Attorney General Sam Olens was kind enough to give me a few minutes this morning to discuss the status of Georgia’s lawsuit seeking to have ObamaCare declared unconstitutional.

An interesting piece of information I wasn’t aware of is the identity of the lawyer representing Georgia and the other 25 states at the appellate level.

The AJC’s Aaron Sheinin has just tweeted (UPDATED: Full Story Now Here; Bill has been tabled) that SB 209, a bill originally introduced to make abortion illegal after 20 weeks because of fetal pain but substituted yesterday to close Georgia abortion clinics, will be tabled by the Rules Committee.

If tabled, it is unlikely SB 209 will pass as a stand alone bill this year, as it will not have time to complete the Committee process and make it to the floor of the full Senate by Wednesday’s “crossover day”. 

Any effort to pass either a fetal pain bill, or a measure to close Georgia’s abortion clinics in favor of hospital-only procedures, will now likely have to be the result of attaching these items to other legislation on the floor of the House of Senate through the amendment process.

SB 210, a bill to allow civil lawsuits for wrongful death in some circumstances related to abortions, passed the Rules Committee yesterday, but still must be voted to the full Senate on Monday.  At this point, it is the most likely vehicle for any floor amendments, depending on the “rule” it receives coming out of committee.

Nothing can stir political controversy like a good old fashioned battle over abortion.  Unless, that is, you’re the committee assigned jurisdiction to hold hearings on the matter.  Today, Senate leadership tapped freshman Charlie Bethel (R-Dalton) to become an ex-officio member of the Rules Committee so they could approve SB 210 with a quorum present. (Please don’t call him a “Hawk”.  That was a term used in Glenn Richardson’s House, when the Senate quietly disapproved of the practice.  And besides, a hawk is a bird of prey, and today’s hearing was about being pro-life.)

The fact that Rules was even hearing SB 210 is a bit of a surprise.  After all, 210 is clearly a tort bill, allowing suits for wrongful death depending on circumstances surrounding an abortion.  Yet only one permanent member of the Rules Committee is an attorney (Bill Hamrick, not present).

In the recent unpleasantness that was the battle over Senate control, Casey Cagle was left with the sole authority to direct legislation to committee of jurisdiction, and little else.  A bit low in his political capital these days, Cagle directed SB 210 and SB 209 to the Rules Committee with solid pro-life Chairman Don Balfour, who also couldn’t hurt by brushing up his social conservative bonafides.   SB 210 sailed through without too much difficulty after some testimony.

SB 209, however, became a pure bait and switch on behalf of its sponsor, Barry Loudermilk.  Many states this year are attempting to pass pro-life legislation to prohibit abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, when a baby is estimated to have the ability to feel pain.  Thus, those in attendance for the hearing were prepared to give testimony for or against the “fetal pain” bill.  Yet at the beginning of the session, Loudermilk instead passed out a substitute bill, taking virtually all in the room off guard.

The new SB 209 restricts abortions in Georgia to hospitals only, effectively closing all Georgia abortion clinics.  It also restricts any insurance plan created by the pending Georgia Insurance Exchange from covering abortion except in the case of physical health of the mother.

Given that it is essentially a new bill rather than what was expected, Balfour held over the hearing until 10am Friday to give everyone a chance to absorb the changes prior to a vote.

Normally, bills that pass Rules head straight to the floor for a full Senate vote.  However, because Rules is the Committee of Jurisdiction, these bills must survive another Committee vote (assuming SB 209 passes tomorrow) before moving to the floor.  The second vote would be to apply the rule under which they will be voted on, and is essentially approval for the full Senate to vote.

And, if you notice a sense of urgency surrounding this somewhat unconventional approach to advancing legislation, consider this.  Crossover day – the day a bill must pass the House or Senate to be considered by the other body this year – is scheduled for Wednesday.  Thus, informally, anything that will be considered by Rules for a floor vote must be approved by the committee of jurisdiction by tomorrow.  This will allow Senators to review over the weekend – or not – before the Rules Committee holds its final scheduled meeting before crossover day Monday afternoon.

