TPMDC Ken Cuccinelli
Health Care
Fourth Circuit Court Throws Out Lawsuit Against Affordable Care Act
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a challenge to President Obama's signature health law on Thursday, deciding that the plaintiffs in the case didn't have standing to contest the legislation.
The three-judge panel determined that a lawsuit by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and challenging the health care law's individual mandate should be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. In a separate ruling, the majority determined that a separate lawsuit by Jerry Falwell's Liberty University should not proceed as well. In previous hearings, judges had expressed skepticism that Virginia had the standing to challenge the mandate section of the bill given that it applied to individuals and not state institutions.
Topics: Barack Obama, Health Care, Ken Cuccinelli, Supreme Court
Ken Cuccinelli
Senator Ken Cuccinelli? The Plan May Be In The Works
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
Tea party mega-star and Virgina Attorney General Ken Cucinelli may be planning to bring his climate change scientist-suing, LGBT worker rights-scrapping and health care law-challenging ways to the United States Senate.
In a new interview with the Washington Post, Cucinelli says he's considering taking on Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) in 2014.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2014 elections, Ken Cuccinelli, Mark Warner, VA-Sen
Health Care
Luck Of The Draw? Dem-Friendly Panel To Hear Health Care Lawsuit Challenges
President Barack Obama
The Obama administration has lucked out in Virginia. A three-judge panel of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will hear arguments Tuesday morning from plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of the health care reform law Congress passed law last year. And all three of those judges -- selected randomly by computer -- were appointed by Democratic Presidents.
The political composition of the panel is crucial -- thus far, in lower court rulings, judges appointed by Democrats have all upheld the law while Republican-appointed judges have stricken parts, or all of the law on constitutional grounds.
This was by no means a likely outcome. Though the conservative-leaning court has become more liberal since Obama took office, the odds of drawing an all-Dem panel are still quite low -- about 20 percent.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Health Care, Health Care Implementation, Health Care Repeal, Health care lawsuits, Ken Cuccinelli, Repealing health care, White House
Health Care
Supreme Court Denies Health Care Opponents' Fast Track Request
VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
The Supreme Court has decided not to make history by bumping Virginia's crusade against the new national health care law to the front of the legal line.
The ruling -- denying a request from Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to "fast track" appeals of his state's lawsuit calling the health care law's insurance mandate unconstitutional -- is not unusual, but it does mean opponents of the law will have to wait their turn before getting a chance to kill the law in the nation's highest court.
Had Cuccinelli gotten his way, federal appeals of the lawsuit, which succeeded at the district level, would have gone straight to the Supreme Court. But as the AP reports, that was a long-shot bet:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Health Care, Ken Cuccinelli, Supreme Court
Health Care
Virginia Agrees To Implement Key Provision In Health Care Law
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, (third from left), Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (center), Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (third from right) and others observe a moment of silence
Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli wants the Supreme Court to declare "Obamacare" unconstitutional. But in the meantime, the rest of the state's government is moving right along to get the law implemented.
By a vote of 95-3, the Virginia General Assembly agreed to develop health insurance exchanges states, which each state will be required to have by 2014 under the Affordable Care Act.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Health Care, Health Care Implementation, Health care lawsuits, Individual Mandate, Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia
Health Care
Obama Administration Opposes Expedited SCOTUS Ruling On Health Law
The Obama Administration wants to bide its time on its legal defense of health care reform. In a statement to reporters Thursday morning, spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler says the Department of Justice is opposed to calls -- by Republicans and some Democrats -- for an expedited Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the health care law's individual mandate.
"The Department continues to believe this case should follow the ordinary course of allowing the court of appeals to hear it first so the issues and arguments concerning the Affordable Care Act can be fully developed before the Supreme Court decides whether to consider it," she says.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Bill Nelson, Department of Justice, Health Care, Health care lawsuits, Henry E. Hudson, Henry Hudson, Ken Cuccinelli, Republicans, Roger Vinson, Supreme Court
Health Care
After Court Ruling, Virginia Health Secretary Gives Reform The Thumbs Up
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, (third from left), Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (center), Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (third from right) and others observe a moment of silence
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is still taking victory laps (and raising money) after posing the first successful court challenge to the new health care reform law. But just one day after the verdict came down, a state panel appointed by his own governor, Bob McDonnell found that "health reform is worth doing" and urged swift implementation of the bill, even as legal challenges against it proceed.
