State House Panel Acts to Exempt NC from Obamacare; Local Liberals Unhappy

Yesterday, the Judiciary Committee in the state House moved legislation to exempt the people of the state of NC from Obamacare.  In addition, to my surprise and delight, the legislation directs the state Attorney General to join one of the lawsuits against Obamacare.  I did not know the state legislature could do that in view of the fact that the Attorney General is elected in his own right. 

Of course, Roy Cooper does not seem happy about the situation.

But some of our local liberals are also having a minor cow.  Pricey Harrison is beside herself.  Recall that Pricey was invited to the White House signing ceremony for Obamacare at which Vice President Biden proclaimed with delight, "This is a BFD!"

Doug Clark and Allen Johnson also seem to be a bit unhappy.  Allen thinks jobs should be the priority of the state legislature.  But a new report by a former CBO director suggests repealing Obamacare might save up to 695,000 jobs.

It is good to see the state legislature keeping its promises.  The various states enacting this type of legislation, exempting themselves from Obamacare and joining the lawsuits in existence, can only send a signal across the nation that this abomination is an unacceptable encroachment.

 

Comments

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

Joe, I'm not surprised. The state legislature can do a LOT of things it hasn't chosen to do.

Roy Cooper's unhappy because he might actually be forced to WORK for a change.

Obamacare is an expensive FARCE. We are not going to "fix" anything about healthcare until we start roping down the elephants in the room that have blown up the cost of healthcare . . . meaning entitlements and illegal immigration and personal responsibility/accountability (in other words, if you want to participate in these programs, what are YOU willing to do in order to keep your benefits?) - oh, and and the lawyers.

[Joe Guarino]

I agree, Mary.

I also have an apology to make to local liberals. I should have not referred to Pricey Harrison as if she is one of them. Of course, Pricey is not... local.

[Doug Clark]

Joe, the language pertaining to the AG is: "the Attorney General shall have the duty and standing to bring or defend a State or federal action or proceeding on behalf of the residents of this State to enforce the provisions of this section."

In that it says he has the duty to bring OR defend an action, it sounds to me as if he could choose to wait until the state law was challenged before doing anything.

My point is that, because the ability of Congress to impose the individual mandate will be decided with or without any participation by North Carolina, this bill has no bearing on the debate but simply makes a symbolic statement.

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

Doug, it's far past the time the statement was made - and that North Carolina PARTICIPATED.

As recent headlines attest, good-ole Law & Order Roy is GIFTED at waiting to be told what to do. He's USELESS.

[Roch101]

"wHITE." Really?

[Joe Guarino]

Doug, I had my doubts that the state legislature could force the AG to join the suits brought by other states. The language you quote seems to confirm this. Yes, this is largely symbolic; but the noted legal experts Richard Epstein and John Yoo seem to feel that the encroachment represented by Obamacare upon the individual states could turn out to be a potent legal issue as the cases work their way through the courts:

http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowledge/post/?q=ODg0ODM1ZWEwY2U5MGIzYjZlYjA1MDBiYzhkNmU1ZGQ=

I think it is therefore entirely appropriate for the states to make a showing before the nation, and before the courts, that they oppose and resist this encroachment. Remember, the states are being forced into massive additional Medicaid expenditures. (Their only option is to stop participating in the Medicaid program entirely.)

[Joe Guarino]

Roch, it is a bit distressing that the Typepad comment screen is going a bit haywire on my office computer-- I don't know why or how it happened. I have been trying to fix it.:)

[Ken Hill]

For your amusement, this from another blog:

"Clunker math

The person who calculated this bit of information went to high school in Pittsburgh , Pa. He is now & has been a professor at The University of West Virginia in Morgantown, West Virginia for the last forty some years. I never looked at the clunker program in such depth.

Think of it this way: A clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year at 15 mpg uses 800 gallons of gas a year. A vehicle that travels 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg uses 480 gallons a year. So, the average“Cash for Clunkers” transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year. They claim 700,000 vehicles so that's 224 million gallons saved per year. That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil. 5 million barrels is about 5 hours worth of US consumption. More importantly, 5 million barrels of oil at $70 per barrel costs about $350 million dollars So, the government paid $3 billion of our tax dollars to save $350 million!

We spent $8.57 for every dollar we saved.

I'm pretty sure they will do a great job with our health care, though!"

[Joe Guarino]

Ken, Obamacare is already a clunker. Thanks.:)

[Fred Gregory]

Joe.. Pricey not local ? Yeah I said as much in my N&R LTE but the censors told me that was my opinion. They spiked that comment from my letter ( That she spends most of her time at the beach, out of the District she represents; and that is a fact !! ).

Harrison is also unhappy about the possible demise of her precious curly CFL dimbulb .
Too bad.

Thanks for that dose of reality math, Ken.

[Joe Guarino]

Fred, Pricey is as local as she-crab soup. :)

[Ken Hill]

Perhaps a new twist on death panels.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/fl-nbcol-breast-cancer-brochu-01225-20110125,0,2345357.column