In Summary, you’ve have this:  The Georgia Senate has honored Widespread Panic and Drivin’ & Cryin.  In between, they argued for weeks over legalizing Sunday Sales of alcohol without ever taking a vote.  Now, with literally days left, they’re going to try to advance the biggest change in Georgia’s pro-life laws in over a decade.  And their starting move is a bait and switch.

It’s a serious topic.  Regardless where you stand on this issue, Georgia deserves a Senate that will treat it seriously.  Even normal Balfour critics have praised his actions today.  Let’s hope a few more members of his committee are in their seats tomorrow at 10am so that the next freshman walking slowly down the hall doesn’t have to do the heavy lifting again.

Remember that part about today being “10th Amendment Day”? Perhaps that part where I said it was political grandstanding to appease some of you while continuing business as usual? 

“But they’re stopping Obamacare, you socialist” you replied.

OK, so long as Obamacare is stopped.  Oh Wait:

Georgia Takes First Step Toward Healthcare Reform

State lawmakers took their first official step Monday toward complying with federal health care reform by designing an insurance marketplace that will change the way many Georgians get health coverage.

A House subcommittee unanimously approved a bill (HB 476) that would create the Georgia Health Exchange Authority, an arm of state government that would run a state-based insurance exchange – a central part of the nation’s new health care law.

But don’t worry, I’m sure the economic development braintrust down there really has someone that will be making light bulbs just for Georgia.  They just need to rush through SB 159 so they can tell you that all details of this super secret plan are an official secret of the state.

Today’s Courier Herald Column:

As Senate Bill 10 – The bill that would have allowed local referendums to approve the sales of alcohol on Sunday – was dying a slow death last week, a few Senators sought to interject a new reason to justify not voting on the controversial bill.  They wondered aloud if local referendums to regulate alcohol were even allowed under the Georgia Constitution. 

Senator Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) was the unfortunate soul who happened to wonder this aloud to a reporter outside Senate chambers, into an open microphone.  As such, he took the brunt of the blowback from myself at PeachPundt.com, Neil Boortz and Erick Erickson of WSB radio, and others in the Georgia media.  The original proponent of the theory, freshman Senator Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville), managed to keep his thoughts within the confines of the Senate Caucus, while Judson Hill (R-Marietta) took his debate to Facebook.

Seabaugh called me to revise and extend his quoted remarks, explaining that he was only passing along the concerns expressed in the caucus meeting, and had since confirmed that legislative counsel believed local referendums on alcohol were in fact, constitutional.  He reiterated, however, that he believes Georgia legislators need to start making more decisions at the legislative level, and quit “passing the buck” to the voters.  He stated a belief that Georgia is on the road to becoming a “referendum state”, similar to California, where ballot propositions pushed by voters are a dominant force of governance.

Seabaugh and I once ran against the same incumbent Republican Senator who was voting for statewide and regional solutions that interfered with the concepts of local control, and in a runoff, Seabaugh won that contest.  While I’m disappointed to learn that he’s moved on from some of his beliefs that decisions of governance should be made at the lowest level of governance possible, I will agree with him that the Georgia legislature is creating too many referendums to pass the buck on challenging decisions.

The vast majority of the new Republican majorities in the legislature have all signed pledges that they will never raise taxes.  Yet, the state faces some critical funding shortages in areas such as transportation and trauma care.

The November ballot contained a provision to add $10 to each car tag purchased to fund expanded trauma care in the State of Georgia.  Currently, there are only four Level 1 Trauma Centers throughout the state.   Rural Georgia, and especially South Georgia, is remarkably underserved with trauma centers, and even the most fiscally conservative acknowledge the need for a more expansive network.

Yet, instead of putting trauma care into the general budget as a funded priority, the legislators asked voters to tax themselves an additional $10 per car per year.   Voters, watching teachers furloughed but $20 Million spent on high speed boat ramps and $9 Million to finish an equestrian center in the Governor’s home town, balked.   Voters didn’t see the need to tax themselves for something being advertised as a life or death matter when the Governor and legislature decided boat ramps and horse parks were higher priorities with existing tax money.

