Alaska Governor Sean Parnell: Alaska Won't Participate in Obamacare

Alaska is a land of truly free people in what was the last American frontier. It may set a new standard in executing states' rights. Rather than introduce and pass legislation that nullifies Obamacare, the Alaskan governor, based on the judicial ruling it is unconstitutional for the federal government to force Americans into participating in commerce, simply will not participate in Obamacare.

From Bloomberg:

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell, saying he’s bound by law, won’t apply for federal grants needed to implement President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul after a federal judge in Florida ruled it unconstitutional.

The Republican’s decision means the state will skip today’s deadline to apply for a grant that federal officials say is needed to develop exchanges where residents would be able to buy medical insurance under the new health-care law.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed by Obama in March requires citizens over 18 to obtain health coverage beginning in 2014. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola, Florida, ruled that requiring such coverage exceeded Congress’s power and invalidated the law last month. The decision came in a challenge brought by 26 states, including Alaska.

“We will not proceed down an unlawful course to implement this law,” Parnell said yesterday in Juneau, the capital. “The court’s declaratory judgment that the federal health-care law is unconstitutional is the law of the land as it applies to Alaska.”

All 50 states should follow a similar course.