Federal Legislative Report, February 2011
By William H. Lewis
HEALTH CARE
U. S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson has ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional, specifically the mandate for everyone to purchase health insurance or face a fine. Because the law did not state that if one part of it was determined to be unconstitutional, the rest of the law would remain in effect (i.e. severability), the entire law was struck down. Twenty six states brought this suit, two other states (Virginia and Oklahoma) have filed separate law suits. The U.S. District Court in Virginia determined that the individual mandate to purchase insurance was unconstitutional. The Oklahoma suit is still pending.
The Obama Administration has said that they will appeal both rulings. They could be fast tracked to the U.S. Supreme Court. Since Justice Elena Kagan had been Solicitor General in the Obama Administration and worked on the Health Care Bill, she said at her confirmation hearing that she would recuse herself from any cases regarding those bills that she had worked on. Whether or not she will do so remains to be seen.
The Administration has stated that it will continue implementing Obamacare until the Supreme Court rules on it. Some state attorneys general have stated that the law should not be implemented as it has been deemed to be unconstitutional.
Judge Vinson stated in his ruling that he did not issue an injunction stopping the implementation of Obamacare because he assumed that the Administration would follow his ruling.
The House voted to repeal Obamacare. All Republicans and three Democrats voted for repeal. The bill now goes to the Senate where Harry Reid has stated that he will not bring it up for a vote. However, some Republican Senators have stated that they will attempt to do some parliamentary maneuvers to bring it to the floor. If this happens a lot of pressure will be put on those Democratic Senators who are up for reelection next time, some of whom are from red states. Some may vote for repeal. If so it could pass the Senate and then go to the President who has stated that he will veto it.
THE NEW HOUSE
The Republicans took over the House in early January and elected John Boehner as Speaker. He immediately stated that he would fly home on a commercial jet and not on an Air Force jet as former Speaker Pelosi had been doing. The House also voted to cut its operating budget by 5%.
Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has been working on some big budget cuts. He plans to put some of these into the 2010 to 2011 budget that has yet to be passed. The former Congress refused to pass the budget, but instead passed a continuing resolution allowing spending to stay at last fiscal year’s levels. This continuing resolution expires on March 3 and a new budget either needs to be passed or another continuing resolution implemented.
The National Debt ceiling is expected to be reached by the end of March. If it is not extended the government will no longer be able to borrow money and a government shut down may be implemented. Some members of Congress have indicated that they will not vote for an increase in the ceiling under any circumstances while others have indicated that they will only vote for an increase if it is accompanied by deep spending cuts. The House is committed to reduce spending to its 2008 levels. The House may vote for a small increase in the debt ceiling to give it time to make the cuts necessary to get back to 2008 levels.
CYBERSPACE BILL
Senators Susan Collins (ME) and Joe Lieberman (CN) have cosponsored S 3480 “The protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010.” The bill would allow the President the power to shut down a portion or a part of the internet in the event of a cyber attack. Since many people get their news from the internet, it would the equivalent of giving the president the authority to shut down newspapers, television, and radio. I don’t think the Founding Fathers would approve of this at all. A similar bill was introduced by these two senators in the last congress, but lapsed as it was not brought to the floor. As of this writing it had yet to go through a committee.
SENATE TEA PARTY CAUCUS
The Senate has formed a Tea Party Caucus. There are four members: Jim DeMint (SC), Rand Paul (KY), Jerry Moran (KS), and Mike Lee (UT). Although Pat Toomey (PN) has attended he has not yet joined.
U. S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson has ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional, specifically the mandate for everyone to purchase health insurance or face a fine. Because the law did not state that if one part of it was determined to be unconstitutional, the rest of the law would remain in effect (i.e. severability), the entire law was struck down. Twenty six states brought this suit, two other states (Virginia and Oklahoma) have filed separate law suits. The U.S. District Court in Virginia determined that the individual mandate to purchase insurance was unconstitutional. The Oklahoma suit is still pending.
The Obama Administration has said that they will appeal both rulings. They could be fast tracked to the U.S. Supreme Court. Since Justice Elena Kagan had been Solicitor General in the Obama Administration and worked on the Health Care Bill, she said at her confirmation hearing that she would recuse herself from any cases regarding those bills that she had worked on. Whether or not she will do so remains to be seen.
The Administration has stated that it will continue implementing Obamacare until the Supreme Court rules on it. Some state attorneys general have stated that the law should not be implemented as it has been deemed to be unconstitutional.
Judge Vinson stated in his ruling that he did not issue an injunction stopping the implementation of Obamacare because he assumed that the Administration would follow his ruling.
The House voted to repeal Obamacare. All Republicans and three Democrats voted for repeal. The bill now goes to the Senate where Harry Reid has stated that he will not bring it up for a vote. However, some Republican Senators have stated that they will attempt to do some parliamentary maneuvers to bring it to the floor. If this happens a lot of pressure will be put on those Democratic Senators who are up for reelection next time, some of whom are from red states. Some may vote for repeal. If so it could pass the Senate and then go to the President who has stated that he will veto it.
THE NEW HOUSE
The Republicans took over the House in early January and elected John Boehner as Speaker. He immediately stated that he would fly home on a commercial jet and not on an Air Force jet as former Speaker Pelosi had been doing. The House also voted to cut its operating budget by 5%.
Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has been working on some big budget cuts. He plans to put some of these into the 2010 to 2011 budget that has yet to be passed. The former Congress refused to pass the budget, but instead passed a continuing resolution allowing spending to stay at last fiscal year’s levels. This continuing resolution expires on March 3 and a new budget either needs to be passed or another continuing resolution implemented.
The National Debt ceiling is expected to be reached by the end of March. If it is not extended the government will no longer be able to borrow money and a government shut down may be implemented. Some members of Congress have indicated that they will not vote for an increase in the ceiling under any circumstances while others have indicated that they will only vote for an increase if it is accompanied by deep spending cuts. The House is committed to reduce spending to its 2008 levels. The House may vote for a small increase in the debt ceiling to give it time to make the cuts necessary to get back to 2008 levels.
CYBERSPACE BILL
Senators Susan Collins (ME) and Joe Lieberman (CN) have cosponsored S 3480 “The protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010.” The bill would allow the President the power to shut down a portion or a part of the internet in the event of a cyber attack. Since many people get their news from the internet, it would the equivalent of giving the president the authority to shut down newspapers, television, and radio. I don’t think the Founding Fathers would approve of this at all. A similar bill was introduced by these two senators in the last congress, but lapsed as it was not brought to the floor. As of this writing it had yet to go through a committee.
SENATE TEA PARTY CAUCUS
The Senate has formed a Tea Party Caucus. There are four members: Jim DeMint (SC), Rand Paul (KY), Jerry Moran (KS), and Mike Lee (UT). Although Pat Toomey (PN) has attended he has not yet joined.
