As soon as Obamacare was signed into law, Attorney General Rob Mckenna — a Republican — announced he would join in a lawsuit with several other states challenging the constitutionality of the measure. The challenge is based on the 10th Amendment and the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, that says the Federal Government doesn’t have the constitutional authority to force citizens to purchase a private product i.e. health insurance. Unlike Social Security and Medicare, where the Federal Government imposes taxes for the purpose of providing a specific service, Obamacare requires private citizens to purchase health insurance or face a fine.
Governor Christine Gregoire is absolutely livid. It’s no secret she would love nothing better than to score a job in the Obama administration, and be relieved of dealing with the mess she’s created in Olympia. McKenna’s action, which amounts to nothing more than holding the Federal Government accountable for an act that is unconstitutional on its face, won’t help her further that goal. However, accountability isn’t a high priority among the ruling class.
The Democrats are seriously scared of the squeaky clean McKenna, who is so popular he tallied over 54 percent of the vote in heavily liberal King County his last election. With McKenna positioning himself for a run at the Governor’s mansion in 2012, the Democrats are using that lawsuit as an excuse to discredit him and soil his Boy Scout image in any way possible. Within hours of the announcement, we began receiving press releases from various state agencies denouncing McKenna’s decision, including one from Insurance Commissioner Mike Kriedler, who in my view is perhaps the most incompetent elected official in the state — except for maybe Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn.
Look for more mud-slinging in the future. The arrogant, Democratic-controlled state legislature is working to undermine McKenna by trying to cut off his funding. Meanwhile, the party’s disinformation machine is already running in high gear, promoting their standard class warfare strategy, plus accusing the AG of being a puppet of the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) — a group which regularly and rabidly supports conservative Republicans. Ironically, McKenna is embroiled in a major lawsuit against BIAW, which has its public relations apparatus working overtime to discredit him as well.
Mckenna is one of the good guys — a man of principled integrity. I believe voters will see through this political BS for exactly what it is, and continue to elect him — no matter what office he runs for.
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