‘Taxed just because you are alive’

Published 4:08 pm Saturday, March 27, 2010

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of two-part series about Republican attorney general candidate Sam Olens, set to be a featured speaker at Citizens Meeting No. 9 at the Thomasville Municipal Auditorium on April 8 at 6:15 p.m. The second will focus on ethics reform and will be published in Tuesday’s edition.



THOMASVILLE — Sam Olens respects Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker’s decision not to join 14 other states in a lawsuit over health care reform recently signed into law by President Obama. He doesn’t like it one bit, however.

Olens’ stance against the costly measure hasn’t softened since he told the Times-Enterprise in January that he believes the legislation is unconstitutional. The Republican attorney general candidate and Emory Law School graduate from Cobb County issued the following statement shortly after Obama applied his signature to the legislation on Tuesday:

“Today is a terrible day in our country’s history. As your next attorney general, I will do everything legally and constitutionally possible to fight the federal takeover and implementation of health care. I would join AGs from states across the country to file lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of this leviathan.

“It is the constitutional duty of a state attorney general to protect the rights of Georgia’s citizens and the sovereignty of the state. This bill contains federal mandates and provisions that are unconstitutional and must be challenged.

“I commend the current AGs of South Carolina, Florida and Virginia who have taken the lead, and I challenge all current state AGs and AG candidates for this important office to tell the voters what they would do if elected. In Georgia, it will be incumbent on the next AG to lead the fight for future generations.”

Despite his objection to the new law, Olens said Baker, a Democrat, is within his rights to ignore Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue’s request to challenge it.

“It’s clear that the attorney general has the constitutional authority to bring litigation on behalf of the state. It is also clear that Thurbert has the right to say no,” Olens said. “So as much as I disagree with his decision, I have to stand by the (state) constitution and the Georgia Supreme Court that has previously held that that is the purview of the attorney general and not the governor.”

Baker’s inaction prompted Perdue to say he will appoint a special attorney general to lead a pro bono legal challenge. That is a move Olens wholeheartedly endorses.

“I fully expected that (Baker) would not be part of such a lawsuit,” Olens said. “From a partisan perspective, his decision probably helps him in the Democratic (gubernatorial) primary.”

Olens rejects Baker’s contention that a legal challenge would be too costly and likely to fail.

“The claim of it being too costly is a pure partisan game,” Olens said. “The fact of the matter is that if Georgia had gone in with the initial lawsuit filed in Florida, you’d be dividing the cost by 13 or 14. It is not an expensive piece of litigation.”

Olens thinks Baker’s dismissive prediction of defeat is bunk.

“It’s a piece of litigation that would likely take several years because it has all the necessary issues to make it all the way to the Supreme Court, which, quite frankly, I think would bode quite well for us,” Olens said. “I’m not aware of any other times in our nation’s history when Congress passed a bill telling folks that they have to pay to be alive. The fine that the IRS was enabled to provide for anyone that doesn’t have insurance, from my perspective, is utterly unconstitutional. You’re not talking about getting a car and then having to have liability insurance on the car. You are talking about living, and then being fined for not having health insurance.

“From my perspective, this is an ideal fact pattern for a challenge based on the interstate commerce clause — and I believe it is a strong challenge. You’re taxed because you are alive if you don’t bother to buy insurance.”

In addition, Olens believes the law unfairly saddles states with the explosive costs of health care.

“It’s a $1 trillion bill that when fully operational will cost our state $1 billion more for expanded Medicaid,” he said. “When one talks about unfunded mandates, seldom is the cost $1 billion a year. No unfunded mandate is appropriate, let alone one that would bankrupt a state government.”

n BRIEFLY: In addition to Olens, Citizens Meeting No. 9 will feature Republican gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine, Democrat U.S. Senate candidate R.J. Hadley and a FairTax update.

Citizens Meeting No. 10 on May 27 will include Republican gubernatorial candidates Jeff Chapman and Austin Scott, plus a debate featuring Second Congressional District candidates Bobby Brown, Lee Ferrell and Mike Keown.