
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
Texas
- Utah
- Washington

The bad news for the President and congressional leaders is that conservatives have big mo on our side. Weve seen a groundswell of grassroots activists who are driving anti-Obamacare initiatives in the states and who are motivated to elect conservative candidates who will continue that legacy."
And more states will likely join the effort soon. For example several state legislatures did not meet this year and so couldnt introduce or pass the legislation. But lawmakers in Texas Montana and Utah have indicated their intent to introduce the legislation when their state legislatures meet next year.
In Colorado the Independence Institute a conservative think tank is leading a ballot initiative so that citizens can vote on whether or not to fight Obamacare since the Democratic-controlled statehouse wont do it.
Some states are part of both efforts challenging the constitutionality of the health insurance mandate and attempting to pass the Freedom of Choice Act an overlap that actually enhances the fight. The Freedom of Choice in Healthcare Act puts the weight of a states legislature and citizens behind the effort not just one elected official as in the lawsuit.Democrats cannot argue that the public supports Obamacare when the large majority of states are doing so much to fight it.

States by contrast are already taking the lead.
Initially Democrats and the media dismissed the states responses as silly and doomed to defeat. But several constitutional scholars have weighed in and it is clear that Obamacare raises serious constitutional issues.
As Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in Printz v. New York:The federal government may neither issue directives requiring the states to address particular problems nor command the states officers or those of their political subdivisions to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program. It matters not whether policymaking is involved and no case-by-case weighing of the burdens or benefits is necessary. Such commands are fundamentally incompatible with our constitutional system of dual sovereignty."
Legal experts indicate that the widespread opposition at the state level greatly strengthens the chance the Supreme Court will hear the case and decide in favor of freedom and a constitutionally limited government. Declaring the individual mandate unconstitutional would have a significant negative impact on Obamacare.
It might not kill the beast but it would be severely wounded.
More importantly it may force Congress and the Obama Administration to reconsider whether the Constitution the states or the public will accept their power-grab unchecked.
Mr. Matthews Jr. Ph.D. is a resident scholar for the Institute for Policy Innovation. |