With no funding yet identified, Senator Greg Goggans (R-Douglas) has filed a bill to call for $10 of each existing car tag fee to be dedicated to trauma care.  But even though no new fees are to be assessed, he still has chosen a referendum – in 2012 – as his vehicle of choice. 

While the referendum is the only way to ensure the funds are dedicated to trauma care and not added into the general fund, I question the wisdom of waiting another 20 months and have Georgia voters decide if this is a funding priority or not.

The legislature didn’t put Governor Perdue’s $20 Million “Go Fish” program up for approval by a referendum, nor his $9 Million horse park.  No, they took the tax money they already had to make sure they took care of these and all their other pet projects.   And given that virtually all will agree there is a need for additional trauma care, one could conclude that they believed Go Fish and expanded horse parks were worth Georgians dying over.  But they don’t think that way.  They just think they need to take care of pet projects first, and you, the voter, will take care of the necessities when you vote to raise taxes on yourself.  That way, they can sleep well knowing they didn’t raise your taxes.

Today’s “fresh political pickins from the Peach State”:

1.) Coming off a bitter campaign, Governor Deal and former Governor Barnes have forged an unlikely alliance over a good cause: ensuring that spouses of state employees killed in the line of duty are able to continue health coverage under the state’s plan. To quote Barnes: “It’s the least we can do, really”.

I didn’t vote for Governor Barnes and I don’t regret that decision. But it’s good to see this kind of unity from Speaker, Governor and former Goveror when it comes to something like this, which is doing the right thing.  It also more than makes up for these shenanigans last week by Barnes. “What a crock”.

2.) HB 92, sponsored by Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming, would reduce the early voting period from 45 to 21 days. Read the full article here. Personally, I think this is very necessary. I’d even support cutting it down to 14 or 7 days, but 21 is a good number. Cost-wise, it guts rural counties to have this long of an early voting period:

An ACCG survey found that counties with less than 10,000 registered voters spent an average $78.31 per early vote in the 2010 primary election, and $11.79 in the general election, compared with $10.76 and $3.63 for counties with more than 100,000 registered voters.

Plus, ya’ll know us rural folks have had problems with voter fraud in the past. A long period of early voting allows more ballots to be mailed out to cemetaries everywhere.

3.) Attorney General Olens, Congressman Westmoreland and Governor Deal held a press conference yesterday in response to the ruling in Florida on the healthcare law.

4.) HB 100, introduced by Rep. Allen Peake of Macon, creates a new court in Georgia to exclusively deal with problems regarding the Department of Revenue.

5.) There are two bills in the House looking to place more scrutiny on projects that “rely on transferring water from one river basin to another”. This idea is currently being worked on by Rep. Tom McCall and Rep. Alan Powell.

6.) In other positive news (not), a new report says that Georgia is 7th among states in total illegal immigrant population.

Greetings from snowy west Georgia!

Our new Attorney General, Sam Olens, has a laundry list of “to-do’s” on his first day in office. First and foremost:
- Challenge the healthcare legislation passed by the 111th Congress.
- Work out a resolution the never-ending water battles between Georgia, Florida, Alabama and those pesky neighbors to the north

Meanwhile, Olens is readying a legislative package that would give him the authority to launch criminal investigations into foreclosure fraud, streamline the state’s sunshine laws and beef up laws targeting sex traffickers and cyber bullies. He said he’ll be ready to unveil specifics by the end of January.

He’ll have a powerful ally. Olens has hired Nels Peterson, Perdue’s former executive counsel, to handle the office’s legislative agenda and coordinate the health care challenge and water litigation.

Olens also has an interest in transportation issues, building on his background as the leader of the Cobb County Commission and former chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission.

He wants to help untangle the regulatory and legal headaches in the state’s push to deepen the Savannah harbor, which would allow access to bigger cargo ships. And he plans to lay the legal groundwork for a transportation plan approved last year that could use a 1-percent sales tax to pay for new infrastructure projects.