Buried deep within the report is a caveat about the importance of the insurance mandate, which Cuccinelli is fighting on Constitutional grounds.
"[T]he insurance reforms scheduled to go into effect in 2014 - especially guaranteed issue (insurers must sell to all comers) and modified community rating (no differential rating by health status) - would make adverse selection a much greater risk if there is no mandate or if the mandate is ineffectual," a draft of the report reads. "Given the lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate, as well as the controversy over the weak mandate penalty if it does remain in place, the likelihood of national reform legislation changing between now and 2014 is relatively high."
The panel is chaired by Virginia's Secretary of Health and Human Resources Bill Hazel, whom McDonnell appointed earlier this year. I guess that means Virginia's official position on health care reform is that it's an unconstitutional threat to our liberty, but if the courts don't throw out our Quixotic court challenge, by God, we'll take it! Sic Semper Tyrranis.
[H/T: Kaiser Health News]
Topics: Bob McDonnell, Health Care, Health Care Implementation, Health care lawsuits, Individual Mandate, Ken Cuccinelli
Health Care
DOJ Will Appeal Health Care Lawsuit, Says It Shouldn't Be Fast Tracked
Attorney General Eric Holder
The Justice Department said Tuesday that they'll appeal a federal judge's ruling that the individual mandate contained in the health care law is unconstitutional and said the case shouldn't head straight for the Supreme Court.
"We intend to appeal the district court's ruling in Virginia to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals," Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler told TPM in a statement.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bob McDonnell, Health Care, Health care lawsuits, Henry E. Hudson, Henry Hudson, Justice Department, Ken Cuccinelli
Health Care
Amateur Hour: VA Judge Makes Elementary Error In Health Care Ruling
Federal judge Henry Hudson at a court in Richmond, Va., 2010.
The Virginia federal district court judge who ruled yesterday that the individual mandate in the health care bill is unconstitutional is catching a lot of flack -- and not just for having a financial interest in an anti-health care reform consulting firm.
Legal experts are attacking Judge Henry Hudson's decision on the merits, citing an elementary logical flaw at the heart of his opinion. And that has conservative scholars -- even ones sympathetic to the idea that the mandate is unconstitutional -- prepared to see Hudson's decision thrown out.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Constitution, Health Care, Health Care Implementation, Henry Hudson, Ken Cuccinelli, Repealing health care
Ken Cuccinelli
Cuccinelli Takes Health Care Suit Victory Lap (VIDEO)
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli claimed victory against the federal government in the wake of a federal judge's ruling that the individual mandate in the health care reform law signed by President Barack Obama earlier this year is unconstitutional.
"We won the first round in this particular fight, but we know there are others to come," Cuccinelli told reporters in a news conference Monday afternoon.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama, Health Care, Health care lawsuits, Henry E. Hudson, Ken Cuccinelli
Health Care
Federal Judge In Va. Rules Part Of Health Care Law Unconstitutional
VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
A federal judge in Virginia ruled Monday that the individual mandate contained in the health care law passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama this year is unconstitutional.
Judge Henry E. Hudson found in favor of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who brought this suit separately from the other state attorney generals suing the federal government over the law. Hudson was the first judge to rule against the law. Two other judges ruled in favor of the law, bringing the Obama administration's record thus far to 2-1. At least 13 other suits against the health care law have been dismissed on jurisdiction or standing issues.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama, Health Care, Health care lawsuits, Henry E. Hudson, Ken Cuccinelli, Repealing health care, Republicans
Health Care
The Courts Divided: How Health Care Lawsuits Have Exposed A Partisan Judiciary
When the health care law passed earlier this year, Democrats and Republicans had already been bickering for months over one of the central provisions of the legislation: the individual mandate. Can Congress, under the Constitution's commerce clause, compel people to purchase health insurance? The fight was just one of many health care-related disagreements that have divided conservatives and liberals since the issue took center stage, but it's the one major aspect of the new policy that gave Republicans an opening to take the Affordable Care Act to court.
