This is not the end of the road, it is the closer to the beginning. But Wow.
President Barack Obama’s health care reform legislation, assailed as an abuse of federal power in a 26-state lawsuit, was ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. judge.
U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola, Florida, declared the law unconstitutional in a ruling today. Then- Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum filed suit on behalf of 13 states on March 23, the same day Obama signed into law the legislation intended to provide the U.S. with almost universal health-care coverage. Seven states joined the litigation last year, and six signed on this year. Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli sued separately on March 23 and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt filed his own suit on Jan. 21.
And I hear that due to a severability clause in the law, he threw out the whole kit and kaboodle!
More to come and feel free to discuss!
Update I: The Ruling can be found here!
Update II: Remember when Nancy scoffed at being asked if Obamacare was constitutional. She mocked the questioner saying, “Are you serious? Are you serious?”
Well, I guess the answer is Yes. We’re serious. Very serious. And it looks like the judge was too.
January 31, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Thank you, President Reagan!
January 31, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Yay!
January 31, 2011 at 9:27 pm
I know it's not over yet, but YAY!!!
January 31, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Ditto to the yey! Bottom line, there is legal grounds.
And when it goes to the SCOTUS, it must not be adjudicated by Kagan or Sotemayor. They have to recluse themselves.
January 31, 2011 at 10:24 pm
The Constitution is archaic. I don't know of any other Western countries basing decisions on something as outdated as the Constitution. We're a country living in the past, afraid to improve. We might see a new amendment soon.
January 31, 2011 at 10:54 pm
Ha! That's got to be the greatest comment ever.
January 31, 2011 at 11:13 pm
How about a right to life amendment in 2012 – when we'll have a GOP House, Senate & president.
January 31, 2011 at 11:28 pm
Yeah! Poor people don't deserve healthcare! Jesus would have liked it this way! Prosperity gospel! Keep your things! Don't help others!
January 31, 2011 at 11:29 pm
Also, Rick its 'recuse' not 'recluse'. Spelling.
January 31, 2011 at 11:38 pm
Loki, Jesus would not have mandated that the government give health care to the poor and impoverished, let alone those who are not so (but just using the system) and force the rest to pay for it. Charity is not charity if it is mandated. God did not force humans to love Him. He does not force us to love one another. He equally does not force anyone to show love to another human being. If he did, there would be no love learned.
Most importantly, He would NEVER require us to include such strong provisions for terminating His people.
And as for that "Prosperity gospel" comment, kiss our collective democrat, symbolic of course.
January 31, 2011 at 11:40 pm
And as far as typos go, let he who is without typos cast the first stone.
January 31, 2011 at 11:44 pm
Out of all of these quotes about charity in the bible: http://encouragingbiblequotes.com/versesmercya.html only one of them [2 Corinthians 9:7] says that it should not be done under compulsion. Does this one verse supersede all others? And instead of obamacare, what would you have our government do to assist the needy, the poor, the least of us?
February 1, 2011 at 1:14 am
@Loki: It's easy to be 'charitable' with other people's money; but, it's not virtuous.
February 1, 2011 at 1:27 am
And instead of obamacare, what would you have our government do to assist the needy, the poor, the least of us?
I don't accept the premise that it's the government's responsibility to do those things. It's required of us as individuals – to the extent that we can. In Mt 25:31-48, Christ doesn't say "I was hungry, and you elected government officials to facilitate feeding me;" etc.
Our government has the ability to help, but thus far, it hasn't demonstrated the capability to do so in a fair, equitable and effective way.
February 1, 2011 at 2:56 am
Good job trying to misrepresent our side's views, Loki, but no go. All you're demonstrating is your own ignorance.
February 1, 2011 at 3:00 am
@Loki,
“Out of all of these quotes about charity in the bible: http://encouragingbiblequotes.com/versesmercya.html only one of them [2 Corinthians 9:7] says that it should not be done under compulsion.”
You insinuate, here, that giving under compulsion, without a free act of the will, is the same as giving out of love and concern for the poor. If this is true, then the opposite is true: if you kill someone out of compulsion, without a free act of the will, it is the same as if you willingly and purposefully ended an innocent life. If you want to be commended for charity simply because you pay taxes and the government gives some money to the poor, then you need to be willing to be punished to murder when you get involved in a car accident and someone dies.
"Does this one verse supercede all others?"
No. Because all Scripture is God-breathed, it cannot contradict itself. Rather, Scripture should be read and interpreted in light of itself. When St. Paul says “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver”, he is providing a reference point from which to view the other verses you cite.
Paying taxes is an act of proper citizenship, a duty that each citizen has to ensure that his/her natural rights to "life, liberty, and PURSUIT of happiness" are maintained. If you don't pay your taxes, you get in deep legal troube. The government comes after you big time. How can you consider that kindness or charity or a free act of the will? You really think you deserve to be commended as caring for the poor when you are simply avoiding jail time? Remember the quote “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God.” Look on your dollars. You won’t see God’s picture on it.
February 1, 2011 at 6:18 am
Obamacare is about granting the insurance companies a way to compel the healthiest part of the populace (18 – 35's) to join the health insurance pool, decreasing benefits (particularly for 'extreme' cases), and advancing the death eater's agenda (abortion, euthanasia, rationing). It will increase the profits of insurance companies and is highly unlikely to improve health care delivery in the US.
This bill has and had NOTHING to do with some moral imperative to care for the vulnerable in our country, that was purely the sales pitch. If the president and the congress had one iota of concern for the well being of the nation's people, then a comprehensive health system reform, one that did not rely on insurance companies, would have been on the table. But one NEVER was. To call this caring for the least of our brethren, is just plain silly.
Have you read the bill? Oh, no, cant read it, we have to enact it so we can find out what's in it. We are very lucky a federal judge did that job for us.
February 1, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Loki, how does ObamaCare make healthcare more accessible to the poor? Are there more doctors? Hospitals? Pro bono services being offered?
From what I recall of the Gospel this past Sunday, "Blessed are the taxpayers…" is not one of the Beatitudes. Maybe I missed it. Is it next to the passage that says "Thou shalt petition Caesar to raise taxes and create a government program to care for the poor"?
I much prefer to give to charities. Free-will giving, instead of coerced.
February 1, 2011 at 1:46 pm
PRAISE GOD FOR THE ONE JUDGE THAT HAD ENOUGH OF OBAMA-UNCONSTITUTIONALITY.
FOR THOSE COMMENTING AGAINST THE JUDGE'S RULING—-
YOU'VE BEEN NANCY "PELOSI-ZED"— AND APPARENTLY HAVE NOT READ THIS DANGEROUS ACT; ETC.,
WITHIN IT , THE HEALTH CARE BILL, IS A SPECIAL CLAUSE THAT GIVES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,OBAMA-REID,& PELOSI, THE POWER TOELECTRONICALLY
WITHDRAW YOUR MONEY OUT OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT OR KNOWLEDGE.
PUT THAT IN YOUR "PEACE PIPE" AND SMOKE IT, LOKI.YOUR IGNORANCE IS SHOWING AGAIN !
February 1, 2011 at 6:29 pm
Larry, you're forgetting your own rule about feeding trolls.
My kitty just died. Thanks.