The Washington State Supreme Court this morning will hear oral arguments in two cases that could have far reaching impact both within the state and beyond. In Goldmark v. McKenna, the court will consider Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark’s suit to force Attorney General Rob McKenna to represent him in an appeal of a lower court decision, and in Seattle v. McKenna, the court will consider Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes’ petition to force McKenna to withdraw from the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of health care reform.
Both cases center on McKenna’s claim to broad, discretionary, extra-statutory powers, and both could serve to dramatically redefine the scope and power of the office. And of course, both cases have been reported here on HA in much greater detail than anywhere else in the press.
So my advice to journalists attempting to cover these complicated legal issues is to take advantage of the work I’ve already done, both here and here on the Goldmark case. Really. I’ve done a lot of the leg work for you, and many of the cases I’ve cited are those that will be cited in court. As for Seattle v. McKenna, I’ve covered that less extensively, but there are useful posts on the issues here and here.
Honestly, I know some folks in the media like to dismiss me as a foul-mouthed, partisan muckraker, but I’ve a helluva track record reporting on legal issues, dating back to my dead-on coverage and analysis of the 2004 gubernatorial election contest. So if you want to understand the legal issues in these cases, you’ll read my posts.
Dave Reichert’s Brain should be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Stories in weeklies are eligible.
Goldy–
Take a look at this–
This list shows the 111 companies, unions and counties that have applied for [and received] waivers to opt out of the Obama mandatory Health care plan so far.
http://www.hhs.gov/ociio/regul.....aiver.html
(McDonald’s, Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Jack in the Box are among the large, headline-garnering employers who received the temporary waivers.)
ObamaCare is highly flawed as evidenced by the exemptions. Do you think all the exemptions will help your case Goldy? What’s next??
Here is another comment by a business worthy of consideration. Chris Rodriguez, director of human resources at Fowler Packing Company in California’s San Joaquin Valley, pursued an HHS waiver because their low-wage agricultural workers would have lost the basic coverage his company has voluntarily offered for years. “We take care of our employees, and we warned (health care officials that) if they imposed this, large numbers of workers would lose access to affordable coverage,”
Obviously ObamaCare was a rush job. When you rush something this complex, Obama and his regime failed to vet all the undesirable consequences.
In the end, what will be left?
Will it be fair?
Will it be helpful?
If you keep granting exemptions and uncovering undesirable consequences, one has to wonder.
I suspect it will end up gutted and a token of what it is now so the Dems can save face.
Get the facts Goldy.
Attempting, as always, to deflect, Cynical @2:
Irrelevant, completely irrelevant.
These two cases concern the powers of the Washington Attorney General under the state’s Constitution. The subject matter of the underlying lawsuits is immaterial to these proceedings.
Dave Reichert’s Brain should be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
so are the 8th cd citizens now represented by a brain-damaged man? does it even matter?
Goldy, they don’t attack you because you are factually wrong. They attack you because telling the truth hurts their bottom line. The emperor does not like to be told he is naked. Follow the money. They are no different than a mobster hiring a hit-man to eliminate his competition. Only in this case they marginalize and denigrate your reputation with hacks and trolls like Rush Limbaugh, many who regularly pollute this forum with their tea bagger nonsense.
This whole thing with the tea baggers uniting behind the dancing hack Bristol Palin is a perfect example of what they did to the entire country in the last election. They are subverting the election process on Dancing with the Stars, same as they did during the election. All I can tell the tea baggers is to stock up on butter and bend over.
Oh by the way, McKenna is a first class prick. What bothers me most about him is how he allowed the AG to be used as The Gestapo for state agency upper management to attack front line state employees. Much of the time they didn’t go after state employees because of anything they personally did, but because these employees blew the whistle on massive and costly incompetence. They attacked front line employees to protect the jobs of the top managers. And the AG office went along with this travesty not even batting an eye.
@2 “ObamaCare is highly flawed as evidenced by the exemptions.”
The private for-profit health care system is even more flawed as evidenced by high costs, lousy care, and 50 million Americans without coverage.
C’mon, Cynical, really … the private insurance industry takes 30% of our health dollars to push paperwork … Medicare handles the same tasks at less than 1% … so which is better, market-based health care, or S0-SHUL-ISM??? This one is a no-brainer. Even you should be able to get the right answer. Well, maybe not you, but your goats could.
Let’s see, how many tens of thousands of Americans die in HOSPITALS every year because of medication mistakes, poor infection control, etc.? I forget the number, but it’s way up there, as evidence of the private sector’s efficiency at killing people. That’s about the only thing they do well.
Hey Cynical, here’s a pop quiz for ya. When the state constitution mandates that the attorney general provide legal representation to state agencies, and requires agencies to be represented ONLY by the AG, does the AG have discretion to refuse to represent state agencies?
So Goldy and Roger — what was your take on the oral arguments?
Roger @ 9
My understanding is that the US Attorney General sometimes exercises discretion to refuse to represent federal agencies. I don’t know what the statutory differences for the US AG duties and powers are versus those for the state AG.
Of course, the US AG is appointed under statute, while the Washington AG is elected under constitution. Washington has constitutional officers, and statutory agencies, all of which are independent from the AG. The USA has statutory agencies, most of which serve at the President’s pleasure, just like the US AG.
However, I have read of independent statutory agencies (such as the Federal Reserve Board) not being able to appeal US district court decisions, because the US AG did not want to. The FRB is definitely independent of the President, even though most of the board members are appointed for fixed terms by the President.
But is a matter of statutory interpretation at both levels of government.
So Goldy and Roger — what was your take on the oral arguments?
They struck me as overly verbal.
What are the chances that the Supremes rule that McKenna should be hung? I could understand low or even infinitesimal, I just want to know if the expectation is greater than zero.
This is not a wish for physical harm to our good AG. Utter humiliation would suffice.
Let me know.
Goldy, you’ve done all the leg work for any journalist covering this case.
What journalist? Where?
I saw a picture of one once. It was in the Smithsonian.
Proud to be an Ass @ 12
What are the chances that the Supremes rule that McKenna should be hung?
I think you mean to say “hanged”. (Presumably, a judicially ordered hanging.)
“Hung” is an entirely different word. For the most part, a private matter that should only concern Rob and his wife.