Abbott: Texas to challenge of health care overhaul

[sonias]

Obama hasn't even signed the bill and the Rs haven't even bothered to read it, but they're suing anyway. :puke:

AAS 3/22/10
Abbott: Texas to challenge of health care overhaul

AUSTIN, Texas — Attorney General Greg Abbott says Texas and other states will legally challenge the federal health care legislation Congress has passed.

Abbott issued a statement late Sunday night after the U.S. House approved the measure. He said the legislation violates the U.S. Constitution and unconstitutionally infringes upon Texans' individual liberties.

Abbott is an grandstanding a-hole wasting taxpayer money!

[sonias]

1. Add another log to the crazy fire - a Perry log

Burnt Orange Report 3/22/10
Rick Perry Rails Against Socialism, Vows to Come Between Texans and Doctors

Governor Rick Perry released a statement on the landmark health insurance reform legislation that passed the House of Representatives last night. Emphasis mine:

"Unfortunately, the health care vote had more to do with expanding socialism on American soil than it does fixing our health care finance and delivery systems. The Obama health care bill undermines patient choice, personal responsibility, medical innovation and fiscal responsibility in America.

"As passed by the U.S. House, the bill will cost Texas taxpayers billions more, and drive our nation much deeper into debt. Congress's backroom deals and parliamentary maneuvers undermined the public trust and increased cynicism in our political process.

"Texas leaders will continue to do everything in our power to fight this federal excess and find ways to protect our families, taxpayers and medical providers from this gross federal overreach."

You got to love that "personal responsibility" hook. It's at the corner of every argument the Rs make. People are poor because they want to be poor, people are unemployed because they want to be and people don't have medical insurance because they don't want to have any.

Now tell me why people are forced to buy car insurance, Rick? Shouldn't that also be "personal responsibility"? Is that socialist to force them to buy car insurance when they don't want to?

[WolverineDG]

2. another reason to elect bill white & barbara radnovsky

put an end to this bull shit.

dg

[sonias]

3. I'll toast to that

:toast:

Let's bring back sanity to Texas.

[sonias]

4. Another crazy log - Wayne Christian

First Reading blog AAS 3/22/10
How health care vote affects Texas

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott posted on Facebook shortly after the vote, "Just got off the AG conference call. We agreed that a multi-state lawsuit would send the strongest signal. We plan to file the moment Obama signs the bill. I anticipate him signing it tomorrow. Check back for an update at that time. I will post a link to the lawsuit when it is filed. It will lay out why the bill is unconstitutional and tramples individual and states rights."

And state Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, quickly released a statement saying he’d file legislation to prevent health-care reform from taking hold in Texas: "The first bill I file in advance of the 82nd session will be to ensure that Texans retain the freedom of choice when it comes to their health care, even if their choice is to remain uncovered. We recognize that our efforts to reject ObamaCare may end up in federal courts, and may ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. So be it. It is time states reassert their constitutional rights and Texas should be on the forefront of the movement."

We have to drag them kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Some things will never change. The kooks on the right, remain insane century after century.

Same as it ever was... same as it ever was. :eyes:

[hobbit709]

5. We just barely dragged them into the 20th century so far

[FloriTexan]

6. Anything we can do to stop it? n/t

[WolverineDG]

7. make sure we get white & radnovsky in office this november nt

[onestepforward]

9. I didn't know very much about Radnovsky

until I went to her website: http://www.barbaraann2010.com/

She is very impressive! :)

[sonias]

10. She is a good woman

She would be a wonderful Attorney General.

Come on Texas - make it so!

[sonias]

8. Vote Abbott and Perry out of office this fall

That will stop the lawsuit. It's going to take years anyway. Won't be settled anytime soon.

[sonias]

11. Commerce clause is the basis

Texas Tribune 3/22/10
TribBlog: Abbott Explains Health Care Lawsuit
(snip)
Of course, the big question is upon what grounds this group of attorneys general will be making their claim. A term tossed about throughout the GOP gubernatorial primary with regard to how to respond to federal healthcare reform was "nullification," the theory that a state has the power to nullify any law passed by the federal government they believe is unconstitutional. Abbott says they won't be relying on that argument at all. "Nullification as a legal theory is not a part of this," he says. "If we prevail, it is, in essence, a nullification of this law." The case they’re making hinges on the individual mandate in the bill and the commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution

Fracking idiot!

