Source: Yahoo News
The Supreme Court is to be the first and final stand in a battle between states and the federal government over the expensive changes in the Medicare prescription plan that could cost states billions over 2 years.
WASHINGTON--Fifteen states are urging the Supreme Court to take the unusual step of immediately intervening to resolve a dispute between states and the federal government over the costly new Medicare prescription drug program.
"The federal government has placed what amounts to a direct tax upon Texas and other states in violation of the U.S. Constitution," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the lead attorney in the case, said in a statement.
Traditionally, such lawsuits are filed first in a federal district court.
Texas, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri and New Jersey asked the Supreme Court for permission to file what is called an original case to get the issue directly before the justices.
Ten states filed a brief backing the move: Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Vermont. Lawyers for those states told justices that the program "establishes a dangerous precedent that threatens" states' independence.
This Supreme Court challenge could shape the face of states rights for years to come. Fifteen states are taking the torch and laying the legal groundwork for the battle to clearly define the fine line between federal oversight and states rights.
I wonder, why only 15?
Don't the leaders of the other 35 states care about their rights to statehood?
It seems like they are missing out on the most important case to come before the high court in years.
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