WEST COLUMBIA -- South Carolina must stay in the forefront of a federal lawsuit over President Obama's health care package, the Republican seeking to become South Carolina's next attorney general said Thursday, challenging his Democratic opponent to take on his own party.
"I'm going to be a leader on this issue, and I think that he wants to sit on the sidelines and do nothing about it," Alan Wilson said during an availability at a West Columbia medical practice. "No one else is going to take care of South Carolina, but South Carolina."
Appearing with Wilson on Thursday was Attorney General Henry McMaster, the man Wilson and Democrat Matthew Richardson are seeking to replace. Earlier this year, McMaster and his Florida counterpart, Republican Bill McCollum, teamed up to rally other attorneys general in opposition to the health care reform package.
Just minutes after Obama signed the 10-year, $938 billion health care reform bill into law in March, McCollum filed a lawsuit in federal court in Florida, arguing that provisions requiring individuals to have health insurance or be penalized through taxes and expanding states' Medicaid programs are unconstitutional.
The lawsuit is likely to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Obama administration had asked a federal judge to dismiss the entire lawsuit, saying the federal government can require that citizens buy health insurance or face tax penalties under its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. Last week, that judge ruled that he wanted to hear further arguments on the health insurance mandate and Medicaid expansion issues.
Richardson has said he agrees with the lawsuit in principle, concurring with Republicans McMaster and Wilson that the federal government should not be allowed to require all Americans to carry health insurance. But Richardson has said he wants to make sure that South Carolina does not get saddled with legal bills that other states could shoulder.
Wilson, who has served as a prosecutor at the county and state level, says he has the experience to see the health care lawsuit through and questioned the ability of Richardson, who serves as a committeeman for the Democratic National Committee, to take on his own party.
"Is he going to be willing to stand up and not only say, 'You're wrong, this bill is wrong,' but actively work to fight it?" Wilson asked.
Richardson, who hasn't worked as a prosecutor but has practiced law nearly five years longer than Wilson, said Thursday that, as the state's top prosecutor, he would protect the rights of South Carolinians - even if that means taking on national Democrats.
"Unlike my opponent, I have practiced in the federal courts where this case will be heard and decided. This is too important for on-the-job training by a lawyer with no experience in the federal courts," Richardson said. "Unlike my opponent, I will not waste the money of the people of this state on political lawsuits and posturing."
McMaster said Thursday that South Carolina and the 19 other states suing the Obama administration are sharing a $50,000 legal bill, of which South Carolina has agreed to pay about $5,000.
Briefs in the national health care lawsuit are due Nov. 4 - two days after the general election - with arguments expected in mid-December.
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