Rick Perry 1, Obama 0

by Bernie Quigley

for The HIll on 3/1/11

. . . states rights, states rights, states rights . . . ! – Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, at the first Tea Party event on April 15, 2009

To put it simply, the most astonishing thing that has happened these past two years is that the states have suddenly seen, as if through a glass darkly, that they do not have to do what the federal government tells them to do. Consider the consequences. The idea seemed incomprehensible when it was first presented up here in northern New England five years ago. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s truly shocked comment when she was told she couldn’t just do anything she wanted was, “Are you serious? Are you serious?” Today, the Supreme Court faces state sovereignty challenges which promise to shake the nation.

If the Supreme Court upholds a lower judge’s ruling which allows gay marriage after the state has clearly indicated its collective will in opposition in a referendum, it will bring an existential situation to California. Five years ago it might have gone unnoticed. Today such a ruling would prove to Californians that their plight via Washington is no better than that of Tibet, dominated by alien and arbitrary rule by foreigners thousands of miles away.

37 states at first initated challenges to ObamaCare and the Obama bailouts when the Tea Party arose as a movement on April 15, 2009. The lower courts rulings have been clearly politicized. These states, most of which are in proximity to one another, will not accept a Supreme Court ruling in opposition to their view and will likewise see the federal government reaching into realms where it has no right to be. A Supreme Court ruling on the states challenge to ObamaCare could potentially open to a legitimate revolutionary situation.

So the President has backed down. “Obama backtracks on health mandate, wants opt-out from start,” reads The Hill headline. President Obama backed a significant change to the healthcare reform law for the first time Monday, supporting a plan that could delay implementation of the unpopular mandate to buy insurance.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Obama’s change of position “makes the case” that Republicans have made against the entire law.

Rick Perry 1, Obama 0.