have dismissed challenges to the law, citing no evidence that the law is unconstitutional.
Pawlenty, who joined the suit in his capacity as governor but did not have the authority to make Minnesota a party to the suit, praised the decision.
“Today’s court ruling correctly affirms that President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress’s health care takeover violates the U.S. Constitution,” he said in a statement. “An individual health-care mandate is an unconstitutional power grab by the Federal government and drags our health care system in the wrong direction. This ruling is a big victory for states’ rights, the U.S. Constitution and market-based health care reform. I was proud to join this federal lawsuit challenging Obamacare’s individual mandate and am optimistic that higher courts will uphold the ruling.”
Among the 26 states that joined the lawsuit are Minnesota’s neighbors Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Wisconsin joined the lawsuit several weeks ago after a Republican governor and attorney general were sworn in. Iowa joined at the request of its new Republican governor and has the unique distinction of both supporting and opposing health care reform. Its Democratic attorney general filed papers in support of the law’s constitutionality but didn’t block the governor from filing the lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.
North Dakota and South Dakota have been a party to the lawsuit since April 2010.
The case will be appealed in the 11th circuit appeals court.
Follow Andy Birkey on Twitter11 Comments
Comment posted February 1, 2011 @ 9:17 am
So he’s proud of his role in making sure that people can’t afford medical insurance? Is he also proud of his role in pushing people into bankruptcy for unpaid medical bills? I won’t even start on the pride he must feel at the thought of people dying because they can’t afford medical treatment (that’s just aspirational).
Why was this man not run out of the state on a rail?
Comment posted February 1, 2011 @ 11:06 am
If you can’t afford medical insurance, the government already has programs to accommodate you.
If the government can force you to buy health insurance, which is why Obamacare is unconstitutional, then the republicans should force you to buy a gun and a bible. Then we’ll see if you agree with the idea of mandatory purchases.
Comment posted February 1, 2011 @ 11:56 am
Dennis: I hope I never bump into you somewhere….Your reality and my reality may touch and cause the universe to explode…….
Comment posted February 1, 2011 @ 1:17 pm
Dennis surpasses the White Queen in believing seven impossible things before breakfast.
As wrong and disgusting as this judge’s decision is, I think he does get the point that the mandatory point is not severable from the rest of the Affordable Care Act to make health insurance affordable.
Comment posted February 1, 2011 @ 4:25 pm
Dennis,
Why should health insurance be any different than owning a car?
If one can’t afford to buy a policy, one will be “forced” to have state insurance.
Why should insurance be single employee based? that should be unconstitutional!
I would like to see you get care if you didn’t have insurance. Good luck to you!
Comment posted February 1, 2011 @ 7:25 pm
Poor little Timmy, he keeps trying to get noticed, but it just ain’t workin for him. Have you seen his bizzare video? That one even embarassed the wingnuts. Right Dennis? Now Huntsman, Utah’s former governor, is making noises about running. He makes Timmy look like a backwoods hick.
He all but destroyed our state in his quest for the Whitehouse and he hasn’t got a chance.
Comment posted February 2, 2011 @ 3:06 pm
The judge apparently doesn’t care about ordinary people because otherwise he would not require the repeal of the bill which prohibits denying health insurance based on a pre-existing condition. There are many people fighting with cancer for whom the repeal of this particular provision could be a complete disaster.
Comment posted February 4, 2011 @ 2:08 am
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/dog-howling-with-baby/20w5tgoq
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