Virginia and Florida became the first two states to file lawsuits against the new health insurance law signed by President Obama Tuesday as dozens of states scramble to put up legislative barricades between themselves and the bill requiring Americans purchase health insurance.

The proverbial ink had yet to dry on the nation's new health care reform law Tuesday before two states -- Virginia and Florida -- filed lawsuits and more scrambled to put up legislative barricades between themselves and the bill requiring Americans to purchase health insurance or face stiff penalties.

The tactics, employed everywhere from Arizona to Virginia, are the strongest sign that the health care reform fight is far from over.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced he dropped off his challenge at the court at 12:02 p.m. ET, minutes after President Obama's signing ceremony to usher in the massive overhaul. Virginia Solicitor General E. Duncan Getchell walked the six blocks from the state attorney general's office in Richmond to the U.S. District Court to file his claim that the federal law conflicts with recently passed Virginia law saying no resident shall be required to "maintain or obtain" personal coverage.

At least 36 state legislatures so far have proposed measures to challenge the constitutionality of the new federal bill, while 29 states are also calling for ballot questions to amend their constitutions and 13 are looking to change state law.

Some states are doing both.

"They're all very different," said Michelle Blackston, spokeswoman for the National Conference of State Legislatures, which is tracking the proposals.

Most states are seeking to prevent their residents from having to follow the new federal requirement to buy health insurance or to pay the coming fines if they don't. Virginia and Idaho already have enacted such laws.

Others are working their way through the legislative process, according to NCSL.

An Arizona proposal to block the so-called "individual mandate" has passed both legislative chambers. A Utah proposal that requires state permission to enact provisions of the federal law has also passed both chambers; a similar measure to Virginian and Idaho has passed one chamber in Tennessee and Georgia; and resolutions on state constitutional amendments have advanced in Florida and Missouri.

Click here to see a list of state legislative actions.

Some of the actions taken require a simple majority while others require two-thirds approval for passage, meaning an overwhelming portion of state lawmakers would have to object to the federal plan.

One problem facing all the state proposals is that federal law generally trumps state law. Constitutional experts say this means, until a court decision comes along to back them up, the state legislatures' action are mostly symbolic.

But citizen challenges are expected, and at least a dozen state attorneys general have announced their intention to file lawsuits challenging the bill.

Jonathan Turley, law professor at George Washington University, said the interplay between the court cases and the state proposals is key.

He said the state laws prohibiting the mandate from being enforced may not actually stop residents from being fined for not purchasing insurance in the near-term, but they could strengthen the court cases of those challenging the health care bill.

And, in turn, the states may rely on a high-level court decision to be able to exert their independence.

"Ultimately, I think the courts are going to have to resolve this," he said.

Turley said the myriad legal challenges will probably be consolidated and reach the appeals court level, if not the Supreme Court.

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Well now its up to the courts. then let the firings begin!!!

'STATES GO TO WAR' !!!
Nostalgic about the Confederates, are we!?!?!?

Is there no end to the demagoguery people will spread!!!

And more to the point, do you really believe demagoguery makes any difference, apart from endowing its author with the illusion of having expressed something 'significant'.


'STATES GO TO WAR' !!! What's it going to be this time??? Coastal vs 'fly-over' states???


Republicans are pissed off that they're not in charge!!!

A desperate attempt at creating an 'end of the universe demagogic scenario' to influence the upcoming mid-terms, so that, at the very least, it might reverse their sour ssa fortune in Congress in the fall, ... is all that is going on. Desperate, wasteful, empty and disingenuous is all it is.

Power hungry spoiled brats whom will go to ANY LENGTHS, no matter how delusional, to get back in the playground and win back all the toys of power.

Well, they'll just have to wait a while now, cause they left the playground in an awful shape, last time they occupied it, and Obama has just started the clean-up and 'rebuild'!!!

people in general are pretty pissed off

8 months is a while?

X marks the spot

when the """people started waking up

imagine that 8 months in and he is dropping fast and continuing to drop


remember when the phone was masterfully regulated by the govt you had basicblack for years then you got colors for years and then the big breakthrough the princess phone

since the mostly deregulation of phones that protected the monopoly of att what has happened in the industry

soon if the health are mandate is upheld the medical feild will be the old phone company you can get a black phone maybe a diferent color will come along in say 50 years

but hey what do i know