OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma leaders reacted positively to news that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the challenge by small businesses and 26 states to President Obama’s unconstitutional health care law during the current term. It has been reported that a decision could likely be issue by the court next June, in the middle of the presidential campaign where the national health care law will be a major issue.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin released the following statement yesterday on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA):
“President Obama’s health care law is unconstitutional and unaffordable. Not only will it limit choice and undermine the quality of American health care, it stands to cost the state of Oklahoma about half a billion dollars in the process.
“Our citizens have already passed a constitutional amendment blocking its implementation in Oklahoma, and it’s clear that a majority of states are similarly opposed to the mandates, new taxes, and out-of-control spending proposed in the law.
“The Supreme Court should strike down the president’s health care reform as unconstitutional as soon as possible. The uncertainty surrounding the future of PPACA is frustrating to those who believe it stands as an obvious affront to constitutional principles, and a hindrance to crafting serious budget and health care policy on both the state and federal levels.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, released the following statement Monday:
“Oklahomans know President Obama overreached when he forced his unconstitutional government healthcare takeover through Congress. That’s why our state voted overwhelmingly to keep Obamacare, and its individual mandate to buy government-sanctioned health insurance, from becoming law.
“Obamacare represents a dangerous, unprecedented expansion of the federal government’s reach into our everyday lives. Worse yet, it will kill jobs and crush small businesses under the weight of unsustainable cost increases.
“It is my hope that the Supreme Court will reject President Obama’s unconstitutional health care law, just as we’ve done here in Oklahoma.”
“Oklahomans know President Obama overreached when he forced his unconstitutional government healthcare takeover through Congress. That’s why our state voted overwhelmingly to keep Obamacare, and its individual mandate to buy government-sanctioned health insurance, from becoming law.
“Obamacare represents a dangerous, unprecedented expansion of the federal government’s reach into our everyday lives. Worse yet, it will kill jobs and crush small businesses under the weight of unsustainable cost increases.
“It is my hope that the Supreme Court will reject President Obama’s unconstitutional health care law, just as we’ve done here in Oklahoma.”
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt issue the following statement yesterday:
"The Supreme Court did the right thing by agreeing to decide the constitutionality of the healthcare law this session. It should be noted the Supreme Court allowed an unprecedented 5 1/2 hours for oral argument, which speaks to the importance of the issues being decided.
"The Supreme Court did the right thing by agreeing to decide the constitutionality of the healthcare law this session. It should be noted the Supreme Court allowed an unprecedented 5 1/2 hours for oral argument, which speaks to the importance of the issues being decided.
“We expect the Court to decide the case before the presidential election, so the American people have an answer on the constitutionality of this overreaching legislation when they choose their next leader.
"Requiring every citizen to purchase a product from private companies encroaches on our individual liberty. We will continue to fight the continuous attempts by this administration to hide behind the guise of change to force unnecessary and overreaching federal regulations on American families and businesses."
Oklahoma's lawsuit is pending in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