But first things first: Making good on his campaign pledge to join the health care challenge.

Olens said Georgia needs to formally object to the expansion of Medicaid — which he said will cost Georgia $1.5 billion each year starting in 2014 — and the overhaul’s requirement that people purchase health insurance or face penalties.

“It’s a huge unfunded mandate,” he said. “And it’s vital that we have that legal claim heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

The list is ambitious. Olens should be able to accomplish many of these goals, if the legislature cooperates and doesn’t descend into its usual bickering. That is always a big IF. Nevertheless, we’ll be watching.

Mercer University School of Law Professor David Oedel is just about what you’d expect from that hilltop bastion of intolerance and liberalism (but I repeat myself) down in Georgia’s bellybutton. Oedel loves The One, his BFF is failed (and now former) Congressman Jim Marshall, and I’m told he has an Erick Erickson dart board up in is office.

Imagine my surprise to learn last week, then, that David Oedel is one of our oh so very special attorneys general for Georgia in the 20-state health care legislation to, you know, restore freedom and the supremacy of the Constitution…i.e., fight ObamaCare. He had a rather fascinating piece in the Wall Street Journal on December 27 about another argument against the legislation.

The conclusion is clear. So long as Congress insists on threatening the taxpayers of any state that withdraws from Medicaid by sending their tax money to the other states—and, in the process, depriving them of the funds needed to assist their poorest citizens—federal courts should follow Dole and rule that the new Medicaid requirements are unconstitutional.

The whole piece is here.

Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-83) sponsored HB 23 that would allow children as young as 14 to refuse medication their foster parents and doctors say they need.

49-2-33 Part 1, Section A states:
(B) A process for obtaining written informed consent from the child’s legal
guardian and the child, if he or she is age 14 years or older, in advance of the
child starting psychotropic medication;

(E) Requiring documentation of the child’s assent or objection to psychotropic medications if the child is under 14 years of age;

Written consent from the CHILD.

Rep. Oliver, according to her bio, has no real experience in the behavioral physiatric needs of juveniles. Sure, she has been on some committees, sponsored some bills related to children, and is a lawyer who teaches Child Law and Policy, but she went to school to be a lawyer, not a doctor or a physiatrist. Yet, she sponsored this bill alone according to the filing records.

As the older sister of a 14 year-old brother who is extremely intelligent and well-read and whom I love dearly, he is still a 14 year-old child. He does stupid 14 year-old boy stuff. Why on earth would we grant a 14 year-old who still sees the need to argue with his 9 year-old brother the ability to refuse psychotropic medication that his physician says he needs?

If we start with allowing 14 year-old kids to decide whether or not to take medication that could prevent them from not only harming themselves, but others as well, where do we end? Do we let them decide when to drop out of school? It’s more serious than fights over homework, T.V. and video game time limits, and bedtimes. But think about how ridiculous it would be to allow children to make their own decisions on those issues and how much more ridiculous it would be to allow them to decide whether to refuse or accept psychotropic medications.

And after reading Rep. Oliver’s bill at least four times, while not shocked that this is an actual bill-ridiculous bills are written all the time-it’s a bit disconcerting that such an educated woman would think that this idea was a good one.

We here wish a speedy recovery to Savannah Alderman Clifton Jones who has been hospitalized after what initial diagnosis indicates was something called a “pin stroke.” Incredibly, his fellow Alderman recognized the symptoms and got him, thankfully, to the hospital in time for the appropriate medications to be administered to mitigate damage.

More here from the Savannah Morning News.

Gov.-elect Deal earlier today named David Cook, executive director and CEO of the Medical Association of Georgia since 2001, to serve as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health. Nothing like bringing in the lobbyists to run the show.

Cook previously served for three years as Deal’s chief of staff in his congressional office and during his time as president pro tempore of the Georgia Senate.

Nothing compares to David Cook’s biggest moment just a few years ago, however. Sing on, brother. Sing on.

While billions of dollars have been spent on years of research, a cure for the common cold remains elusive. Researchers across The Pond are getting closer, but alas, it’s doubtful that millions of cold sufferers in The Colonies will the able to reap the benefits of their discoveries.