Normally, a lawsuit challenging the scope of Congress' power under the commerce clause would be open and shut -- it's been a perennial loser for plaintiffs going back decades. But in that time, the court has moved to the right, and become more partisan. And the early rulings in these health care lawsuits indicate what Republicans knew all too well -- that Republican-appointed judges will be as sympathetic to their arguments as Democrat-appointed judges will be opposed. And that could presage several major victories for conservative foes of the health care law as their challenges make their way toward the Republican-leaning Supreme Court.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Constitution, Health Care, Health Care Implementation, Individual Mandate, Insurance, Ken Cuccinelli, Repealing health care
Health Care
An Error By Dems May Allow The Lawsuit Against Health Care Reform To Succeed
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, (third from left), Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (center), Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (third from right) and others observe a moment of silence
Conservative foes of the Affordable Care Act want the federal courts to smother the new health care law in its crib. They've argued that Democrats failed to erect the proper safeguards to protect the legislation from being stricken down entirely by the courts. And when a Virginia district court judge rules in the coming days on the Constitutionality of the law's insurance mandate, he'll also have to decide whether none, some, or all of the law must go with it.
The obscure term of art here is "severability".
Quite often, legislators include what's known as a "severability clause" in their bills. These are meant to protect the bulk of a law in the event that a small portion of it is determined to be unconstitutional. That small portion must go, or be changed, but pretty much everything else is allowed to stand.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama, Bob McDonnell, Constitution, Health Care, Health Care Implementation, Health care lawsuits, John Roberts, Ken Cuccinelli, Supreme Court, Tea Party
VA-SEN
PPP Poll: Dem Jim Webb Leads Potential Virginia Senate Challengers
Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA)
A new Public Policy Polling (D) survey shows Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) with an early lead in his possible 2012 re-election bid. This comes on the heels of numbers showing President Obama leading the top 2012 Republican presidential contenders in Virginia.
And if former Gov. Tim Kaine was the Democrats' Senate nominee in Virginia? He's ahead of prominent Virginia Republicans, too.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012 elections, George Allen, Jim Webb, Ken Cuccinelli, Tim Kaine, Tom Perriello, VA-SEN
Health Care
TPM's Guide To The Major Health Care Reform Lawsuits
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and the Virginia state seal
At the end of last week, a U.S. district court judge in Detroit issued the first ruling on the merits of health care reform, finding that one of the law's key provisions -- the insurance mandate -- meets constitutional muster.
The news heartened the law's supporters and the Obama administration, which will have to defend the law in a number of cases including -- most famously, in a federal challenge brought by nearly two dozen states across the country. The constitutional challenges to the health care reform law fall generally into two categories. In the first, states claim that their own laws trump the federal law -- an argument that legal experts consider to be almost a sure loser. The second argument is that the insurance mandate exceeds the power given to Congress in the Commerce Clause. That argument is less radical than the first, but is rooted in contemporary conservative legal philosophy that courts have occasionally validated in recent years, albeit under limited circumstances.
The wheels of justice are turning in several cases already, and it can be difficult to keep track of them all. Here are the basics.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Constitution, Eric Holder, Health Care, Health Care Implementation, Health care lawsuits, Kathleen Sebelius, Ken Cuccinelli, Repealing health care, Timothy Geithner
Repealing health care
Cuccinelli: 'I'm Becoming A Target' (VIDEO)
ken cuccinelli
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli today spoke candidly about already preparing for a reelection bid in 2013, saying that he knows his office's challenge to the Obama administration is attracting national attention.
In an interview on MSNBC's Daily Rundown this morning, Cuccinelli (R) said the lawsuits against environmental regulations and health care reform and a ruling that police can check immigration status means he's getting on the radar.
