Socialist Union Thugs Taking Aim at McKenna

Washington AG McKenna wants to protect our Constitutional Rights here in this state, but the socialist union thugs and progressive whiners won’t tolerate THAT.  

Of course, the powerful union bosses want this healthcare scheme to be implemented under dark of night, with no opposition!  THEY’VE PILLAGED THE UNION COFFERS AND CAN’T PAY OFF THEIR MEMBERS AS PROMISED BECAUSE THEY’VE STOLEN ALL THE MONEY! And now….. THEY WANT YOU TO PAY.

And governor gargoyle says AG McKenna’s decision will cost the state too much money during this recession?  Well then, let’s discuss the overtime session her minions and sheeple have incurred as a result of their ineptness. 

Let’s discuss how her team of minions have spent this entire session in Olympia implementing cap and tax legislation, how to take our firearms away, spitting on our second amendment rights, and how to give their special interests (union thugs) more power over our government, education system and business & construction industry.  Let’s discuss the fact that they’ve done NOTHING to address jobs in the private sector.   This state lost 179,000 jobs last year in the private sector, AND WE GAINED 8,200 GOVERNMENT JOBS!  Welcome to the USSA.

Governor gargoyle and her minions have spent this entire session ramming legislation through that will destroy this state.  What the federal government has been unsuccessful in implementing on a federal level, (cap & tax, forced unionization, etc)  THEY ARE IMPLEMENTING HERE AT THE STATE LEVEL!  Most people here in WA have no idea we’re getting the royal screw right now by our “representatives” in Olympia!   All you need to do is take a look at the legislation that’s been implemented during this session to see exactly what they’ve been up to.  

And they will say “This is what the people in the state of Washington WANT!”   Well, that’s not true.  You see, they’re ONLY listening to their union thugs.   The people at HCAN, SEIU, ACORN (whichever of the over 1,000 shadow groups they’re hiding underneath today)  they’re banging down the doors of our representatives, using phone banks and well-organized assaults on our freedoms.   Meanwhile, We, The People, get the cold shoulder, SMUG FACES AND MIDDLE FINGERS.

Oh, and let’s not forget that diabolical scheme they tried to pull over in Spokane!  Proposition 4 was a socialist/progressive/union thug wet dream that would have destroyed that entire area!  Look it up.

AG McKenna deserves our STRONG support on this issue.   Please do what you can to organize rallies for his effort on our behalf here in Washington State.

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State Dems, unions go on offensive blitz against McKenna decision

As 13 states now have banded together against the recent approval of the healthcare reform signed into law today by President Obama, state Democrats and the Washington State Labor Council are sending out a blitz of releases about their thoughts on the issue.

That is, they’re not too happy.

State Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown’s office sent out an e-mail with a letter from Brown to Attorney General Rob McKenna, who has joined the other states in the lawsuit. McKenna argues that the new law violates the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as well as the Commerce Clause, most specifically in relation to the mandate the new law imposes on all Americans to obtain some form of health insurance.

In the letter, Sen. Brown calls the attorney general’s decision “immensely disappointing,” saying it was “far outside the mainstream interests of the people of Washington state.”

McKenna’s Communications Director Janelle Guthrie is out of Olympia in eastern Washington right now and said via e-mail she had to defer comment on the issues for now.

Meanwhile, the Washington State Democrats issued a press release (in total below the fold) announcing a public records request to McKenna’s office seeking any and all information pertaining to the attorney general’s decision to participate in the lawsuit. See the full public records request, right here.

Said Dems Chairman Dwight Pelz:

“The public has a right to know whether McKenna generated this idea himself or whether he is acting on behalf of the National Republican Party or the Insurance Industry.”, said Pelz. ‘We need to know more about his communication with the Southern Attorneys General and the Florida-based Republican law firm that have been hired to spearhead this effort.”

The Washington State Labor Council also called the lawsuit “partisan political showmanship on the taxpayers’ dime,” and urged him to withdraw.

McKenna doesn’t lack supporters, however.

