A.M. Vitals: Sanofi Extends Offer for Genzyme; Few So Far Have Bitten

Sanofi-Aventis Extends Its Tender Offer for Genzyme
Paris-based pharmaceutical Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) has extended the deadline for its tender offer for Cambridge, Mass.-based Biotech Genzyme (GENZ) by six weeks, from Dec. 10 to Jan. 21, 2011. All other terms and conditions of the offer, including the $69 per share bid, remain unchanged, Sanofi said. As of Dec. 10, approximately 2.2 million shares of Genzyme were tendered and not withdrawn, representing approximately 0.9% of the outstanding shares -- barely scratching the surface since Sanofi lau...

Virginia Judge's Ruling Could Derail ObamaCare
A Federal Judge in Virginia struck down a key component of President Obama’s Health Care reform law on Monday, finding Congress exceeded its powers under the Constitution when it required all adult citizens to purchase Health Insurance  or pay a penalty. U.S. District Henry Hudson, in a 42-page opinion, granted the state of Virginia summary judgment in its suit seeking to declare the Insurance mandate Unconstitutional, thus threatening the entire package of Insurance reforms in the 2,...

The Early Word: Overhaul Undercut
From Today’s Times: - With a Federal Judge on Monday striking down a central plank of the Health Care overhaul, The Times’s Robert Pear and Reed Abelson report that the Obama Administration is plowing ahead with its efforts to implement the law. That said, The Times’s Sheryl Stolberg finds the decision also puts President Obama and the White House on the defensive. - Michael Steele, the current chairman of the Republican National Committee, is not going away quietly, The...

Virginia Federal Judge Rules Health Care Mandate Unconstitutional
Hey, what's that one thing that people keep pointing to as a genuine accomplishment of the Obama presidency? Jeeze, it's right on the tip of my tongue. Was it stealth bear? No, that doesn't seem right. Oh wait, was it this thing which Virginia Republicans are in the process of dismantling? A Federal Judge in Virginia ruled Monday that a key provision of the nation's sweeping health-care overhaul is Unconstitutional, the most significant legal setback so far for President Ob...

Obamas embattled health care plan: Is there a doctor in the house?
The scorecard on the legal fight over President Barack Obama‘s Health Care overhaul is two judges in favor and one against. But these are the early rounds in preliminary bouts. The one that really counts — a showdown at the Supreme Court — is at least a year away. The Health Care law suffered its first major legal setback Monday when a Federal Judge declared that the heart of the sweeping Legislation is Unconstitutional. The decision handed Republican foes ammunition for their ...

Long legal fight ahead for health law
WASHINGTON (AP) - The scorecard on the legal fight over President Barack Obama's Health Care overhaul is two judges in favor and one against. But these are the early rounds in preliminary bouts. The one that really counts—a showdown at the Supreme Court—is at least a year away. The Health Care law suffered its first major legal setback Monday when a Federal Judge declared that the heart of the sweeping Legislation is Unconstitutional. The decision handed Republican foes ammunition fo...

Virginia, Severance & Section 1501
A major question is, what are the effects of the Virginia federal District Court ruling that the Individual Mandate within ObamaCare (officially titled PPACA) is Unconstitutional? For now, and even if the Virginia ruling is eventually sustained by the US Supreme Court, the effects are relatively minor. The ruling took a conservative stance on severance, allowing the rest of the law to stand. The impact of th...

1099 repeal foiled again (Politico)
Another day, another failed attempt at 1099 Repeal. Republicans rebuffed a Democratic effort to repeal health reform’s universally panned 1099 IRS reporting requirements as a piggyback in the Tax Cut deal, congressional aides on both sides of the aisle confirm to Politico. The move leaves 1099 rollback in play for the next Congress, giving Republicans an easy target in an otherwise challenged landscape for health reform Repeal. Democratic aides allege Republicans are stalling on repealin...

Republican Lawmakers Push ObamaCare Repeal After Ruling
Responding to today’s ruling from a Federal Judge declaring the Individual Mandate portion of the Abortion-funding ObamaCare law Unconstitutional, top Republican lawmakers are pushing for a Repeal of the entire law. Today’s decision is an encouraging sign for families and Small Business owners who have revolted against President Obama’s job-killing Health Care law and called for its repeal.  Instead of appealing this decision, the Obama Administration should work with Cong...

Judge tosses part of health-care law
RICHMOND - A Federal Judge in Virginia ruled Monday that it is Unconstitutional for the government to compel Americans to buy Health Insurance, marking the first time a court has struck down any facet of the massive new law to overhaul the nation's health-care system. Although the opinion by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson gives significant political ammunition to the law's opponents, it does not invalidate the entire law or force federal and state officials to stop the work of putting it...

Fate of health-care law likely to be decided by Supreme Court
Perhaps the only issue on which opponents and supporters of the health-care law can agree is that its fate will probably be decided by the Supreme Court. This Story Fate of health-care law likely to be decided by Supreme Court Live Q&A;: Virginia health-care ruling strikes down key provision of Obama's plan Poll: Do you think the Health Care law is Unconstitutional? Ezra Klein: Is the Hudson ruling good news for health reform? Behind the Numbers: Status of Legal Challenges to Obama health care...

Virginia Federal Judge Rules Individual Mandate Unconstitutional
The American People aren’t going to put up with a mandate. I made this prediction before and I’m going to make it again: by the time this thing goes into effect in 2014, I think the mandate will be gone either through the courts or because it’s unpopular. - Howard Dean (August 2010) Virginia becomes the first state to strike down a part of the Affordability Care Act, the Individual Mandate. It’s representative of Pres. Obama’s general unpopularity in the sta...

