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Digital News Report – Since Monday’s court ruling by District Court Judge Roger Vinson there has been vocal discussion concerning the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
Dubbed Obamacare by opponents, the health care legislation has been under attack since President Obama signed the legislation on March 23, 2010. So far two courts have ruled in favor of the bill while two ruled against it.
Despite opposition from some lawmakers, the state of California has already implemented some of the federal law. “In our never ending rush to be first, the legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger acted imprudently when it created state run health exchanges (Assembly Bill 1602 and Senate Bill 900) to run this federal program,” said Senator Tom Harman (Rep Huntington Beach CA).
“Tonight the Governor is set to deliver his State of the State. I am expecting the state’s fiscal problems to be front and center. I call on the Governor and the legislature to use common-sense. It seems imprudent, when California’s budget problems are so staggering, to use taxpayer dollars for a program that may be ultimately declared unconstitutional by the courts.”
The PPACA will likely go before the U.S. Supreme Court. The District Court found that the individual mandate to purchase insurance exceeds the authority of Congress. Judge Vinson said that the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution was not severable.
By Mark Williams