J.B. Van Hollen must be bummed. Not only do the Badgers lose in humiliating fashion to an ivy league school, but Wisconsin is left out of what will at least be a Sweet Sixteen of states suing the federal government over the health care bill.
The reason is quite simple. First, Van Hollen would either need the support of the governor or one of the houses in the legislature. I'm guessing that Doyle, who "praised the legislation for extending coverage to 172,000 state residents" is not going to feel particularly obligated to subject the bill to serious constitutional scrutiny. And neither will the Democratic assembly or senate.
Hopefully Van Hollen will never get a chance to join the lawsuit orgy, most of which is based on the argument that mandating individuals to buy health insurance is unconstitutional. I won't lie it's pretty weird. But think of it in more familiar terms. The government is raising taxes on everybody, but offering a tax break to those who buy health insurance. Is that any more constitutionally dubious than the thousands of other tax incentives federal and state governments offer citizens?
But this isn't really about the legal arguments. This is about the politics:
Like many Americans, Attorney General Van Hollen is disappointed with the process and much of the policy that underlies the House of Representative's adoption of a bill that includes the Cornhusker kickback, federal funding for abortion, special treatment for special interests, and a variety of other objectionable measures some of which are also contained in the reconciliation measure that also passed the House last night and is expected to be addressed by the Senate as soon as this week.