Democrats Ask Cuccinelli: "How Much?"

By Sarah Sonies Tuesday, March 30, 2010

RICHMOND – Virginia Democrats have filed a Freedom of Information Act request to find out how much Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is spending to sue the federal government to overturn the federal health care legislation signed last week by President Barack Obama.

Virginia Democrats asked for the records of Cuccinelli and his staff in preparing the suit; a list of conference calls or written correspondence between the attorney general’s office and other groups in planning the lawsuit; the names of any outside firms contracted to assist with the lawsuit; and the attorney general’s full schedule since taking office.

“Instead of tackling important issues that Virginians are dealing with everyday, like helping citizens who are facing home foreclosure or being exploited by predatory lending, our attorney general has spent his first three months in office promoting his radical agenda,” Dave Mills, executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia, stated in a press release.

“Standing in the way of the health care reform that Virginians need is unacceptable.”

Cuccinelli, a Republican and former state senator from Fairfax, has also sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, challenging its findings on global warming.

He maintains that he was elected to defend the U.S. and Virginia constitutions – and that the federal government has overreached on both health care and environmental edicts.

Cuccinelli also has said that his office’s involvement in the federal lawsuits has not detracted from its other duties.

But Democratic groups have raised questions in hopes of scoring political points. They also have criticized Cuccinelli for telling Virginia’s public universities and colleges that they should remove gays and lesbians from their anti-discrimination policies – a decision overturned by Gov. Bob McDonnell.

The group Virginia Young Democrats has started a Web site called dropthelawsuit.com, hoping to pressure Cuccinelli to abandon the health care action. As of Monday, more than 400 people had signed the online petition.

“Yet again, Virginia’s attorney general has decided to seek the front page instead of doing the job he was elected to do,” said Sean Holihan, president of the organization.

The state Democratic Party as a whole has launched an online petition “calling on Ken Cuccinelli to stop wasting our tax dollars on his political stunts.” In the first 24 hours, more than 8,300 people signed the petition, Mills said.

State Democratic Chairman Richard Cranwell said the federal health care law will benefit millions of Virginians by lowering insurance premiums and prescription costs and prohibiting discrimination against people because of pre-existing conditions.

“Cuccinelli has decided to wage a fruitless war against health care reform – by filing a frivolous lawsuit against the federal government,” Cranwell said.