[sonias]

14. Could SCOTUS Be The Death Panel For Health-Care Reform?

Talking Points Memo 3/23/10
Could SCOTUS Be The Death Panel For Health-Care Reform?

(snip)
The bid seems far-fetched at first. But the Roberts Court has recently shown a willingness to strike down landmark legislation -- charges of judicial activism be damned. So, given the stakes, it's worth asking: Could health-care reform have made it through the congressional gauntlet, only to end up dying in the courts?

In recent media appearances, the AGs -- the most high-profile of whom have been Ken Cuccinelli of Virginia, Bill McCollum of Florida, and Henry McMaster of South Carolina -- have made a grab-bag of claims, among them that the bill violates state sovereignty. That's a contention that no court is likely to have much time for. As Steve Schwinn, an associate law professor at John Marshall Law School has written, state laws that aim to override the federal mandate "are almost surely unconstitutional, as conflicting directly with the federal requirement."

The stronger argument in the arsenal of the AGs -- many of whom happen to be running for governor -- relates to the Commerce Clause, the section of the Constitution that empowers Congress to regulate interstate commerce. The AGs focus on the provision of the bill that requires almost all Americans to obtain health insurance. They argue that imposing a penalty on people merely for declining to buy insurance is outside the scope of Congress's power under the Commerce Clause. "For the federal government to be telling people that they must buy health insurance, or they must buy anything at all, is not one of the powers that is give to the federal government by the Constitution," McMaster declared on Fox yesterday. "Nowhere does it say that the federal government can require a private citizen to go out and buy health insurance or anything else. It's not a part of the Commerce Clause power."

:kick:

[sonias]

12. Critics say Texas leaders politicizing health care

AAS 3/23/10
Critics say Texas leaders politicizing health care
AUSTIN, Texas — Democrats say Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is playing politics by joining 12 other states in a lawsuit challenging new federal health care legislation.

A spokesman for a group that is affiliated with the Democratic Party and pushed for health care reform said Tuesday the lawsuit is simply a theme for the Republican re-election campaigns of Abbott and Gov. Rick Perry.

Hector Nieto of the Texas branch of Organizing for America says Abbott and Perry are standing in the way of progress by opposing the new law.

So true! Thank you Hector Nieto!

[sonias]

13. Barbara Ann Radnofsky press release

For Immediate Release
Houston, Texas. March 23, 2010

As Abbott Sues, Texans Suffer
Radnofsky Responds to Attorney General Abbott's lawsuit against health care reform

Houston, Texas. March 23, 2010. Attorney General Abbott today sued to block 4.3 million Texans from receiving health care insurance(i). Barbara Ann Radnofsky, 2010 Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General, responded to Attorney General Abbott's partisan pursuit of a legal loser lawsuit.

Radnofsky: "Attorney General Abbott is wasting Texas taxpayer dollars on a legal loser lawsuit for his own political, partisan, and personal gain. His grandstanding does nothing to protect the people of Texas. His aim is to protect insurance companies. He is promoting Greg Abbott and fundraising for himself(ii) and his party(iii).

"Mr. Abbott's attack on the health care bill is an absolute legal loser, wasting Texas' taxpayer dollars. Congress has the power to regulate commercial activity and tax. As the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly held, the business of insurance falls within the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Court wrote:

'Perhaps no modern commercial enterprise directly affects so many persons in all walks of life as does the insurance business. Insurance touches the home, the family, and the occupation or business of almost every person in the United States.' (iv)"

The Bill, within 6 months, bars insurers from: denying people coverage when they get sick, denying coverage to children with pre existing conditions, imposing lifetime caps on coverage, and refusing to allow children under 26 to stay on their parents' policies. Attorney General Abbott's regulatory inaction in Texas dovetails with his insurance protective action today.

Attorney General Abbott has done nothing to stop the anti-competitive, profiteering insurance company practices in Texas leading to some of the highest insurance rates in the country.

The Attorney General's lawsuit fails to address the properly conducted Congressional findings of the importance of health care reform, increasing the share of insureds and financial security in this country. The cost of providing uncompensated care and the impact on increasing insurance rates as a result were the subject of Congressional findings. Congressional regulation/mandate clearly involves activity within interstate commerce and was exercised for national welfare. Moreover, if the Texas Attorney General had standing to assert our individual rights as he claims, he should have fought against unfair distribution of our federal highway tax dollars. We Texans have been and remain net donors to the other states. (Example: The 2005 $286.4 billion transportation bill, containing the bridge to nowhere, guaranteed Alaskans received about $1500 per capita in highway benefits, while Texans received a meager $36 per capita. Texas was a net donor to the rest of the country that year of 8.7 cents of every dollar.)

