Posted on 06/12/2013 11:20:24 AM PDT by Smokeyblue
When last we saw Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, she was vetoing every piece of legislation the Republican controlled legislature passed until they agreed to her budget which included expanding Medicaid under ObamaCare.
Since that didn't work she's now doing an end run around the GOP majorities in the legislature to pass the state's ObamaCare plan.
Fed up with weeks of debate and delay on her top legislative priority, Gov. Jan Brewer called lawmakers into an unprecedented special session late Tuesday, bypassing the leadership of her own party to push through Medicaid expansion and the 2014 budget.
The governor’s surprise move comes after House Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, adjourned until Thursday, stalling efforts by a bipartisan House coalition to pass Brewer’s 2014 budget and Medicaid expansion.
...
State law gives Brewer the authority to call a special session whenever she chooses. The only requirement is that she specify the topics of the session and not deviate from them, said election attorney Tom Ryan.
...
At least eight to 10 House Republicans are expected to join the chamber’s 24 Democrats in support of expansion, a coalition that has been loosely organized for months.
Basically by calling the legislature into special session, Brewer is forcing them to vote on her proposals and enabling a minority of Republicans to join with the Democrats to pass ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion.
What this amounts to is what Boehner was doing for awhile to pass things a majority of his caucus doesn't support...let liberal Republicans and Democrats take charge.
Naturally Republican leaders in the state House and Senate aren't amused by Brewer's tactics.
"This evening, Governor Brewer summoned legislators to convene a special session to address the FY14 budget and Medicaid expansion. The special session was called without any consultation with Senate or House leadership, and was designed to commence at the precise moment it was conveyed. We are disappointed and stunned that the Governor and her staff would resort to such an unnecessary, impulsive and unprecedented tactic."
"Since the beginning of the session, Senate and House leadership have made the budgetary process a top priority. Additionally, the debate regarding the full implementation of Obamacare in Arizona was already fully under way. In fact, these two specific items have not only consistently been a top legislative focus, but the other essential bills of the legislature have also been moving through our respective chambers. Instead of allowing the process to proceed in an orderly manner, the Governor made the impetuous decision to intercede and collude with the democrat minority in order to force an expedited vote on her sole legislative priority of Obamacare."
"We are frustrated and bewildered by her overt hostility and disregard for the budgetary process which was already well under way. The blatant disrespect and reckless practices exhibited by this Executive are less than what was expected of her and more than should be tolerated."
Funny how "conservatives" often move left but liberals never "evolve".
Remember, it's never over until the liberals win.
0bamaDontCare
He really don’t, do he?
God I can’t wait for this to fire up in January. It’s going to be the most colossal charlie foxtrot in the history of charlie foxtrots.
The leadership of the legislature can fight back by using parliamentary tactics. Rules of order are in many ways designed to defeat such tyrannical impulses.
Question for me - undecided whether to publicly destroy my Republican registration card, drop out completely from politics, or register as an independent.
I am fortunate to have a great family and friends.
At one time I actually thought she was a principled conservative and would stand up to the administration, and she did in some ways. She has probably done more to protect him than anyone else. Didn’t the AZ legislature bring an eligibility verification bill to her that she vetoed?
Who got to her, with what, and when?
I don’t get it. Why would Jan Brewer want the Medicaid expansion? It will cost AZ a fortune.
She was most likely visited by some promenient DNC flack with a file of auto recording of phone calls, photos, websites and emails from her past.
Nah, can’t be. Our Government is to be trusted. Just ask anyone from the IRS.
It will in the long run but, short-term, there is money from the Feds.
In a nutshell, before activist Justice Roberts caved in to Obama and decided in favor of Obamacare, previous generations of justices had officially clarified that the states have never delegated to Congress, via the Constitution, the specific power to regulate, tax and spend for public healthcare purposes. This is evidenced by the following excerpts from case opinions.
"State inspection laws, health laws, and laws for regulating the internal commerce of a State, and those which respect turnpike roads, ferries, &c. are not within the power granted to Congress (emphases added)." --Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824."Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States." --Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
"Inspection laws, quarantine laws, health laws of every description (emphasis added), as well as laws for regulating the internal commerce of a state and those which respect turnpike roads, ferries, &c., are component parts of this mass." --Justice Barbour, New York v. Miln, 1837.
“Direct control of medical practice in the states is obviously (emphasis added) beyond the power of Congress.” –Linder v. United States, 1925.
Noting that one of the excerpts above from Gibbons clarifies that Congress is prohibited from laying taxes in the name of state power issues, such as public healthcare, which Congress cannot justify under its constitutional Aritcle I, Section 8-limited powers, all federal taxes that citizens are paying to support federal healthcare programs are constitutionally indefensible.
So what Gov. Brewer needs to argue is that by using Obamacare to expand Medicaid, she is helping to recover state revenues which corrupt Congress wrongly stole from Arizona taxpayers in the form of constitutionally indefensible federal taxes.
What a phony disappointment she turned out to be. Who knows what kind of threats the old gal received.
From Territorial days, Arizona had a safety net to provide healthcare to the poor. It was law that counties had that financial responsibility. It was the last state to participate in Medicaid, starting in 1982.
Poor childless adults were excluded from the state’s Medicaid program until about ten years ago, so the county “safety net” continued to provide and pay for care provided to poor childless adults. However, voters then approved two propositions to cover poor childless adults under Medicaid, and county financial responsibility for their care was eliminated with a resulting change in the law.
Two or three years ago, faced with serious budget deficits, the state essentially dropped coverage for poor childless adults despite the earlier voter approved Medicaid for them. For the first time in generations, those people had no fall back coverage if they became uninsured.
All of the above had nothing to do with “Obamacare.”
It has been a disaster for the poor with illness the past two years. The governor recognizes this and wants to restore the earlier program. The earlier program made people eligible for treatment if their income were below 100% of the federal poverty level, and that is the level that the governor wanted to restore.
Where ObamaCare comes into this picture is that it requires setting the income eligibility level at 138% of the federal poverty level instead of 100%. It is 138% or nothing, which sucks.
Arizona taxpayers will continue to pay for Medicaid services in the other states and must decide whether it will also receive the Medicaid funded services locally for poor childless adults - or - will instead pay twice by also paying higher private insurance rates (a tax on the insured) to make up the losses from doctors and hospitals as a result of no Medicaid for poor childless adults.
Overly simplistic explanations do not paint a very complete picture.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.