Virginia Lawsuit Against Health Care Reform Allowed to Continue

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli can take his legal attack on the health reform legislation one step further. Today Judge Henry Hudson (E.D. Va.) denied a Health and Human Services motion to dismiss — which means we’re headed for discovery. The WSJ Law Blog reports:

The ruling represents a setback that will force the Obama administration to mount a lengthy legal defense of the law. The suit, filed by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, alleges that the law’s requirement that its residents have health insurance violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution…

In his opinion, Judge Hudson ruled: “The guiding precedent [on the Commerce Clause] is informative but inconclusive.”

At times like these, it’s important to remember that the Democrats have 255 votes in the House and 59 votes in the Senate, but only four votes on the Supreme Court…

Fox pulled out this quote from Judge Hudson’s decision:

“While this case raises a host of complex constitutional issues, all seem to distill to the single question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate — and tax — a citizen’s decision not to participate in interstate commerce,” Hudson wrote in a 32-page decision.

“Given the presence of some authority arguably supporting the theory underlying each side’s position, this court cannot conclude at this stage that the complaint fails to state a cause of action,” he wrote.

And so the case will continue.

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Meanwhile, what about that Ken Cuccinelli? Late last week, the Atlantic pointed out that he’s becoming a Tea Party hero:

In his first four months in office, Cuccinelli challenged the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases, told public universities that they couldn’t ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and filed a suit claiming the national health care reform law was unconstitutional…

Now that this core of conservatives has grown into a nationwide movement, Cuccinelli’s national political prospects are worth watching.

Well, you know how Obama rolls. During the health care debate he consistently said that if somebody had a better idea, he’d be willing to listen. Maybe we’ll get to see what the courts are able to come up with.

Virginia Judge: The Suit Against the Health Care Law Goes Forward [WSJ Law Blog]
Ken Cuccinelli: The Next Tea Party Candidate? [The Atlantic]
Judge Permits Virginia Health Care Law Challenge to Continue [Fox News]
Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius [U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia]

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