STATE BILL COLORADO
President Barack Obama this morning signed comprehensive health reform into law. Here’s how Colorado news organizations covered Colorado Attorney General John Suthers’ promise to join a lawsuit over the legislation.
Associated Press: Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is joining a national lawsuit to try to block federal health care legislation — over the objections of Gov. Bill Ritter and the Democrats who control the state Legislature. Suthers said Monday he would join fellow Republican attorneys general in at least nine other states in opposing the bill because he thinks a provision requiring most Americans to purchase insurance is an unconstitutional expansion of federal power. Congress has the right to control interstate commerce but can’t force people to participate in commerce, he said.
KDVR: Suthers, a Republican up for reelection in November, announced Monday afternoon that he was adding Colorado to the list of states joining in a lawsuit to block the federal health care legislation. Suthers and other Republicans argue that the federal government has no right to force Americans to buy health insurance or face a fine.
The Denver Post: So far, all of the attorneys general challenging the bill — which President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law today — are Republicans. But Suthers said the legal action isn’t about politics, saying the new health care bill “has serious ramifications for states’ rights and individual freedoms.”
Denver Daily News: Republican Attorney General John Suthers at an afternoon news conference yesterday announced plans to join with other states in a lawsuit to exempt Colorado from provisions in the sweeping health care overhaul. The lawsuit alleges that Congress does not have the authority to regulate interstate commerce that would force consumers to carry health insurance.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: Colorado will join nine other states in a legal attack on just-passed heath care legislation, questioning the constitutionality of the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance. Congress can’t simply force individuals to purchase a product or service because it’s convenient, Attorney General John Suthers said.
Denver Business Journal: In requiring that Americans buy a product — health insurance — rather than just regulating the sale of products, the “Patient Protection and Health Care Affordability Act,” passed by the U.S. House of Representatives late Sunday, sets a new precedent, Suthers said.
The Colorado Independent: U.S. Senate candidate Jane Norton is feeling heat again on the right Monday. Although health care reform legislation passed Sunday, the battle against it continues around the country and in Colorado. Attorney General John Suthers today joined a lawsuit targeting the health bill on Constitutional grounds and local right bloggers are pressing for Norton to pledge to work to repeal the bill should Coloradans send her to Washington.
