State Senators lose something in the translation on demand for Cordray to challenge health care reform

21 State Senators send Attorney General a laughable letter demanding he file suit in Florida (again, why Florida and not Ohio?) challenging the “constitutionality” of health care reform.  AG Richard Cordray has already politely told them “no” as such a case would be a waste of taxpayer resources as their claims have no legal merits.

This is a new take on federalism.  The idea that States act as “defenders” of individual liberty against federal encroachment.  In reality all federalism has ever meant is a fight over which government, state or federal, had the right to regulate a specific subject matter.

And that’s the basic problem for these lawsuits.  What State power is being infringed here because the federal tax code is being used to discourage people to self-insure their health care costs?  None.

And Ohio, which has essentially criminalized driving without auto insurance, is an incredibly odd Plaintiff to argue that its unconstitutional for the government to require you to buy insurance from the private market.

You know how many of these State Senators have supported repealing Ohio’s Financial Responsibility Act which requires you to maintain adequate insurance to legally drive in Ohio (driving without insurance leads to a 90-day license suspension which could eventually lead to jail if you’re caught driving under an FRA suspension?)  ZERO.

The other problem for the federalism case is that the health care bill specifically has a  provision that allows States to opt out of the individual mandate.

Ohio has better things to do that join political inspired lawsuits that have virtually no legal merit.