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   From: boner@beans.com   
      
   WASHINGTON — House Republicans sued the Obama administration on   
   Friday over its implementation of President Barack Obama's   
   health care law, saying he had overstepped his legal authority   
   in carrying out the program.   
      
   GOP lawmakers filed the lawsuit in federal district court in   
   Washington the morning after Obama announced unilateral   
   executive actions to expand protections for millions of   
   immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally. While Republicans   
   complained that Obama had unconstitutionally exceeded his powers   
   with those actions, the suit filed Friday did not address   
   immigration.   
      
   One Republican official said party leaders are considering   
   amending the suit to include Obama's actions on immigration, a   
   change that would require approval by the GOP-controlled House.   
   The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe   
   internal Republican deliberations.   
      
   "If this president can get away with making his own laws, future   
   presidents will have the ability to as well," House Speaker John   
   Boehner said in a written statement announcing the lawsuit. "The   
   House has an obligation to stand up for the Constitution, and   
   that is exactly why we are pursuing this course of action."   
      
   House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi criticized Republicans for   
   spending taxpayer money to use a private attorney to bring a   
   "meritless" case.   
      
   "This lawsuit is a bald-faced attempt to achieve what   
   Republicans have been unable to achieve through the political   
   process. The legislative branch cannot sue simply because they   
   disagree with the way a law passed by a different Congress has   
   been implemented," said Pelosi, D-Calif.   
      
   She accused the GOP of "prioritizing the special interests and   
   the howls of impeachment-hungry extremists before the needs of   
   the nation."   
      
   Within hours of the case being filed, a Democratic group blasted   
   a fundraising email to supporters, calling it "an obvious   
   political stunt to rile up Boehner's Tea Party allies." The   
   House Majority PAC called on contributors "to stand with   
   President Obama before it's too late."   
      
   The House authorized the lawsuit in a near party-line vote in   
   July as congressional re-election campaigns were heating up.   
   Democrats said Obama had acted legally and said the GOP measure   
   was a political stunt aimed at motivating conservatives to vote   
   and distracting them from calls by some to go even further and   
   impeach the president.   
      
   The lawsuit was filed Friday against the departments of Health   
   and Human Services and the Treasury.   
      
   It accuses Obama of unlawfully delaying the 2010 health care   
   law's requirement that many employers provide health care   
   coverage for their workers.   
      
   That so-called employer mandate requires companies with 50 or   
   more employees working at least 30 hours weekly to offer health   
   care coverage or pay fines. Businesses with fewer than 50   
   workers are exempt.   
      
   The requirement was initially to take effect this year. Now,   
   companies with 50 to 99 employees have until 2016 to comply   
   while bigger companies have until next year.   
      
   The suit also accuses Obama of illegally planning to make an   
   estimated $175 billion in payments over the next decade — plus   
   $3 billion already paid this past year — to insurance companies,   
   even though Congress hasn't provided money for that purpose.   
      
   According to the suit, insurance companies offering coverage   
   under the health law are supposed to offer reduced rates to   
   policyholders.   
      
   The law established a fund to reimburse insurers for some of   
   those lower rates. Congress hasn't put any money into that fund   
   but the administration has started making payments to insurance   
   companies anyway, the suit says.   
      
   Congressional Republicans have all opposed the health care   
   overhaul. The GOP-led House has voted over 50 times to repeal it   
   or pare it back.   
      
   The case was assigned to Judge Rosemary M. Collyer, who was   
   appointed to her post by President George W. Bush in 2003.   
      
   http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/283485821.html   
      
       
      
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