Apparently sensing a 'democratic win' on health care reform, the GOP is now targeting the application of NO on a state level.
From Yahoo (Associated Press):
Lawmakers in eight states, only half of which are controlled entirely by Republicans, have filed proposals this year to ask voters to amend state constitutions to prohibit what they bill as restrictions on a person's freedom to choose a private health care plan, mandatory participation in any given plan and penalties for declining coverage. Similar measures were considered in two other states, though they wouldn't have been decided by voters. And lawmakers in three other states say they plan to file similar ballot proposals in the coming months.
Last week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate, said that federal health care proposals will step on states' rights and there needs to be a discussion about whether aspects of it are constitutional.
"The larger issue and the more important issue is for state policymakers to remind the federal government that there is a proper role for states, there is a proper role for the federal government and we should be mindful of those boundaries," he said.
So it appears the GOP is so interested in making health care reform fail, they are using the Karl Rove-wedge issue-boiler plate, and attempting to get conservatives out to vote on election day by drafting state constitutional amendments to undermine/defeat health care reform.
I am not surprised that the GOP will do whatever shameless acts it can in an attempt to make itself relevant in the next election. But if this desperate, bullshit maneuver works, I can only believe we have gone one step forward and two steps back. If health care for Americans is a wedge issue, then what on Earth does that say about America? If 'resisting the black president' is more important than securing America's future, then we as a nation deserve to fail.
Please someone tap me on the shoulder and tell me this will not work for the GOP. Please.
Read the article here.