Republican state legislators have been sending out releases of their own, including one from Sens. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, and Janea Holmquist, R-Moses Lake.

Attorney General McKenna is demonstrating leadership and courage in fighting this unconstitutional bill and joining in a multi-state lawsuit to challenge it in court,” said Holmquist, R-Moses Lake. “As elected state officials, we have sworn an oath to uphold the United States and Washington state constitutions. We have an obligation to defend the rights of the citizens of our state.”

All of the press releases are below the fold.

Here is the full release from the Washington Democrats:

Washington State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz today today filed a Public Records Request with the office of Attorney General Rob McKenna for “all documents relating in any way to your decision to join in bringing or threatening a lawsuit challenging some or all of the historic health-care legislation approved by the House of Representatives on March 21, 2010 (”Health Care Legislation”)”

“The public has a right to know whether McKenna generated this idea himself or whether he is acting on behalf of the National Republican Party or the Insurance Industry.”, said Pelz. ‘We need to know more about his communication with the Southern Attorneys General and the Florida-based Republican law firm that have been hired to spearhead this effort.”

The law firm that will work on the lawsuit for all 13 states is Baker and Hostetler of Orlando. The firm was originally retained by South Carolina, which started preparing for the lawsuit earlier, and will work on an hourly rate, not a contingency fee basis, meaning the firm will be paid whether the states win or lose.

Participating plaintiffs in the lawsuit include attorneys general from South Carolina, Florida, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington State, Idaho, and South Dakota. The suing attorneys general are Republicans except James “Buddy” Caldwell of Louisiana, who is a Democrat.

“It is particularly disturbing to see McKenna coordinating his actions with South Carolina, the state that stole the Boeing jobs.”. said Pelz.

As an example the Request calls for:

Email, telephone logs or records, notes, agendas, meeting minutes, or other documents constituting or reflecting communications between your office and any state or national Republican Party or committee (including without limitation the NRSC, NRCC, RGA) official or any person associated, affiliated with, employed by, or acting on behalf of such party or committee regarding a potential legal challenge to the Health Care Legislation or concerning the Health Care Legislation in any way.

“We are also requesting materials that project how much this legal witch hunt will cost the taxpayers.”, said Pelz. “At the end of the day we hope Rob McKenna will return to his job of protecting the consumers of Washington State.”

Here is the press release from the Washington State Labor Council:

OLYMPIA (March 23, 2010) — Decrying the lawsuit as a “partisan political showmanship on the taxpayers’ dime,” the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) has urged Republican State Attorney General Rob McKenna to withdraw his participation in a lawsuit to undermine the federal health care reform signed into law today by President Barack Obama. The WSLC is the largest labor organization in the state representing some 400,000 rank-and-file union members.

“By participating in this lawsuit, Rob McKenna is using our precious state tax dollars to advance a partisan political agenda,” said WSLC President Rick Bender. “McKenna isn’t speaking for the Governor and he isn’t speaking for the more than 1.5 million Washingtonians who will be helped by this legislation. He is forcing Washington taxpayers to finance partisan efforts originating in Florida, Texas and South Carolina that aim to maintain the status quo and help the insurance industry that profits from it. And he is aligning his personal political fortunes with the radical fringe of teabagging extremists.

“His participation in this suit without consulting with the Governor and our elected state leaders is inappropriate and we call on him to withdraw his name – and our state – from this partisan political showmanship on the taxpayers’ dime,” Bender said.

Governor Chris Gregoire has come out against the lawsuit and called it a money-losing proposition for the state at a time when our budget is in crisis. She has said that McKenna’s actions are risking our state’s future. Constitutional law experts across the country are predicting the lawsuit by McKenna and other attorneys general will fall flat and likely amount to no more than a speed bump for health care legislation. Most observers say it is a political exercise, not a legal one.

Support for President Obama’s health care legislation has been growing as people find out the benefits of the bill. A USA Today /Gallup Poll reports that since the bill passed the House of Representatives there has been a 9% jump in Americans who have a favorable view of the health care overhaul. Only four in 10 of the people surveyed describe the bill in a negative way.

