McAuliffe says he'll expand Medicaid by executive action (Vetos funds for New Judge Appointments)

Daily Press ^ | 12:22 p.m. EDT, June 20, 2014 | Travis Fain

[kabar]

Herring, the AG did something similar, by providing in-state tuition for recipients of Obama's backdoor amnesty for Dreamers. Very little blowback by the Reps for this lawless act. Herring should have been the subject of impeachment.

In-state tuition was killed in the House of Delegates so Herring arbitrarily decided to circumvent the legislature and send letters to state schools telling them these DACA recipients are eligible for in-state tuition.

[laconic]

McAuliffe was elected, in part, because of his support from RINOs including the chief campaign adviser to the FORMER House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor. They are doing it again - former “Republican” Senator John Warner (the ex-Mr. Elizabeth Taylor) has already endorsed the Demo Mark Warner over any Republican opposition. I will never again vote for a moderate Republican in the State of Virginia for anything.

[Maelstorm]

He has absolutely no authority to unilaterally expand Medicaid. What I’d like to see is the general assembly order the state police to arrest his ass if he tries it.We need to escalate against these acts of absolute lawlessness.

[fortheDeclaration]

You knew this was coming, another Democrat in a position of power but checked by Republican government.

So they simply abuse their power.

[kabar]

Governor McAuliffe vetoed the Medicaid Innocation and Reform Commission (MIRC) language in the budget along with Senator Bill Stanley’s amendment, adopted last week, prohibiting the Governor from unilaterally expanding ObamaCare in Virginia. There are a few problems with this action. First, the Virginia Supreme Court previously ruled against former Governor George Allen when he tried to expand the line item veto to so-called “language only amendments.” This is why Senator Stanley referred to his amendment as being veto-proof. Governor McAuliffe lacks the constitutional authority to veto items in the budget that do not also include an appropriation. The Stanley amendment does not include an appropriation, which means that under existing Virginia Supreme Court precedent, the Governor is attempting to act outside the law. Second, even without the budget language, Virginia Code § 30-347 still requires the MIRC’s existence and calls for “[a]n affirmative vote by three of the five members of the Commission from the House of Delegates and three of the five members of the Commission from the Senate shall be required to endorse any reform proposal to [expand Medicaid].” Of course, we have learned with this administration that the rule of law doesn’t mean much.

This action is most likely to be challenged and the Supreme Court of Virginia will likely be the final arbiter. Facing a likely defeat at the Supreme Court and knowing that he faces an uphill battle to convince the Virginia Supreme Court to reverse its precedent, the Governor decided to go ahead and punish the Supreme Court. How? He vetoed all appropriations for new judges. The Supreme Court has long pushed for an increase in judges across the Commonwealth to address the increased volume of cases. Without the appropriation, justice will be delayed for many across the Commonwealth. Being vindictive and alienating the justices who will decide whether the Governor’s veto of the Stanley amendment seems short sighted and foolhardy.

The General Assembly will meet on Monday to consider Governor McAuliffe’s line item vetoes. But that won’t be the last chapter in this sad saga. Terry McAuliffe has brought President Obama’s lawlessness to Virginia. If he isn’t stopped by the Supreme Court now, the future of our Commonwealth is in peril.