Possibly the biggest story of the day, even though it’s barely getting coverage:
A federal judge ruled Thursday that parts of a lawsuit by 20 states seeking to void the Obama administration’s health care overhaul can go to trial, saying he wants hear additional arguments from both sides over whether the law is unconstitutional.
In a written ruling, U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson said it needs to be decided whether the plan violates the Constitution by requiring individuals to have health insurance or be penalized through taxes and by overburdening the states by expanding their Medicaid programs. Another federal judge in Michigan threw out a similar lawsuit last week…
The administration’s attorneys had told Vinson last month that without the regulatory power to ensure young and healthy people buy health insurance, the health care plan will not survive. They also argued it’s up to an individual taxpayer — not the states — to challenge the section requiring health insurance when it takes effect in 2015.
The mandate will get before the supreme court, most likely. Would someone like Elena Kagan rule that government power is limited? Eh. Doubt it.
Or, maybe like the Michigan case last week – it’ll just get thrown out somewhere else.
Or – they just rule that the mandate is bad – but validate the unconstitutional rest of it.
There is no good outcome of this lawsuit, in my opinion.
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