Olens vows to confront injustice

Candidate believes health reform bill unconstitutional

Mark Lastinger

THOMASVILLE — Sam Olens has taken a bold stand against the health care reform legislation currently under consideration in Congress. The Republican Georgia attorney general candidate and Emory University School of Law graduate has positioned himself firmly beside the U.S. Constitution.

“There are at least three areas and potentially more that need to be litigated in federal court in regard to HR 3590,” Olens said during a Friday phone interview with the Times-Enterprise.

In a recent letter, Olens called on current Attorney General Thurbert Baker to review the constitutionality of the bill. Baker, a Democrat who is running for governor, did not reply directly to Olens’ request.

“He did respond to the press that he felt it was inappropriate to comment before the passage of the bill,” Olens explained.

Olens, currently the Cobb County Commission chairman, believes that answer is unsatisfactory.

“When you find sausage that is getting worse and worse, you don’t want to have your legal team wait until it’s approved. You want to be able to attack it as soon as it is signed by the President,” he said.

An assortment of members of the House of Representatives and Senate are working to merge HR 3590 with a Senate bill and get the result to President Obama for his signature before the State of the Union address. State attorneys general in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington have called into question provisions in both bills.

“I very much support these attorneys general for doing their homework now,” Olens said.

The so-called Nebraska Compromise, also dubbed the Cornhusker Kickback, is drawing special scrutiny. The deal that assured the vote of Sen. Ben Nelson grants his state a permanent exemption from Medicaid taxes.

Olens said this provision appears to violate the U.S. Constitution because all states would not uniformly be treated the same with this new tax.

“It is a felony to buy votes in this country,” he said. “That same prohibition must apply to our legislators. All legal options must be considered and applied to stop this outrage.

“Georgians cannot afford the many new taxes associated with this bill, let alone a special provision that lets us pay for citizens of another state.”

HR 3590 would require that Americans to purchase health insurance whether they want it or not. Olens believes that is unconstitutional, too. He also doesn’t think a Senate provision that would prohibit the bill from being amended or repealed passes constitutional muster.

“I’ve never heard of any legislation that you can’t later amend or repeal,” he said.

Olens’ campaign platform includes a call for stronger ethics laws. He started the push for openness as soon he announced his candidacy in April 2009.

“Unlike the General Assembly, local officials are fully bound by Georgia’s Sunshine Laws,” Olens said. “If I were to violate Georgia’s Sunshine Laws as a Cobb County commissioner, I could be fined $100 per occurrence. I would say there needs to be another zero added to those fines and I would suggest this needs to be the No. 1 issue for the attorney general.

“As the chief lawyer for the state and the people, he should be the ethics administrator for our state.”

Olens wants to force all state legislators to disclose in advance any consulting deals they might have with companies before filing or voting for bills that they would help them with tax breaks, etc.

“The public has no right to know of conflicts like that at this point, and that’s just wrong and overtly needs to change,” he said.

Olens also thinks the next attorney general should not sit on the sidelines during the persistent battle over water with Alabama and Florida. That battle has been led by Gov. Sonny Perdue and lawyers selected by him.

“The state has outside counsel, and that’s fine. You want lawyers that specialize in these areas. I have no dispute with that. But outside counsel wasn’t elected to be the state’s chief lawyer — (the attorney general) was,” Olens said. “When you are talking about something as important as the state’s water supply, the attorney general ought to be front and center with that litigation.”

Olens has campaigned frequently in south Georgia and intends to return to state his case at a February or March citizens meeting at the Thomasville Municipal Auditorium.

“I have the management experience and trial experience to be the people’s chief lawyer, and I will do it with integrity beyond reproach,” he said.

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