Standing up for Missouri

On Aug. 3, Missourians went to the polls to cast their vote. Before the voters, a simple question: Should Missouri reject the federal health care mandate forced on us by Washington? The answer was a resounding yes.More than 71 percent of Missourians voted to halt Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's haphazard plan to take over health care control in Missouri.

It has been more than three months since that landmark vote, the first of its kind in the nation (the voters of Arizona and Oklahoma passed similar measures on the Nov. 2 ballot). Our state's vote for health care freedom was also a catalyst for many other states in their fight to protect businesses. Voters across the United States responded on Nov. 2 by electing common-sense, conservative leaders to Congress. With Nancy Pelosi being relegated from the gavel in the House of Representatives, Republican leaders have made it clear they intend to repeal and replace this federal health care law with real reform.

This summer, I filed a constitutional challenge at the Rush H. Limbaugh U.S. Courthouse in Cape Girardeau. Since that time, federal judges in Florida and Virginia have allowed those cases to proceed after rejecting the Obama administration's motion to dismiss. Our suit is specific in that we are fighting to protect the health care freedoms and choices that Missourians enjoy today. We are also fighting to allow Missouri seniors to keep their Medicare Advantage program, a program which is being unfairly eliminated except for seniors in certain parts of Florida.

This week, I had the pleasure of traveling to the East Coast to speak about my legal challenge to law students at Yale, Columbia and New York University. At each of these institutions I was privileged to join leading constitutional lawyers in debating the new federal health care law. Following these debates, I remain optimistic that portions of this federal law will be declared unconstitutional.

It has been more than 120 days since we filed our legal challenge, yet to date the federal government has failed to respond. Even after being served with court documents twice, the Obama administration has remained silent. This expression of contempt and arrogance is one we have come to recognize from the same people who forced this bill through Congress behind closed doors. On Wednesday, my attorney filed a motion asking the court to compel the federal government to respond to our legal challenge within two weeks. I am confident the judge will see the merit of this request and force the feds to respond.

While Sen. McCaskill and Gov. Nixon refuse to join us in our attempt to repeal this law, I am eagerly awaiting our day in court and our chance to stand up for businesses and families across Missouri.

Peter D. Kinder of Cape Girardeau is the lieutenant governor of Missouri.