(Updated with response from the AG) Cuccinelli says Virginia is prepared to sue the Feds next week
By JR Hoeft | Thursday, March 18th, 2010 | PolicyShould health care pass in Congress this weekend, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli indicated moments ago on Fox News with Greta Van Susteren that the Commonwealth is in good position to sue the Federal government over this statute using the justification of Del. Bob Marshall’s HB10 and the unconstitutionality of “Deem and Pass”.
Also during the interview, Cuccinelli referred to the Eastern District of Virginia’s federal court system as the “rocket docket”. I asked him about this today….
“As the Attorney General my duty is to defend the Virginia and United States Constitutions. For us, we have jurisdiction in Virginia and are lucky to have the Eastern District of Virginia’s “rocket docket” right here. Its affectionately called the “rocket docket” because our judges have moved cases along quickly compared most every other district in the country. Having practiced in EDVA for years, I know the Commonwealth’s case will be heard quickly.”
Thank God for last Nov. 3.
Video update forthcoming.
First…more from Del. Bob Marshall and HB10:
Update: Heritage has a brilliant post, with commentary from former U.S. Attorneys General Ed Meese and William Barr and on how the process of “deem and pass” is undermining the rule of law.
“The convoluted and questionable method under discussion by both Houses of Congress for final passage of the long-debated health care legislation raises serious constitutional concerns, which, at best, will lead to protracted and wholly avoidable litigation and continued doubt about the bill’s validity. Members of Congress from both parties have criticized the use of such sleights of hand, and The Washington Post has rightly editorialized against such “unseemly” and “dodgy” maneuvers for the health care bill. Beyond the obvious practical concerns shared by all citizens, the use of such obscure “rules” for final passage is even harder to justify in light of the real constitutional doubt and the erosion of public confidence in government that it will cause.”
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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Comments
26 Responses to "(Updated with response from the AG) Cuccinelli says Virginia is prepared to sue the Feds next week"
I hope it won’t be necessary, but if it is, I hope he goes for it.
Is it not shameful that state AGs need to sue the federal government? Too bad the Obama administration knows no shame. (Except that it is ashamed of the United States, but that’s a different thing).
What a nutcase… And what a waste of Virginia tax dollars…
William – the only nutcases are people like you who want to tear at the very fabric of this nation and dismantle the Constitution.
Yesterday’s actions by the Congress was unconscionable at best.
Thank goodness we have people like Bob McDonnell, Bob Marshall and Ken Cuccinelli who are looking out for our individual liberty and freedom, especially with people like you out there who wish to deny it.
Funny…i think of this whole thing as a waste of FEDERAL tax dollars.
I wonder how long it will take for the Governor to rein in this loose cannon who appears bent on taking on the most strident, partisan, and divisive issues in order to prove his own far right, radical, and divisive ideology. I hope that for the sake of all Virginians on both sides of the partisan divide, and those in the middle, the Governor exerts whatever remaining influence he may have on this zealot to stop the damage he is doing to Virginia.
Actually, I think a little “good cop, bad cop” will work quite nicely.
Democrats are expecting the legal challenge….
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/87819-hoyer-dems-have-strategy-to-fight-legal-challenges-to-health-bill
If anyone who reads Bearing Drift wants to go to D.C. on Saturday before the vote there are buses to take you to a special rally:
http://www.rpvnetwork.org/events/code-red-returns-to-dc
Contact Tito at: therealtitothebuilder@gmail.com
We need to make our voices heard!!!!!!
Just great. The public face that Virginia shows the nation is Ken Cuccinelli and Bob Marshall. The lunatics finally are running the asylum.
I would like to thank Gov. McDonnell, AG Cuccinelli, and Del. Marshall for doing their parts to protect Virginians and also giving hope to Americans outside of the Commonwealth.
Thank you for paving the way and giving strength to the other 34 states also considering this. Thank you for protecting Americans from something that is so unseemly, that the method needed to even pass it, is also unseemly.
This is the letter from Ken Cuccinelli forwarded to me through Pat Mullins,RPV Chairman. I personally think the letter is clear and concise.
March 17, 2010
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Office of the Speaker H-232,
U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C.
Dear Speaker Pelosi:
I am writing to urge you not to proceed with the Senate Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act under a so-called “deem and pass” rule because such a course of action would raise grave constitutional questions. Based upon media interviews and statements which I have seen, you are considering this approach because it might somehow shield members of Congress from taking a recorded vote on an overwhelmingly unpopular Senate bill.
This is an improper purpose under the bicameralism requirements of Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution, one of the purposes of which is to make our representatives fully accountable for their votes. Furthermore, to be validly enacted, the Senate bill would have to be accepted by the House in a form that is word-for-word identical (Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998)). Should you employ the deem and pass tactic, you expose any act which may pass to yet another constitutional challenge. A bill of this magnitude should not be passed using this maneuver.
As the President noted last week, the American people are entitled to an up or down vote.
Sincerely,
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II
Attorney General of Virginia
Paid for and authorized by the Republican Party of Virginia
Nice letter but it likely ended up in the shredder… When I hear words like “tear at the very fabric of this nation and dismantle the Constitution”, I know that somebody doesn’t understand what the very fabric of this nation or the Constitution is all about.
BTW: You are all welcome to your own opinions but I do not have to agree with you. That is what the very fabric of this nation and the Constitution is all about…
You said,
William Bailey
Posted March 18, 2010 at 10:03 AM
“I’d bet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi laughed at the letter if she ever saw it and went “Who is this guy?” Just like the birthers make news so does stuff like this…” ”
and now this. “Nice letter but it likely ended up in the shredder.”
Sometimes I think about what you and MB write and am proud that this Bearing Drift blog gives you the freedom of speech. We may not agree, but at least we hear you. According to you, our leaders should laugh at and shred our letters? Even the ones that come from State Attorney Generals elected by the people? Is that what our constitution is all about William?
If Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II is so concerned about the rules of the House, why is he not threatening to sue the Senate on the basis of the minority thwarting the will of the majority?
Help me!!! I’m sandwiched in between Mike and William!! Is this the Jerry Springer show or what??? Lighten up guys!!!
Kathy – I will help you! He isn’t concerned about the rules of the House he was (as he CLEARLY explained for anyone with ears) warning Pelosi and the VA delegation that using deem and pass to push through a bill that has been CHANGED by amendments, is a violation of the Constution. You boys should try reading it some time. As for this not tearing at the Constitution you are right, it does not tear it, it shreds it in to uncountable pieces and then puts it out with the trash, but that is what you progressives (ie Socialists) have been trying to do since 1900, so why should we be surprised?
Thank you Govgirl, I felt life leaving me. This must be what our Founding Fathers would feel like if they were alive today!!!
girls: Take the weekend off and enjoy the weather as this will likely be over by Monday. You’ll be ok. I learned that we’ll all survive even if the rest of the country doesn’t agree with our views on every issue.
Sorry WB – but I have every intention of working for the next Congressman from the 2nd District this weekend. I thought about going to DC, but since the “party of the little guys” and the one who “listens to the people” has made it clear they have no intention of listening to the people I felt it would be much more productive to work towards handing them their heads in the electoral slaughter that will be November.
If Obama and our representatives do not listen to the people who voted them in Govgirl, our work to elect people who believe in less government will be easy come November.
Actually, when the majority put President Obama and our representatives in office, they expected the President and the Legislature to do what he said he would do. He was an advocate for health care reform, and we would have health care reform right now if the minority had not invoked it’s policy of obstructionism. So this weekend, my fervent hope is that we as a nation increase accessibility to health care; then, I would hope that a bi-partisan effort would start to improve the legislation, especially in regard to cost containment. But so far, it seems clear that the minority party is fully committed to its policy of total obstructionism, which to me comes at the expense of the american people. How that will be judged in the next election cycle remains to be seen.
I bet there is a way to increase accessibility to health care without: rationing health care, penalizing businesses, (I wonder what our unemployment rate with be in years to come with all the “fees” and taxes on businesses), the American tax payer and businesses providing health care for illegal aliens, and the list goes on and on.
Have your Democratic brothers and sisters take this nonsense out of the current health bill and maybe there would be more unity. But, oh wait, the unconstitutional “deem and pass” you agree with already puts you in the category of the MINORITY of the will of the American people with 55% opposed to the current health care bill as of TODAY.
Interesting points Kathy, but you had better be careful; you may get more than you bargained for. It is the republican side that wants to retain private health insurance. And the best way to get health insurance costs off the back of business is to have individuals responsible for a singel payor system. Have you run that by Mitch lately?
Mike, forgive my ignorance, but who is Mitch? I’m just a concerned citizen doing my best to speak as a citizen. Who are you referring to?
You see Kathy, Mike Barrett is rich enough that he knows he’ll always have access to quality health care whenever he wants it. He’ll never have to wait in line or be told No by a government bureaucrat. He’s rich enough to opt out of the Obamacare system he wants to impose on you and me and the folks who CHOOSE not to buy insurance because they want to spend their money on cell phones and flat screen tvs. So Mike is happy to increase taxes and cut Medicare for everyone because it will never really impact him. Just like these decisions will never impact Obama. When he’s no longer president he’ll write a book and be rich enough to opt out of this nightmare, too.
Well actually, I am very pleased to have company provided health insurance coverage, and to have a government provided plan to back that up. When I am eligible for Medicare, I would expect that to be my primary coverage and to rely on a government plan in secondary position. You may try all you want to attack those who have indicated their support for the reform of health care, but in fact, once rational citizens look behind the doomsday prognostications, the campaign of fear and distrust forced upon us by the Party leaders, one finds much to be recommended about this reform. And I would never let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and this plan is as good as could be achieved with the stonewalling and obstructionism of the republicans. They have given it their best shot, and frankly, it appears as if the nation is supportive of this Plan. Surely, once it is passed, the stridency and emotionalism of the campaign of fear will increase, so you will have your chance in the mid term elections. But I think many have looked behind the screen and have decided all the hype was just pure baloney.
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