Georgians divided on health care ruling
Georgians reacted with a combination of dismay, joy and confusion after the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the federal health care law Thursday.
Gov. Nathan Deal and Attorney General Sam Olens, both Republicans, lamented the court's decision and called on Congress to repeal the law.
"While we recognize this is a huge setback for fiscal sanity and personal liberty, we are not giving up. Georgians and the American people deserve high-quality, sustainable health care," Deal said in a statement." Congress must now work steadfastly on repealing this law and replacing it with reforms that help taxpayers instead of hurt them."
Olens said the Court went beyond what Congress intended.
"I disagree with this decision. Congress explicitly said this was not a tax," Olens said in a statement. "I call on Congress to act swiftly, repeal the law and replace it with real reform that respects the Constitution as written."
Deal will meet with reporters at 2 p.m.
Georgia Democrats, meanwhile, celebrated the ruling but called on Gov. Nathan Deal and Republican leaders in the House and Senate to act responsibly in moving forward.
Sens. Vincent Fort and Horacena Tate, both Atlanta Democrats, said Thursday that the GOP-controlled General Assembly should now act to expand Medicaid and create the health care exchanges called for in the federal health care law.
The Supreme Court's ruling said states may choose not to expand Medicaid eligibility without losing all federal funding as the federal law had originally threatened.
"Be responsible," Fort said.
Fort said when Congress passed its stimulus plan several years ago, then-Gov. Sonny Perdue, also a Republican, did not support the idea but also did not reject the money that helped the state balance its budget.
"Sonny Perdue and the Republican leadership, no matter how much they whined about it, they accepted it," Fort said. "Be responsible."
An "ideological rejection is not what we need," he said.
At a gathering of tea party activists there was initially elation as early reports suggested the individual mandate had been struck down.
That quickly gave way to confusion and then indignation at the decision.
They argued it would be a boost for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
"We're going to use it as a stepping stone to get Republicans and conservatives elected and get this thing turned around and repeal it," Julianne Thompson, co-leader of the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots, said.
Debbie Dooley, the other leader of the group, said she was "disasppointed" in Chief Justice John Roberts, whom she likened to former U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, another Republican pick who disappointed conservatives with decisions from the bench.
Dooley said the decision would energize the GOP.
"This is going to be our rallying cry for the November election: Repeal Obamacare," Dooley said.
"The rumbling sound you hear in the distance is the founding fathers turning over in their graves because no one ever believed that this would come to pass," said Steve Ramey of the Founding Fathers Tea Party Patriots.