"I'm not a fool, I'm becoming a target, and I know I'm going to get a bigger target," he said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2009 elections, Health Care, Health care lawsuits, Ken Cuccinelli, Repealing health care, Virginia
Immigration
Cuccinelli Defends New Immigration Ruling: 'Pretty Ordinary' (VIDEO)
Ken Cuccinelli
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) says his ruling that police can ask the immigration status of people pulled over for routine stops is nothing out of the norm. As TPM detailed yesterday, Cuccinelli is standing with Arizona, telling a state lawmaker in a letter that police have the authority to check immigration status.
He was asked about it last night on Fox News, and said the immigration issue has "blossomed again" in the wake of Arizona's law, which he supported.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Arizona, Immigration, Ken Cuccinelli
Birther
Know Your Republican Birthers: Which Pols Have Dipped A Toe In The Birther Pool?
For as long as there have been birthers, there have been politicians jumping on the birther bandwagon. And for as long as there have been politicians jumping on the birther bandwagon, there have been politicians who casually lean up against the birther bandwagon but run away before anyone sees them.
Here's TPM's roundup of politicians who have proven to be, for lack of a better term, birther-curious, before having to back things up a bit...
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Birther, David Vitter, J.D. Hayworth, James Inhofe, Ken Cuccinelli, Nathan Deal, Patrick McHenry, Roy Blunt, Trent Franks
Ken Cuccinelli
Virginia AG Cuccinelli: 'A Tea Partier Before There Was A Tea Party'
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
When Ken Cuccinelli ran last year to be attorney general of Virginia, he made no effort to hide his strident conservatism.
Cuccinelli made the Gadsden Flag -- which, with its "Don't Tread On Me" message, has lately been adopted by Tea Partiers -- an official symbol of his campaign. He told a crowd he was thinking of not registering his son for a social security number because "it is being used to track you." He even seemed to flirt with Birtherism. "Ken was a tea partier before there was a Tea Party," one Virginia Republican told the New York Times recently.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bob McDonnell, Gay Rights, Health Care, Ken Cuccinelli, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, Tenthers
Health care lawsuits
Getting Wacky Out There -- Health Care Lawsuits Spark Calls For Impeachment And Twitter Throwdowns
Clockwise: Michigan AG Mike Cox (R), Georgia AG Thurbert Baker (D), South Carolina AG Andre Bauer (R), Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) and Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli (R)
Passing health care reform may have sometimes seemed like a circus. The shenanigans surrounding lawsuits attempting to declare it unconstitutional are starting to look like the sideshow.
Lawsuits are popping up in 15 states, dividing top officials and creating confusion among citizens who want to know how their Medicaid may change. But they also have thrust attorneys general seeking higher office and national notoriety into the spotlight. There have been calls for a Constitutional convention, impeachment and even Twitter throwdowns.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox (R) tweeted last night that Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) was wrong that he was backing down from the lawsuit.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: 2010 elections, Andre Bauer, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ed Rendell, Health care lawsuits, Jennifer Granholm, Jim Gibbons, Ken Cuccinelli, Mike Cox, Repealing health care, Thurbert Baker, Tom Corbett
Health care lawsuits
Health Care Lawsuits Splitting Govs And AGs Nationwide
Clockwise, from top left: Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), Gov. Chris Gregoire (D-WA), Attorney General Bill McCollum (R-FL), Attorney General Tom Corbett (R-PA), Attorney General Rob McKenna (R-WA), Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO) and a copy of the health care bill
Lawsuits challenging health care reform have popped up in several states and are drawn nearly entirely on partisan lines, in some cases fracturing top state government officials where the governor is a Democrat and attorney general is a Republican who joined the legal challenge. In Missouri, Lt. Gov Peter Kinder (R) so badly wanted to be part of the lawsuit that he bucked his Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon and the attorney general to say he'll be joining the other attorneys general on his own.
There are a handful of other splits across the country -- Michigan, Washington state, Pennsylvania and Colorado -- which create a tough political climate for anyone attempting to get something done at the state level. Louisiana is the one bipartisan example, with Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell (D) agreeing to join the lawsuit.
