FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 8, 2011 |
CONTACT: Kevin McVicker
Shirley and Banister Public Affairs
(703) 739-5920/(800) 536-5920
kmcvicker@sbpublicaffairs.com |
4th CIRCUIT WRONG, CUCCINELLI RIGHT
ALEXANDRIA, VA – Citizens for the Republic Executive Vice President Bill Pascoe – responding to the ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the challenges brought by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Liberty University to the constitutionality of ObamaCare's individual mandate – today issued the following statement:
"The 4th Circuit got it wrong today, choosing to hide behind procedural gobbledygook instead of dealing with the heart of the challenges. But, given that Democratic Presidents appointed all three judges who ruled – and Barack Obama himself, in fact, appointed two of them – a pro-Obama ruling from them isn't a surprise at all.
"For the judges to dismiss the case brought by the state of Virginia, they determined that Virginia had no ‘standing' to challenge the central provision of ObamaCare – even though a Virginia state law enacted before passage of the federal law specifically exempts the 8 million residents of the state from that provision in the federal law. If a conflict between state law and federal law doesn't provide ‘standing,' we don't know what does.
"To dismiss the case brought by Liberty University, the judges ruled that the challenge was brought too soon, because the ‘tax' that was being challenged hadn't yet gone into effect. But Barack Obama himself told an ABC interviewer in 2009 that the fines related to not purchasing health insurance were NOT a ‘tax.' If the principal proponent of the law believes that the fines are not a tax, it makes no sense for judges to rule otherwise.
"This ruling is wrong, and should be overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States."
To see President Obama explaining that the individual mandate and its associated fines are not a tax, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL7ak__MGyw