The SCOTUS case is already set up should the monstrosity known as health care reform pass.

obtw Jerry you are THROUGH!

I am constantly telling people to read the tenth amendment!! And when I hear them say Health care is a right, I laugh because the Founding Fathers were smart. There is a procedure that must be followed. You want to make it a “right’? Go ahead and try.

Go Virginia!

I don’t think passing an ordinary bill exempting Virginians from the infamous Individual Mandate would accomplish anything directly, because Federal laws automatically override state ones. (As a political message, though, it’s still worthwhile.)

To have a true legal conflict that the Supremes would need to rule on, you’d need it to be an amendment to the state constitution, enshrining the right of the people to purchase medical services, or not, on whatever terms they wish. Arizona tried to pass such an amendment a while back, but I think it failed. Whether an ordinary Act of Congress can override a state’s constitution, would indeed be something for the SC to decide.

It might not be a bad idea to set up that sort of collision. The SC has been showing a strange new respect for the Constitution of late; heck, if they realized the 2nd Amendment actually means something, maybe they’d decide the 10th Amendment means something too.

though there are so many things and people they hate this one can get lost in the crowd.
It makes things more difficult if you want to make a nation bend to your will, to twist the national arm so to speak.
Maybe they can find a Dem appointed federal judge to declare the Virginia Legislature null & void. {joke}

…and I would be shocked — shocked, I say, if he didn’t file a lawsuit the day Obamacare passed

Cuccinelli has the mentality of a Sicilian. And I mean that as the epic compliment it is

What needs to happen is the entire bill must be nullified not by a resolution but by legislation with teeth. Get rid of the mandate only and you may end up with a quick path to single-payer. People don’t seem tor realize that. I would go even further and hope that as many states as possible create legislation to nullify ANY federal law that violates state sovereignty.

The Tenth Amendment Center references an excellent bill making its way through the Georgia legislature as we speak: http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2010/01/31/state-authority-and-anti-racketeering-act/:

House Bill 880 includes strong language to assert this principle:

Any actions taken by the federal government through its agents or employees that are not authorized by the Constitution of the United States are unlawful; and being unlawful, they are criminal offenses against the affected parties

This bill would make it a crime – with imprisonment for up to 30 years for each offense – for “any judicial officer, law enforcement officer, agent, or employee of the federal government, any multinational government, any international government, or any global government” to attempt to “enforce any federal, multinational, international, or global law” reserved to the State of Georgia under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.

As of this writing, the bill has had two readings in the Georgia House. Will such a strong piece of legislation go anywhere? Only time will tell. The reality, though, is this – it’s going to take some serious effort to push back against decades and decades of unconstitutional federal acts.

How nullification would work is discussed here: http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2010/01/28/nullification-its-official/. While I am not a big Ron Paul fan, the article does outline the pitfalls of what would need to happen for nullification to be successful. It would be a long path fraught with peril, but I think we are getting pretty close to folks ready to jump on this bandwagon.

Are in process of blocking the federal health mandates … Good for freedom and liberty, to choose your own health care, or none at all.

As the states begin to push back against Obama’s agenda, the question that arises is are they on solid constitutional ground?

I’m no constitutional lawyer but this would be a good article for some at Redstate. Can the states, after generations of taking fed money and all the mandates that come with it, tell the feds to pound sand on an issue now?

I think they can. And with the Roberts SP this would be the time to make sure it gets solidified in case law.