The legal challenge has been the latest trend among Republicans, with GOPers trying to one-up each other on the question of whether health care should be repealed, deemed unconstitutional, or left alone. It's become a litmus test for conservatives.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: AL-GOV, Bob McDonnell, CO-GOV, FL-GOV, Health Care, Health care lawsuits, ID-GOV, Ken Cuccinelli, MI-GOV, PA-GOV, TX-GOV, VA-GOV
Health Care
GOP Hopefuls Use Health Care Repeal -- And Court Challenges -- To Establish Conservative Cred
Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-M), Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), and Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN)
We can add a new item to the list of Republican litmus tests that has included taxes, abortion, guns and gays: How staunchly do you support repeal of health care reform? If you're a Republican seeking higher office, this is indeed an important question.
It has become clear that the stronger somebody opposes the health care bill, the better one's chances are for political advancement as a Republican. The GOP leadership has thus far adopted "repeal and replace" as their mantra, which will likely be the standard line throughout the election. (Just how much of it would be repealed, and what would replace it, is still not quite so clear.) In addition, challenging its very constitutionality is another way to burnish one's conservative credentials with the party's base even more.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, 2012 elections, Bill McCollum, Charlie Crist, FL-GOV, FL-SEN, Greg Abbott, Health Care, Henry McMaster, Ken Cuccinelli, MI-GOV, Marco Rubio, Mike Cox, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, PA-GOV, SC-GOV, Tim Pawlenty, Tom Corbett
Health Care
Cuccinelli: I'll File Lawsuit Against Health Care Bill Right After It's Signed (VIDEO)
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli appeared last night on Greta Van Susteren's show on Fox News, and declared that he will file a lawsuit against the federal health care bill as soon as it is signed into law, an event that is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. ET today.
"We'll be in court tomorrow [Tuesday]," said Cuccinelli. "We'll file in the eastern district of Virginia, the Richmond division, in the 'rocket docket.' And we'll be off to the courts to question the constitutionality of the individual mandate in particular."
He affirmed that the briefs are already written, and ready to be filed.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Health Care, Ken Cuccinelli
Health Care
Virginia AG To Sue Feds Over Health Care Reform
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
The attorney general of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli, will file a lawsuit against the federal government should health care reform legislation be signed into law, his spokesman confirms to TPMDC.
The spokesman did not give details on what grounds Cuccinelli plans to challenge the law.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Health Care, Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia
Birther
Cuccinelli: 'I Absolutely Believe That President Obama Was Born In The United States'
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA) who was caught on an audio recording discussing possible Birther legal strategies against President Obama, has now released a statement that he does in fact believe Obama was born in the United States, and was just giving a hypothetical answer to a question about it.
"I absolutely believe that President Obama was born in the United States. I don't buy into the claims that he wasn't. On the recording, I was asked a hypothetical legal question, and I gave a hypothetical legal answer in response," Cuccinelli said in a press release this afternoon. "As I said previously, this issue was not a part of my campaign, and it is not part of what I am doing now as attorney general."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Birther, Ken Cuccinelli
Birther
Virginia's GOP Attorney General Dabbles In Birtherism, Games Out Possible Legal Challenges (AUDIO)
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
Ken Cuccinelli, the ultra-conservative Republican attorney general of Virginia, has apparently dabbled in Birtherism, having explored the topic with a person who asked him about it, in an audio segment that has just been posted online.
An unidentified man can be heard asking another man -- who does sound like Cuccinelli, based on comparisons with definite clips of Cuccinelli that can be found on YouTube -- what he might do as attorney general to take on the birth certificate issue. "Well, only if there is a conflict where we are suing the federal government for a law they've passed. So it's possible," said Cuccinelli.
Ben Tribbett, host of the Not Larry Sabato blog that posted the video, declined to identify the original source of the audio, but told us his understanding is that it was recorded after Cuccinelli's election and before his swearing-in -- that is, between early-November 2009 and mid-January 2010.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Birther, Ken Cuccinelli
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