McKenna says he is fighting health care reform legislation on behalf of the people of Washington, claiming that it is unconstitutional to require people to get health insurance.

Because the health reform bans insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, that requirement, which takes effect in 2016, keeps people from buying insurance only after they are sick. McKenna’s attempt to remove it undermines the foundation of reform and effectively maintains the status quo, where uninsured patients get uncompensated care from hospitals and those costs are socialized onto the rest of us. Studies by the consumer advocacy group Families USA show this “hidden health tax” increases our health care premiums an estimated 8%, or $1,017 for a family and $368 for an individual with coverage.

Many observers note that McKenna has aspirations to run for Governor in 2012 and this effort may be laying the groundwork for that campaign.

“If McKenna wants to run for Governor of this state by advocating the radical teabaggers’ agenda, I say ‘good luck with that’,” Bender said. “But do not force Washington taxpayers to finance that campaign with this partisan political lawsuit.”

Here is the release from the GOP state Senators:

OLYMPIA… State Senators Janéa Holmquist and Val Stevens today vowed to continue their fight to defend Washingtonians from the federal health care measure signed today by President Obama. They also applauded the efforts of Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and attorneys general – including one Democrat – in at least 13 other states for joining in a lawsuit to protect people and employers from being forced to purchase insurance under the new law.

“Attorney General McKenna is demonstrating leadership and courage in fighting this unconstitutional bill and joining in a multi-state lawsuit to challenge it in court,” said Holmquist, R-Moses Lake. “As elected state officials, we have sworn an oath to uphold the United States and Washington state constitutions. We have an obligation to defend the rights of the citizens of our state.”

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that any powers not specifically granted to the federal government, nor prohibited by the Constitution to the states, are reserved for the states and the people. Nowhere in the Constitution is the federal government given the authority to compel private citizens to purchase something as a condition of citizenship, including health care coverage.

“It is the attorney general’s job to defend the Constitution and the Tenth Amendment,” said Stevens, R-Arlington. “He doesn’t need the governor’s approval to do that. It’s simply the right thing to do. Besides, I don’t recall that Governor Gregoire, when she was attorney general, had to consult the governor before joining other states’ attorneys general in the tobacco lawsuit.”

Legislators introduced measures to protect Washingtonians

Holmquist and Stevens have introduced legislation to guarantee Washingtonians protection against President Obama’s nationalized health care plan. Known as the Washington State Health Care Freedom Act of 2010, Senate Bill 6535 would protect employers and workers who refuse to participate in nationalized healthcare from possible fines and penalties. The bill would also make null and void in Washington any federal law, rule, order or other act by the federal government violating the provisions of the bill.

This measure is the companion bill to House Bill 2669 sponsored by Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, Rep. Matt Shea, R-Spokane Valley, and Rep. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake.

Senate Joint Memorial 8220, a state constitutional amendment sponsored by Stevens, would put these same protections into the Washington State Constitution, via a vote of the people

“I am concerned about this very serious threat to the freedom of Washington state citizens,” Stevens said. “Our best hope is our Tenth Amendment protections. With a strong states’ rights platform in our state Constitution, we can keep the freedom to control our lives. Without it, we’re at the mercy of whatever administration is in power at the moment.”

Holmquist, a co-sponsor of SJM 8220, agrees.

“When the federal government exceeds its constitutional authority, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy,” Holmquist said. “Without that remedy, the people would be forced to live under the unlawful and excessive control of the federal government.

“There is nothing to stop the Legislature from responding to this unprecedented move by Congress. This special session is costing taxpayers close to 14,000 dollars a day, and has produced very little to show for it. We are already here. We should vote on these measures immediately and do something this special session to protect the rights of our citizens.”

Read more: http://blogs.bellinghamherald.com/politics/national/state-dems-unions-go-on-offensive-blitz-against-mckenna-decision/#ixzz0j6vbw86S

Read more: http://blogs.bellinghamherald.com/politics/national/state-dems-unions-go-on-offensive-blitz-against-mckenna-decision/#ixzz0j6vc8zPz