Radnofsky: "Attorney General Abbott has a history of wasting Texas taxpayer dollars on partisan, political lawsuits to try to advance his own career. He is in cahoots with Republicans who are determined to see health insurance reform fail."

This is not Mr. Abbott's first loser lawsuit. Attorney General Abbott turned his back on the disabled when he wrongly claimed that the Americans with Disabilities Act didn't apply to state buildings in Texas. In the case of Miller v Texas Tech, Attorney General Abbott wasted taxpayer dollars on this loser of an issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Acceptance of federal funds clearly waived Texas 11th Amendment immunity under express conditions of federal law.

###

During her 30 year legal career, Barbara Ann has represented retirees, life-saving doctors, blood banks, children burned by lighters, families of murder victims, unfairly treated businesses: a wide variety of persons entitled to protection. Barbara Ann graduated with honors from the University of Houston and the University Of Texas School of Law. She was honored as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas in 1988 and for the past 17 years she has been listed in "Best Lawyers in America".

Prior to 2006, she was a partner at the law firm of Vinson & Elkins in Houston, where she served as head of the Alternate Dispute Resolution Section. She was the first woman at Vinson & Elkins to have children as an associate and later attain partnership. Texas has never had a woman Attorney General.

Media Contact:
Katie Floyd: 713-357-3360(office); 713-858-9391(cell)
katie.floyd (at)radnofsky.com

Oh yeah I forgot that Abbott sued so Texas would not have to comply with the ADA! And he's disabled! He's got to be our worst A.G ever! :grr:

Go BAR! :dem:

[sonias]

15. Texas Democratic Leaders Issue Letter Rebutting Abbott Lawsuit

LoneStar Project
March 23, 2010


Breaking News: Texas Democratic Leaders Issue Letter Rebutting Abbott Lawsuit


Earlier today, seven Texas Democratic Legislators sent a detailed letter to Texas Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott substantively rebutting his legal claim challenging the historic "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" as signed into law today.

Texas Democratic legislators, led by Representative Garnet Coleman, who serves on President Obama’s State Legislators for Health Reform Committee, rightfully questioned Abbott’s frivolous lawsuit, his questionable authority to file such a suit and the potential harm his actions could cause millions of Texans.

Besides pointing out the lack of legal reasoning in AG Abbott’s law suit as well as debunking the nullification and secession claims, the letter demands a full accounting from Greg Abbott on the following:

* "We would also question why you would file a lawsuit that, if successful, would ostensibly result in the reimplementation of the worst practices of the insurance industry. It is disconcerting that you would expend state resources in an attempt to repeal small business tax credits, repeal tax subsidies to middle income families, reinstate the Medicare "donut hole," allow insurance companies to indiscriminately drop people from their coverage, and prevent Texas from receiving any of the myriad pro-consumer reforms in the legislation."

* "While you are free to hold whatever personal view you care to hold, given that Texas state agencies are being asked to cut their budgets by 5 percent, and the Legislature has neither appropriated your office the funds for nor instructed you to pursue such litigation, this action has all the markings of a frivolous lawsuit."

* "To our knowledge, the Legislature has not instructed you to institute this suit nor has it specifically appropriated money for the proposed litigation. Please explain what constitutional or statutory provisions authorize you to bring this type of lawsuit."

* "Also, please explain how you have obtained the consent of your client, the State of Texas, under the applicable provisions of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. Finally, please explain how you intend to pay for the litigation."

:dem: :kick:

[sonias]

16. White House, experts: Health care suit will fail

Yahoo News 3/23/10
White House, experts: Health care suit will fail
(snip)
"To that I say, 'Bring it on,'" said White House domestic policy chief Melody Barnes, who cited similar suits filed over Social Security and the Voting Rights Act when those were passed. "If you want to look in the face of a parent whose child now has health care insurance and say we're repealing that ... go right ahead."

(snip)
Robert Sedler, a constitutional law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, said the effort isn't going anywhere.

"This is pure, pure political posturing and they have to know it," he said.

(snip)
No Republicans in the U.S. House or Senate voted for the bill, which Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller in Washington said his agency will vigorously defend.

