The White House has spoken out against a judicial judge who ruled to allow a lawsuit against Obama’s health care reform plan to move forward. However, they said that while the ruling was the wrong one to make, it didn’t make much difference in the scheme of things.
Originally, the lawsuit was filed by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who has made claims that the health care reform act is unconstitutional, a word that has been passed around liberally by opponents of everything from health reform to immigration laws.
Buzz word status aside, the lawsuit has been ruled as valid enough to move forward, after a decision by U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson this morning. But that doesn’t mean that it will pass beyond that initial legal protest.
As Stephanie Cutter, who is the assistant to President Obama on special projects, points out, this merely means that the suit will be able to move forward in the judicial process. The main retort now is that the lawsuit is frivolous, and goes beyond legal precedence.
So, what does it mean for the reform? Probably nothing. Cuccinelli is arguing that forcing everyone to gain health insurance in a certain amount of time or face a penalty exceeds the reach of the federal government under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause.
But the lowering cost of health insurance, the push for employers to offer it to employees, and the possibility of a strengthened federal medical system will make it simpler for citizens to gain this health care, and to pay for it.