Our betters under the Gold Dome want to make sure when fellow Georgians spread their germy goodness, everyone suffers. Bob Barr weighs in –

Among other products and activities in lawmakers’ sights this session are many of the more effective cold remedies used by Peach State cold sufferers.

Such products have been under assault by state legislators for years simply because they contain pseudoephedrine, a chemical used in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine. After the coming year’s session, in which the Republicans enjoy the largest majority since at least Reconstruction, cold sufferers looking to ease their symptoms with Sudafed and other such remedies will find it increasingly difficult and expensive.

Among the ideas already being floated under the Gold Dome is the creation of an electronic tracking system that keeps tabs on purchases of allergy and cold medications containing pseudoephedrine. Also in the future if legislators have their way, these products could no longer be purchased at super markets or convenience stores, but only at drug stores. Another proposal would force cold sufferers to schedule and pay for a visit to a doctor in order to obtain a prescription for a simple cold-relief capsule.

[...] State Sen. Buddy Carter of Chatham County, for example, is planning to reintroduce legislation to set up an electronic, government-controlled database to monitor the distribution of prescription drugs. Two years ago, when this legislation was called the “Prescription Drug Monitoring Act,” it was defeated. This session, in a thinly-veiled ploy to improve chances for passage of the legislation, he cleverly has changed the name of the bill to the “Patient Safety Act.”

Advocates of this proposed law point out that more than 40 states have implemented a prescription drug monitoring program; and some of those states are pressuring Georgia to join them.

The problem with this legislation is it treats all prescription drug users as suspected criminals; and it ignores Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable, warrantless searches. The legislation also would be harmful to the doctor-patient relationship, because doctors would be required to factor in the reporting of their prescriptions to the government before writing one for a patient. The threat of being themselves constantly monitored for “over prescribing” medications would weigh on the physicians’ decisions as well.

The recommended substitute, phenylephrine, is as effective on my cold as that old can of pixie dust we bought at Walt Disney World. We didn’t have to sign for that, by the way.

I can just hear the conversation now, as I set off the the government-mandated, out-bound body scanners at the pharmacy, “Tank dou, othither…Noh, Ah dohn’t ruhn a mef lab, Ah dust hab a bahb cohld.”

Across the nation, many candidates ran against the mandated health care reform as a massive government intrusion into citizen’s private lives. Many of those candidates won their races and are taking the fight to Washington. Come January, with veteran Georgian leadership, Obamacare will be under siege.

…Monday, more than 50 members of the conservative Republican Study Committee, led by Rep. Tom Price of Roswell, announced they plan to file a friend-of-the-court brief backing Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and leaders of 19 other states who have filed suit seeking to overturn the legislation. In the suit led by Florida, the states claim the federal government is overstepping its constitutional authority by requiring citizens to have health insurance, and also is placing a huge financial burden on the state governments.

Predictably, the Democrats are taking the opposite position.

On the other side of the argument, meanwhile, more than 70 state lawmakers from across the country — including two from Georgia — announced Monday they were filing a separate friend-of-the-court brief backing the federal health care overhaul and bucking Georgia and the other states.

State Sen. Nan Orrock and Rep. Pat Gardner, both Democrats from Atlanta, say the lawsuit by Georgia and other states is a waste of time and money. Joining them in their friend-of-the court filing backing the federal government are 69 other state lawmakers — all but one of them Democrats — from 26 states.

The American people spoke (loudly) against the government take-over of health care during the vote last year. Was there ever a time in American history that the people’s government was as openly hostile to their constituencies as last spring? Some homework is in order for the 112th Congress. James Madison said in Federalist 46,

The federal and State governments are in fact but different agents and trustees of the people, constituted with different powers, and designed for different purposes. The adversaries of the Constitution seem to have lost sight of the people altogether in their reasonings on this subject; and to have viewed these different establishments, not only as mutual rivals and enemies, but as uncontrolled by any common superior in their efforts to usurp the authorities of each other. These gentlemen must here be reminded of their error. They must be told that the ultimate authority, wherever the derivative may be found, resides in the people alone, and that it will not depend merely on the comparative ambition or address of the different governments, whether either, or which of them, will be able to enlarge its sphere of jurisdiction at the expense of the other. Truth, no less than decency, requires that the event in every case should be supposed to depend on the sentiments and sanction of their common constituents.

