Evan Smith: Health-care suit is misguided
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Analysis/ Evan Smith
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna’s joining other states in a suit to stop the health-care-reform bill seems strange both as a legal action and as a political move.
McKenna is a smart lawyer, who certainly knows that the claims in the suit fly in the face of generations of Supreme Court decisions. McKenna probably learned in a basic constitutional-law class that courts consistently have given an expansive interpretation of the Congressional power to regulate interstate commerce.
Congress has used the commerce clause to pass civil-rights laws, Medicare and a host of other laws, justified as having at least an indirect effect on interstate commerce.
All of the law professors on a recent University of Washington panel said that the suit has no constitutional merit.
From a political perspective, the move could hurt McKenna’s chances to win an election for governor or even to win re-election as attorney general. Joining the suit is counter to his image as a moderate, independent Republican.
McKenna has often defied his party as when he personally argued the State's position in favor of the top-two- primary before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The State Republican Party has tolerated McKenna because he is one of only two Republican statewide elected officials.
Two Democratic legislators told me last week that McKenna now sees a need to appeal to the conservative Republican base.
Still, it seems more important to appeal to moderate voters.
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna’s joining other states in a suit to stop the health-care-reform bill seems strange both as a legal action and as a political move.
McKenna is a smart lawyer, who certainly knows that the claims in the suit fly in the face of generations of Supreme Court decisions. McKenna probably learned in a basic constitutional-law class that courts consistently have given an expansive interpretation of the Congressional power to regulate interstate commerce.
Congress has used the commerce clause to pass civil-rights laws, Medicare and a host of other laws, justified as having at least an indirect effect on interstate commerce.
All of the law professors on a recent University of Washington panel said that the suit has no constitutional merit.
From a political perspective, the move could hurt McKenna’s chances to win an election for governor or even to win re-election as attorney general. Joining the suit is counter to his image as a moderate, independent Republican.
McKenna has often defied his party as when he personally argued the State's position in favor of the top-two- primary before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The State Republican Party has tolerated McKenna because he is one of only two Republican statewide elected officials.
Two Democratic legislators told me last week that McKenna now sees a need to appeal to the conservative Republican base.
Still, it seems more important to appeal to moderate voters.
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