Reform ruling leaves future unclear
Opponents of the Democrats’ Health Care reform law won a major victory in federal court Monday — but even the ambitious Attorney General who brought the case acknowledges that there’s a long way to go. “For the past nine months, we’ve been arguing about the constitutionality,” Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told reporters Monday. “Today, we won that argument, but we still have an unknown number of months ahead of us.” Continue Reading...

White House launches charm offensive with incoming GOP chairmen
Source: Politico House Republicans don’t take power for another three weeks, but the White House is already engaged in a behind-the-scenes charm offensive designed to build relationships with incoming committee chairmen before they become powerful adversaries. The GOP chairmen are getting congratulatory phone calls from President Barack Obama, and private meetings with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Attorney General Eric Hold...

FINALLY! Federal Judge Says ObamaCare Is Unconstitutional
A voice of reason from a Federal Court has finally affirmed what most Americans have known all along. It’s not constitutional for the government to force you to buy something… A federal District Judge in Virginia ruled on Monday that the keystone provision in the Obama Health Care law is Unconstitutional, becoming the first court in the country to invalidate any part of the sprawling act and ensuring that appellate courts will receive contradictory opinions from below. [snip] In a ...

Obamacare Is Ruled Unconstitutional
Hallelujah! - a Federal Judge that understands Constitutional Law! And is not afraid to rule using it! Challenges to ObamaCare Legislation have been mounted in Federal Courts in Virginia, Michigan and Florida, where 20 states have joined an effort to have the statute struck down. In 42 pages, United States District Court Judge Henry Hudson (from the Eastern District of Virginia) issued his ruling regarding the challenge set forth by Virginia's Attorney General, Kenneth Cuccinelli II, to the le...

Federal judge in Va. strikes down health care law
RICHMOND, Va. – A Federal Judge in Virginia has declared the Obama Administration's Health Care reform law Unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson is the first judge to rule against the law, which has been upheld by two others in Virginia and Michigan. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli filed the Lawsuit challenging the law's requirement that citizens buy Health Insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2014. He argues the Federal Government doesn't have the constitutional ...

Pro-Life Groups Applaud Judges Ruling Against ObamaCare
Leading pro-life groups responded to a Federal Judge’s decision today striking down the Individual Mandate portion of the ObamaCare law that they have opposed over Abortion funding. Every major pro-life organization has released a legal analysis of the ObamaCare bill saying it lacks sufficient provisions to stop Abortion funding. They have also had to work to stop the Obama Administration from funding abortions in three states through the high risk Health Insurance pools. The American Cent...

GOP Cheers Judge's Health Care Ruling
(NewsCore) - Republicans seized on Monday’s ruling by a Federal Judge in Virginia that a central plank of President Barack Obama’s Health Care law -- requiring most Americans to carry Insurance -- violates the Constitution. “Today’s ruling is a clear affirmation that President Obama’s Health Care law is Unconstitutional,” Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the presumptive House Majority Leader next year, said in a statement. The ruling by US District Judge Henry E. Hu...

GOP Cheers Judge's Health Care Ruling
(NewsCore) - Republicans seized on Monday’s ruling by a Federal Judge in Virginia that a central plank of President Barack Obama’s Health Care law -- requiring most Americans to carry Insurance -- violates the Constitution. “Today’s ruling is a clear affirmation that President Obama’s Health Care law is Unconstitutional,” Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the presumptive House Majority Leader next year, said in a statement. The ruling by US District Judge Henry E. Hu...

Tea party claims win with ruling
President Obama yesterday insisted his historic health-care overhaul will overcome its first major roadblock, even as his Tea Party and Republican foes gleefully hailed a Virginia Federal Judge’s declaration that a mandate requiring all Americans carry Insurance is Unconstitutional. “I think we’ve been vindicated. This is the first step in getting this whole thing thrown out,” said Mark Meckler, national co-coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots [team stats], which repre...

States of Defiance: Virginia strikes back against ObamaCare
A Federal Court ruled Monday that a key part of the health-care overhaul violates the Constitution, dealing the first legal setback to the Obama Administration's signature legislative accomplishment. The 42-page ruling doesn't mean states or the Federal Government must stop implementing the law. But it is expected to give ammunition to a broad Republican assault against the overhaul, which includes efforts in Congress to chip away at it. Requiring Americans to buy Insurance "would invite unbridl...

Reach Out...
Yesterday, in a stunning blow, a Federal Court ruled against the Obama Administration over ObamaCare. In an outrageous display of arrogance and ignorance, the judge ruled against the Obama administration's argument that refusing to buy Health Insurance is in and of itself an act that directly effects interstate commerce. That's absolutely inconceivable. Doesn't the judge know that not engaging in a specific act of commerce is exactly the same as engaging in that act of commerce? And that all c...

Tuesday Open Thread: Constitution Edition
Yesterday, a Federal Judge in Virginia rule that the Individual Mandate in ObamaCare is Unconstitutional. (Well…yeah.) The ruling sets up a showdown in the Supreme Court. ...

Law Will Proceed, Administration Says
WASHINGTON — A court decision striking down a central provision of the new Health Care law will not disrupt efforts to carry it out, even though the ruling could increase confusion and embolden critics, Obama administration officials and employers said Monday. Robert Gibbs, the Press Secretary, answered questions about a Federal Judge's ruling. “Implementation of the act will proceed,” said a White House official after the Federal Court ruling on Monday. “The ruling wil...