Ellington

While he represents Biloxi in the Mississippi Legislature, Rep. Steven Palazzo often seems to be acting on a national stage. Palazzo, a Republican, sent Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood a letter Dec. 21 urging him to "take the appropriate legal action against the federal government" if Congress passes one of the health-care reform bills currently under consideration.

Hood, a Democrat, is unlikely to sue the U.S. government for trying to expand health-insurance coverage. Nevertheless, Palazzo decried the proposed reform bills, suggesting that negotiations on the bills were ethically tainted.

"Mississippi legislators take an oath of office to never vote for any measure in exchange for a promise or vote for another measure or person," Palazzo wrote in his letter. "The blatant federal deal brokering to BUY votes is immoral and unethical."

Not content to merely castigate Congress' deal making, Palazzo also alleged that health-care reform would actually violate the Constitution.

"Furthermore, it is unconstitutional to pass such an unfunded mandate onto the states," he wrote. "Simply put, I along with a majority of Mississippians, see this as a violation of equal protection of the law, an affront to our sovereignty, and a breach of the U.S. Constitution."

Palazzo has carried the banner for right-wing national politics before, notably on a resolution from the 2009 legislative session recognizing Worker's Memorial Day, a commemoration—supported by labor unions—of Americans who have died on the job. The house bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Evans, D-Jackson, sparked thirty minutes of bloviating on both sides, after Palazzo insisted on attaching an amendment that offered a veiled criticism of the proposed, union-supported Employee Free Choice Act—a favorite bogeyman of conservative political commentators.

Previous Comments

ID

154609

Comment

Same argument was used against civil rights legislation. When will they ever learn?

Author

Lori Kincses

Date

2009-12-31T13:35:07-06:00