Free Republic

Six more states are joining Florida’s federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of health care reform. With the addition of Iowa, Ohio, Kansas, Wyoming, Wisconsin and Maine, 26 states are now challenging the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March. That same month, then-Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum filed the original federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Treasury and the U.S. Department of Labor. The National Federation of Independent Business joined the legal challenge in May. “It sends a strong message that more...

U.S. Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donohue said Tuesday that his organization supports Republican legislation in the House to repeal President Obama’s health care reform law, but signaled that the powerful business lobby won’t employ the same scorched-earth tactics it used last year to try to kill reform. “Last year, while strongly advocating for health care reform, the Chamber was a leader in the fight against this particular bill and thus we support legislation in the House to repeal it,” Donohue said during a speech on the state of American business. “We see the upcoming House vote, however, as an...

Top Senate Democrats are warning House Speaker-elect John Boehner they'll block any Republican effort to repeal President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Citing better Medicare prescription coverage and other changes in the new law, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his top lieutenants say the overhaul "is too important to be treated as collateral damage in a partisan mission to repeal health care." The letter says repeal would have "unintended consequences" for the part of the law that gradually closes the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap, as well as for other popular consumer benefits. Also signing the letter are Sens....

The chairmen of President Obama’s fiscal commission are calling for a second look at a robust government-run healthcare program, which Congress shelved last year following acrimonious debate. Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), the chairmen of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, suggested reviving the public option in the future if healthcare costs continue to soar. They made the suggestion in a 50-page co-chairmen’s proposal released to reporters on Wednesday. It is one of many ideas for controlling the federal deficit that is likely to spark heated debate in...