Federal Judge in Michigan Reject HCR Challenge

MoonHowler

From Huffington Post:

 

DETROIT — A federal judge on Thursday rejected an attempt to stop some key provisions of the new national health-care law, saying Congress has the authority to require people to get insurance by 2014.

The ruling – the first in a challenge to the Obama administration’s health care overhaul – came in a lawsuit filed in Michigan by a Christian legal group, the Thomas More Law Center, and four people who claimed lawmakers exceeded their power under the Constitution’s commerce clause.

But U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh in Detroit said the insurance mandate, and the financial penalty if someone skips coverage, are not illegal. He said Congress was trying to lower the overall cost of insurance by requiring participation.

“Without the minimum coverage provision, there would be an incentive for some individuals to wait to purchase health insurance until they needed care, knowing that insurance would be available at all times,” the judge said.

“As a result, the most costly individuals would be in the insurance system and the least costly would be outside it,” Steeh said. “In turn, this would aggravate current problems with cost-shifting and lead to even higher premiums.”

U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler noted the ruling “marks the first time a court has considered the merits of any challenge to this law.”

Now we all get to discuss what this ruling means.  Meanwhile, according to my friend Ivan, the race to the appeals court is on.  Where does this leave our esteemed AG?  How does this affect his solitary lawsuit?  

Most of us will now have more questions than we did before this ruling was issued.   U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh was appointed by Bill Clinton and has been a U.S. District Judge for about 12 years. 

GOP Fliers left on House Dem Seats During Debate

MoonHowler

 
floorfile –

According to Huffington Post:

House Democrats on Sunday were greeted with a particularly partisan, somewhat juvenile sight when they took their seats inside the chamber.

On several of their chairs were fliers warning them that if they happened to pass health care reform that night — which they did — it would result in a repeat of the 1994 midterm election, which became known as the Republican Revolution.

“IN 1993 THEY VOTED YES. A YOUNG PRESIDENT TOLD THEM ‘DON’T WORRY, IT’LL BE OKAY,'” the flier read, substituting in bold red font for individual words. “34 INCUMBENTS DEFEATED, 54 SEATS LOST.”

Pictured on the flier are the head shots of 25 of those members in a “wanted” style framing — the margin of electoral defeat they suffered in ’94 under their name.

A Democratic aide passed on the literature to the Huffington Post, relaying that Republicans had put them on some seats but “not all.”

This tactic seems to just be more bullying and threats.  Time will tell what happens in the mid-term elections.  If history repeats itself, there will be some majority party losses.  It’s expected.  Remember, those same Democrats would be facing the people who sent them there if they didn’t vote the way their base elected them to do.  

There is also a good chance that the Republicans will suffer backlash for for perceived hard ball tactics.  Time will tell.

Where were the Republicans during the past 8 years?  The need for health care reform was obvious to everyone who didn’t in a cave.  Our premiums kept going up and up as did our deductible and our services diminished.  Need for change was not a news flash.

Speaking of flash, the full screen function on flier works.  Use escape key to return to normal screen.