Kansas Attorney General Steve Six has announced that he can’t and won’t sue the federal government over the recently passed health care bill.
“Based on that extensive analysis, I do not believe that Kansas can successfully challenge the law,” Six, a Democrat, said in a statement released Friday. “Our review did not reveal any constitutional defects, and thus it would not be legally or fiscally responsible to pursue this litigation.”
Now the question is whether some state lawmakers will turn to a seldom-used state law that allows them to force the Attorney General to file suit on their behalf. A bill to order Six to sue is under consideration the Kansas House. –Kansas City Star
The decision may ultimately turn into an election issue for Six, who will likely run against State Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, a Republican. Schmidt is already arguing publicly that Six did the wrong thing for Kansas by not suing the federal government.
Six, on the other hand, says that his office isn’t about catering to popular political interests, but about honoring the law.
“There can be no question that the new federal law is the subject of vigorous policy debate across the country; however, my decision is based strictly on the law, not politics,” he said. “From the beginning of my tenure as attorney general, my priority has been to remove politics from the office and act as an independent attorney general. I will continue to make decisions based on the law, not in response to political pressure.” –Kansas City Star
Six also said that arguments that the health care bill is unconstitutional would be highly unlikely to succeed in the Supreme Court, and that pursuing a lawsuit would waste precious funds in a time of economic hardship.
If the past is prologue, such reasonable points will no doubt be met with vicious and abundant scorn from those on the opposing side.
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