PA Attorney General challenges constitutionality of health plan

Attorney General Tom Corbett plans to join in a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of the federal health care overhaul President Obama will sign into law.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett plans to join in a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of the federal health care overhaul plan President Obama will sign into law. [audio:100322SDHEALTH.mp3]

Republican governors and attorneys general from at least ten states are putting together a lawsuit challenging the legality of the health care bill, a measure President Obama says will provide coverage for more than 32 million uninsured Americans.

Corbett’s office says Pennsylvania will join in the suit.

Several state Republican lawmakers are pushing for a constitutional amendment or bill to nullify the health care legislation’s insurance mandates within Pennsylvania.

Governor Ed Rendell says those efforts are a waste of time.

Rendell:
Idaho can’t have its own passport system. Idaho can’t have its own immigration rules. There can’t be different immigration rules in California and Arizona. Once the federal government acts in an area, they act for all of us. That’s the federal supremacy clause. So it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money, and it is nothing more than political grandstanding.

Corbett is running for governor in the Republican primary, where state Representative Sam Rohrer is challenging him from the right.

His office did not respond to calls for comment.