"We are confident that this statute is constitutional and we will prevail when we defend it," he said.

[sonias]

17. Does Texas Already Mandate Health Insurance?

Texas Tribune 3/23/10
TribBlog: Does Texas Already Mandate Health Insurance?

Attorney General Greg Abbott is engaged in a major lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of new federal health care reform legislation, on the grounds that the United States does not have the authority to mandate that individuals buy health insurance. Now, some political observers are saying that Abbott took the opposite position in the last legislative session.

"Abbott asked for and received the authority to order divorced parents to purchase health insurance for their children from a vendor of the state’s choosing if coverage was not otherwise available," says Democratic strategist Glenn Smith. "It is state-mandated insurance. Abbott clearly is not politically or ideologically opposed to such programs, further exposing the hypocrisy behind his cynical and dangerous lawsuit."

Smith is referring to an Abbott-promoted effort put forward in Senate Bill 66 by state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound. Here is the author's statement from the Senate Research Center analysis of that bill:

The goal of this bill is to ensure that children in the child support system are covered by health insurance. Federal law requires parents in the child support system to provide health coverage for their children. If no coverage is available through an employer or another source at a reasonable cost, a judge typically orders the non-custodial parent to pay "cash medical" support to the custodial parent to pay for health care. Unfortunately, this does not always lead to actual coverage.

(snip)
SB 66 was ultimately amended onto Senate Bill 865, an omnibus child support bill, which was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry. As a result, the insurance pool, known as ChildLINK, became Texas law.

More proof that Abbott is grandstanding. He's your basic lying political hypocrite. :mad:

[white cloud]

18. Thanks for a good one. I am running with this story.

Texas Tribune 3/23/10
TribBlog: Does Texas Already Mandate Health Insurance?

Attorney General Greg Abbott is engaged in a major lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of new federal health care reform legislation, on the grounds that the United States does not have the authority to mandate that individuals buy health insurance. Now, some political observers are saying that Abbott took the opposite position in the last legislative session.

[sonias]

19. Let's find cure for GOP ill will

AAS editorial 3/23/10
Let's find cure for GOP ill will

It is unconscionable that Gov. Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott are fighting to keep Texans from enjoying the benefits of landmark health care coverage that President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday.

(snip)
Instead of helping to fashion reforms that help their constituents, Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison and Reps. John Carter, R-Round Rock, and Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio (who represents portions of Travis County) tried their best to defeat a bill that includes provisions the GOP has supported in previous years. They include an expanded marketplace that permits businesses and people to buy health insurance across state lines.

If Republicans have learned anything at all from this episode, it should be that obstruction is not an option. That message seems lost in Texas, where Perry and Abbott announced they would sue the federal government to block the legislation from taking effect in Texas. Abbott joins a dozen other attorneys general who have launched a legal fight to nullify the health care overhaul.

Perry and Abbott are ignoring a more pressing issue in their state: Texas ranks No. 1 in the country for the highest percentage of people without health insurance. That amounts to one in four Texans. Yet the governor offers no plan nor leadership to address a huge problem that continues to drive up taxes on the local governments that must pay for the uninsured.

:kick:

[sonias]

20. Abbott pushed health coverage law in Texas

AAS 3/24/10
Abbott pushed health coverage law in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas — Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, who joined a multistate lawsuit challenging the new federal health care law this week, is taking heat from Democrats who say he backed a plan that required non-custodial parents to provide medical coverage for their children.

But Abbott said Wednesday there's a big distinction between the two programs: Texas is not required by the federal government to participate in the child support program, but Texas residents would be required to buy insurance under the newly enacted federal health care overhaul plan.

(snip)
"Consistent with the 10th Amendment, the authority is reserved for the states to require parents who have children in the child support system to provide insurance for those kids," Abbott said.
Abbott contends there's no hypocrisy on his part in trying to boost compliance with child-support health insurance laws. He says the program he supported, creating a new way for Texans to buy insurance for their children, is quite different from the health care overhaul bill President Barack Obama signed Tuesday.

But Abbott's election opponent, Barbara Ann Radnofsky, the Democratic National Committee and other Democrats disagree.

"It's really a beautiful example of hypocrisy," Radnofsky said. "The attorney general was happily acceding to the federal requirements of mandating the noncustodial parent, usually the dad, to pay for health insurance or making a medical payment. ... The ironic thing is he was promoting very broad health care mandates."

Abbott's head is in the spin zone. :eyes: