A rare consensus that our Accidental Governor is a political opportunist

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I was cautiously optimistic this morning when I saw this headline in the Arizona Daily Star, Anti-government groups grow in number, fueled by economic, racial 'stressors', that someone had finally decided to do an exposé on our John Birch Society, Tenther, states' rights nullification, secessionist radical GOP Taliban in the Arizona Legislature who are fomenting revolution against the federal government. Arizona Capitol Times » Arizona poised to sue feds over health care:

["Tenther'"] Sen. Russell Pearce, a Republican from Mesa, cited the 10th Amendment, which dictates that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved for the states or for the people.

* * *

[Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Gray, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, likened the situation to petitions made by the colonies to King George III to detail their grievances against England.

“Our founding fathers petitioned the king over and over and over again… And they petitioned and they petitioned and they petitioned and then they finally went to war,” he said.

Sadly, no. The Star story was a generic story about the right-wing militia movement that offends the senses and good Americans by calling themselves "patriots." Please, insurrectionists and secessionists are not patriots.

But I digress. It is a cold day in hell when uber-conservative columnist Robert Robb from the Arizona Republic and I agree on something, so I had to check out the window this morning to see if it had snowed overnight. Robb and I have reached a rare consensus that our Accidental Governor is a political opportunist. And the GOP Taliban legislature is committing legal malpractice. Despite his best efforts to remain a conservative tool, Robb still managed to make some cogent legal points. State's health-care challenge premature:

[I] don't have a quarrel with Attorney General Terry Goddard's decision not to join other states in challenging the constitutionality of this and other provisions of the new federal health-care bill.

For one thing, the state lacks standing to challenge the individual mandate. That provision doesn't apply to it.

And where the state does have standing, it doesn't have a case.

* * *

Arizona has much broader Medicaid eligibility than most other states. Brewer and Republican legislators wanted to move Arizona's eligibility closer to that of other states to reduce the state's massive budget deficit. The new federal mandate pre-empts that option.

That's not fair. That's not right. But it's not unconstitutional. The federal government can pretty much attach whatever strings it wants to federal funds.

Nor is there really a mandate under the new federal legislation that states set up insurance exchanges, at least as a matter of law. States can decline to do so and the feds will step in. No state will want that, but it's a legal option.

* * *

The only issue on which Arizona might have a unique claim, getting trapped with more generous Medicaid eligibility, is a loser, not worth pursuing.

There are reasons, political and substantive, for Arizona Republicans not to join the litigation frenzy.

To obtain standing, Republican legislators have to pass a state policy – no individual health-insurance mandate – voters rejected last election. [Prop. 101 in 2008]. Republicans already have referred a cleaned-up version back to voters this fall.

* * *

[T]here is some political risk in the Legislature enacting directly something voters so recently rejected.

The individual mandate doesn't take effect until 2014 (a severe ripeness problem).

* * *

There's no need for Arizona to rush to the courtroom.

The reason to do so is political.

* * *

The reason not to rush to the courtroom is financial.

The state's broke.

It shouldn't be frittering away money on superfluous lawsuits.

Robb couldn't bring himself to say "frivolous" lawsuits, but that is the gist of it.

I am glad to see that House Minority Leader Rep. David Lujan (D-Phoenix) took my advice to force the GOP Taliban insurgents to pay for their own frivolous lawsuit and not squander precious taxpayer dollars that should be spent on education and healthcare. Arizona shouldn't waste money, effort on useless health-reform lawsuit:

Gov. Jan Brewer called a special session this week that only will waste taxpayers' time and money on a misguided lawsuit against federal health reform.

As an attorney, in my legal opinion, Brewer's lawsuit is frivolous and based neither on fact nor on the law.

* * *

Brewer's claim that reform is a threat to our state's sovereignty is false and meritless.

The federal legislation doesn't force states to do anything. States have a choice. They can set up an insurance exchange to offer competitive policies and rates to individuals and small businesses, or they can decide not to.

Also, no provision of the Bill of Rights, or text found elsewhere in the Constitution, acts to prohibit Congress from enacting health reform.

Under an unbroken line of precedents stretching back 70 years, Congress holds the ability to regulate interstate commerce, which includes buying and selling insurance.

Constitutional doctrine clearly gives Congress the authority to decide whether to enact health reform.

In the Raich case in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the scope of the commerce power and reaffirmed the core principle that states cannot thwart national policy.

* * *

Even Justice Antonin Scalia, no fan of expansive claims of federal power, voted to affirm Congress' authority.

Therefore, Brewer's lawsuit is a waste of taxpayers' time and money when we could use that money for many things the state is lacking, such as better public safety by putting more police officers on our streets to crack down on violent criminals and to make our neighborhoods safer.

That's why I've introduced a bill in the Legislature to prevent any tax dollars from going toward this kind of frivolous lawsuit.

In doing so, I stand with Goddard, who declined to join Brewer's lawsuit.

He made the right call for Arizonans' pocketbooks. Our tax dollars should be going into our classrooms and police departments, not wasted on frivolous lawsuits.

Unfortunately, the GOP Taliban will not give Lujan's bill a hearing in committee. They will approve this misguided political posturing today.