Now the fight to repeal/defund the monstrosity begins. Pass the popcorn.

Per the request of several commenters, we’ll open a discussion of Amendment 2.  This amendment would allow the state to tax an extra $10 every year for every car tag you buy.   Notice the word tax.  That is what this is.  You can try to call it a “fee” all day long, but it is revenue collected by state government to fund a somewhat nebulous concept of “trauma care” that is not directly related to the users who pay.  It’s a tax.

But, because most of the legislators have drank from Grover Norquist’s Kool-aid at some point, they can never vote for anything that is a tax.  Thus, the history of this legislature has been to try to make the voters tax themselves via referendums and constitutional amendments.  And, they very much prefer the term “fee” to “tax”.   Amendment two allows Georgians to tax themselves an additional $10 per year, per car.  It doesn’t sound like much, but when was the last time you left the tag office saying “Dang, that was cheap.  I just wish my tax on that car was even more!   What will I ever do with this money left over here on my birthday?”

To make the idea of citizens taxing themselves seem more palatable, the interests behind Amendment 2 are running commercials that are highly explotative of parents who have gone through the worst thing life can ever throw at them -  the loss of their child.  Yet, several of the examples of the child dying after an accident don’t appear to be cases where a “trauma center” would even be helpful if it had been located next door to the grieving parent’s home.   This sets this amendment up to fail my “If it’s ‘for the children’, it’s probably bad policy test.”

Now, let’s talk about the concept of paying “just $10 more” to fund trauma care.   For every Republican who loves to hate the City of Atlanta (let’s face it, that’s probably 3/4 of our readers), think back to when the city reduced police and fire services last year and then said they must have tax increases to restore services.  What was your reaction?  Clearly, the City of Atlanta cut essential services to cause pain on the electorate so that they would be willing to pay more taxes rather than the city finding a way to cut non-essential services.

How is that example any different than getting Georgians to vote to tax themselves an extra $10 for the essential service of trauma care, save the mechanism involved to initiate the tax increase?  I believe it is not.

The fact of the matter is, we elect our representatives to make tough choices.  Governing is hard.  Abdicating responsibility of prioritizing spending based on available revenues by punting the choice to citizens via referendum is now the go-to solution from our leaders.  Whether trauma care or transportation, SPLOSTS or LOSTS, our officials want the burden of funding needed services to come from the citizens rather than to look at cutting existing programs to fund other programs of higher priority.

Amendment 2 is a gimmick, designed to raise revenue by exploiting the fears of parents by invoking the horrible deaths of several Georgian children, as told by their parents.   The method used to build public support for this bill alone should be reason for voting no.  Sending a message to our elected leaders to actually lead, and make some tough choices instead of deferring the heavy lifting to an already overtaxed electorate should be enough of a reason to remove any remaining doubt.

I’m voting no on Amendment 2.   I expect it to pass.   And much like Super Speeder before it, I expect no significant change in Georgia’s trauma network/delivery well after the funds have been collected.  And spent.

Roy Barnes is skeptical of ObamaCare, believing that it’ll hit Georgia’s budget and taxpayers hard thanks to expansion of Medicaid:

Roy Barnes says the new federal health reform law backed by fellow Democrats could be “financially devastating” for Georgia unless officials in Washington figure out a way to help states cope with a staggering jump in Medicaid costs.

Barnes, the Democrat running to reclaim the governor’s mansion, also blasted both political parties and President Barack Obama for failing to win bipartisan support for a law more Americans could get behind.

“I consider it to be the greatest failure, modern failure, of political leadership in my lifetime,” Barnes said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

“Everybody recognized ‘we’ve got to do something here,’ but there was such partisanship on it.”

