A Big Fight In Big Sky Country

Add Montana's Attorney General, Democrat Steve Bullock, to the list of AG's who think suing the federal government over Obamacare is a waste of time.  TPM's Christina Bellantoni:

Bullock, elected in November 2008 along with President Obama, said there is "no credible constitutional claim" to the lawsuits, which seem driven by politics. "The lawsuit also presents serious standing and ripeness issues, given that it appears to be filed based more on the timing of the November 2010 elections than the date in 2014 when individuals and states might first be subject to the act's requirements," Bullock wrote in the letter, which you can read here.

"Montana's decision not to join these lawsuits leaves these critical questions of national policy in the hands of "We the people and our elected representatives, where these decisions belong," he added.

Needless to say, Montana Republicans are furious, among them Montana's House minority leader, Scott Sales.

Sales told me in an interview this morning he does believe the Republicans are poised to make major gains in the fall legislative elections, even though he is term limited and will be leaving state office. He was speaker of the House with a 51-50 majority, but when the legislature split 50-50 in 2009, the control went to the party which holds the governorship.

Sales thinks the bill is unconstitutional and will put "a huge burden" on states due to Medicare expansion and disagreed with Bullock's claim. "He accuses us of playing politics - that seems seems a little political to me," Sales said.

That's a convenient claim:  pointing out that this is partisan politics is of course, partisan politics.  It doesn't change the fact that it's Republican-led states suing over this bill and Republican AG's doing the suing (with the exception of Louisiana Democrat Buddy Caldwell, but Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is of course a Republican.)

This is all one giant fundraiser/GOTV effort on the part of the Republicans for 2010 and they know it.  It doesn't matter if the lawsuit's doomed if it helps them get control of Congress in November so they can simply defund and shutdown the Obama government.  I'm glad there are AGs willing to call them out on it, but it's all political theater anyway.