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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Utah’s Governor Has Taken to Blasting Bob Bennett

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  March 26th, 2010 at 02:00 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

What I know that you now know is that Bob Bennett really is toast. The delegate math does not work out for Bob according to people I’m close to connected to all the other camps and the Utah GOP.

There is no path to victory for Bennett it would seem. Deals could be cut and that could be changed, but that’s the way things stand this morning.

Which might explain why Utah’s Governor, Gary Herbert, is now comfortably taking a dig at Bennett.

Gov. Gary Herbert blasted Congress’ efforts to impose health reform Thursday, saying it would be a “budget buster” and insisting it is unconstitutional to require citizens to buy health insurance.

That goes for a similar mandate in legislation that Utah Sen. Bob Bennett has proposed, Herbert said.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s proposed by a Republican or a Democrat. If it’s unconstitutional, it’s unconstitutional,” Herbert said during his monthly news conference at KUED. “This overreach by the federal government ought to cause us all the heebie jeebies.”

The statement in and of itself is pretty innocuous, but it would not have happened before the caucuses. The question now is whether Bennett will announce his retirement or try to cut enough deals to make a show of it.

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COMMENTS

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  • danasdaddy

    at Bennett headquarters today! It would be quite interesting to see the internal reaction to the governor’s statement.

    I bet Bob never thought he’d be called out publicly like that.

  • arc_ut

    has stayed neural on the senate race, not endorsing Bennett or his friend Eagar, or the other friends he has running.

    Herbert would have had no problem blasting the health care bills, before or after the caucus, as Utah is one of the ones challenging it in more ways then one.

  • arc_ut

    Bennett’s bill, S.391 Healthy Americans Act, had some of the same provisions that Bennett voted that the current healthcare bill was unconstitutional.

    I guess it was fine for Bennett’s bill to be unconstitutional, but the democrats bill, which is unconstitutional is not OK?

    Time to Replace Senator Bob Bennett.

  • arc_ut

    Gov. Herbert signed the bill on Monday, March 22.

    http://le.utah.gov/~2010/status/hbillsta/hb0067s01.htm

    http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2010/03/utah-governor-signs-health-care-freedom-act/

    Governor Gary Herbert has made Utah the third state to pass the ?Health Care Freedom Act? into law. House Bill 67 (HB67) was introduced by Rep. Carl Wimmer and passed the House and Senate by votes of 53-20 and 22-7, respectively.

    The bill ?prohibits a state agency or department from implementing federal health care reform passed by the United States Congress after March 1, 2010, unless a state agency reports to the Legislature regarding costs and impact on state reform efforts.? It authorizes the state legislature to specifically approve or deny implementation of federal health care legislation.

    In short, it requires the state ?to opt out of federal reform when the state determines that opting out is in the best interest of the citizens of the state.?

  • digi

    I found an article today one some website .
    after i reading it I think our gov policy it’s starting to look exactly like the policy described there.
    this is the article i was talking about:
    Article

  • tngal

    Its an article worth reading for anyone following this race closely. Its shows what he did and thought the night of the caucus. Lee is also briefly mentioned. Here’s a couple of lines lifted from the story:

    ++++
    His own polling shows him in third place, he (Bennett) said, trailing ?Anybody-but-Bennett and Undecided.?

    “The senator?s sister, Frances Jeppson, was running as a delegate. When she announced that she intended to support her brother, voters did not select her. ”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/us/politics/26bennett.html

  • jpferry

    I ran for state delegate again specifically because I have been repeatedly embarrassed by Mr. Bennett. Unless some one pulls a David Leavitte at the caucus he is gone.

    I have my vote narrowed down to 2 candidates, and am leaning toward one candidate but will wait to lock in until I have time to ask some questions of each of the two candidates.

  • Mayhem

    By “toast” do you mean that someone else has 60 percent of the delegates, or just that Bennett doesn’t have 60 percent and there will be a primary?

  • mavericktime

    According to a provision in the health reform bill passed by Congress this past week, states don’t have to sue to get out of the individual mandate.

    According to Ron Wyden:

    “It’s called the “Empowering States to be Innovative” amendment. And it would, quite literally, give states the right to set up their own health care system — with or without an individual mandate or, for that matter, with or without a public option — provided that, as Wyden puts it, “they can meet the coverage requirements of the bill.”

    “Why don’t you use the waiver provision to let you go set up your own plan?” the senator asked those who threaten health-care-related lawsuits. “Why would you just say you are going to sue everybody, when this bill gives you the authority and the legal counsel is on record as saying you can do it without an individual mandate?” “

  • ihateliberals

    should at a minimum adopt the Utah law. This should be the First line of defense until the Republicans can take power back and repeal health Care Reform.

  • leehazel

    ” provided that, as Wyden puts it, ?they can meet the coverage requirements of the bill.?

    Yup, State A, or whoever, you are “empowered’ to go and set up your own Health Care sysrem. However, it must look just like the one passed in WDC last week.

    Also the citizens of your state will go right on paying for everybody elses HC.

    PC is Thought Control
    LEE