Barnes blamed Democrats for failing to explain the plan better and Republicans for not delivering reasonable alternatives. But he said ultimately the buck stops with Obama, as it did with him during his one term as governor.
[...]
Barnes said — like Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue — that he worries the plan’s expansion of Medicaid in 2014 to cover more of the state’s estimated 1.7 million uninsured will leave Georgia on the hook for “staggering costs.”

“I hate to agree with Gov. Perdue, but I agree that this is one place that I think could be very financially devastating to the state until we get this ironed out,” Barnes told The AP.

Barnes said current state Medicaid spending of roughly $2 billion could more than double to $5 billion once the federal government reduces matching rates back to more traditional levels.

Barnes also says that he would continue to legal action against the health care “reform” law, though he disagreed with it.

A federal judge today dismissed your Justice Department’s motion to dismiss Virginia’s case against Obamacare.

Georgia is part of a 20 state lawsuit using a similar defense, that the federal government does not have the constitutional power to enact many if not most of the parts of Obama’s heath care reform initiatives. The judge rules that it is an open constitutional question:

While this case raises a host of complex constitutional issues, all seem to distill to the single question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate – and tax – a citizen’s decision not to participate in interstate commerce. Neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor any circuit court of appeals has squarely addressed the issue.

If I did this correctly, you can read the decision here. For now, consider the constitutionality of Obamacare officially under review.

Over the holiday weekend, frustration from the Governor and the House at the measures the Senate had to add to the Hospital Bed Tax to secure passage began to boil over. Travis Fain has statements from both the Governor and Speaker indicating their displeasure here, noting that Ralston has ruled the Senate passed version “not germane”, thus keeping the House members from voting AGAIN for a tax hike, only to have the Governor ultimately veto the package.

The blame from both inside the Senate chamber as well as from the House and Governor appears to be pointing toward Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, who the Gov and House think may not have been dealing in good faith (or has promised something he can’t deliver). Meanwhile, there are rumblings from inside the Senate about displeasure with the Lt. Gov putting them on the hook to vote for a tax hike that many privately do not support.

Weird things tend to happen in this state after showdowns like those of last week – and during Master’s week. This one deserves some close attention. We’ll see if the “Spring Break” allows tempers to cool, or for the forces of opposition to organize.

The Club for Growth has its “Repeal It!” website up and running, taking names of those Congressmen and Congressional candidates who pledge to “sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government.”

Looking solely at Georgia’s Congressmen, as of this afternoon, Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey, Jack Kingston and Tom Price have taken the pledge. That leaves Lynn Westmoreland, Jim Marshall, and John Barrow as having voted against ObamaCare but not yet taking the pledge to fight for its repeal. No need to mention the remainder who clearly despise federalism.

While Westmoreland is more-or-less already known as being in favor or repealing the monstrosity passed earlier this month, Marshall and Barrow would be well served to show their constituents they were not just testing the political winds with their ObamaCare vote but are committed to its repeal by signing onto the pledge.

Our friends Jim Tharpe and Aaron Sheinin at the AJC have the scoop:

Gov. Sonny Perdue said Thursday he will appoint a “special attorney general” to challenge federal health care legislation signed into law this week by President Obama.

Perdue made the announcement a day after state Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Democrat running for governor, told Perdue, a Republican, he would not pursue a lawsuit.

“He’s refusing to do that and I can’t force him to do that,” Perdue said of Baker.

…

The governor said the state constitution gives him the leeway to appoint a special attorney general if the elected attorney general fails to carry out the wishes of the governor.

Click thru the link, get the rest of the details, and also see that DPG Chair Jane Kidd has submitted an open records request to the Gov’s office. You think she believes someone is playing politics here? Say it ain’t so!

Yeah, we get it.

You’re a Republican running for office (a state office) who is against Health Care Reform.

And thus, you all have a press release.

If you’re not currently elected, and you’re not currently in a place to do anything about it (i.e, being the sitting Attorney General or in a Congressional Office), it’s not news. You’re not getting a front page post.

You want your press release posted, post it below.