Florida remains the political frontline in the battle on health care.
As Florida Republicans in Washington demand the repeal of the new health-care reform law, Democrats in Florida blast Attorney General Bill McCollums lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality.
U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Florida, introduced a bill in Congress to repeal health-care reforms that President Barack Obama signed into law on Tuesday.
Macks bill is entitled Revoke Excessive Policies that Encroach on American Liberties Act or the REPEAL Act for short. The only measure in the bill calls for the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Asked on Thursday why he sponsored the repeal bill, Mack said, Most Americans and Floridians oppose government takeover of our health care.
Mack said that the battle against the new health-care laws needed to be waged in both Washington and the states. He said, We need to fight this bill on a lot of different fronts, and Im proud of Bill McCollum for filing suit against this.
A repeal bill has also been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-SC. Florida RepublicanSen. George LeMieux is a cosponsor.
While he said that his measure would go nowhere in 2010 with the Democrats controlling both houses of Congress, Mack said he was filing the repeal bill with hope for 2011. He said, After the election, if we can get a majority in the House and the Senate, maybe the president will get the message from the American people and repeal the bill.
When asked to comment on the repeal bill, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-FL, said, Its really unfortunate but its not surprising that Republican members of Congress want to take access from quality health care away from Americans and put the insurance committees back in the drivers seat.
Macks bill follows on the heels of efforts by Attorney General Bill McCollum to continue the battle against the new measure. On Tuesday, minutes after the president signed the new law, McCollum filed suit against the federal government.
Democratic leaders in the Legislature called for House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, and Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, to allow the auditor general to investigate how much McCollum's lawsuit was costing Floridians.
Its time the Legislature stops and asks how much taxpayer dollars are being used to advance a political agenda, said Senate Minority Leader Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee.
Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, said, We need to know where the money is being spent. Taxpayer dollars are being hijacked.
House Minority Leader Franklin Sands, D-Weston, said that McCollum should focus on other priorities.
There are almost four million people uninsured in the state of Florida, he said. There is not another state that would benefit from this health-care legislation as much as Florida.
The Democrats insisted that McCollum was being driven by partisan motives.
Sands said, The attorney general wants to use the peoples money as his own personal political piggy bank.
Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, said, This lawsuit is not about the people of the state of Florida or for the people of the state of Florida. This is for the rank political ambitions of the attorney general.
Repeating comments he made on the Senate floor on Thursday morning, Gelber said, This is nothing but a political frolic.
The Republican attorney general says that this is not political, Sands said. If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
Wasserman Schultz said that there was no coincidence involved that McCollum was running for governor and getting a great deal of press attention for his lawsuit. She said, Bill McCollum is trying to use this ridiculous argument as a platform for his gubernatorial campaign.
Noting that there were many Republicans angry about the passage of the health-care reform, Siplin said, We want the attorney general to calm the nerves of the Republicans.
Sands said he agreed with Siplin. There is tremendous animosity seething on healthcare reform.
Democrats also challenged the merits of McCollums suit.
Noting that many legal commentators have said that McCollums case has no merits, Gelber called the lawsuit frivolous.
Wasserman Schultz said, The lawsuit does not even cite one case.
Kevin Derby, a reporter for Sunshine State News, can be reached at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com, or (850) 727-0859.
