Court strikes health insurance requirement

ATLANTA - A federal appeals panel struck down the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care overhaul Friday, moving the argument over whether Americans can be required to buy health insurance a step closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The divided three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded Congress overstepped its authority when lawmakers passed the so-called individual mandate, the first such decision by a federal appeals court. It's a stinging blow to Obama's signature legislative achievement, as most experts agree the requirement that Americans carry health insurance - or face tax penalties - is the foundation for other parts of the law.

Chief Judge Joel Dubina and Circuit Judge Frank Hull found in a 207-page opinion that lawmakers cannot require residents to "enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die."

In a lengthy dissent, Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus accused the majority of ignoring the "undeniable fact that Congress' commerce power has grown exponentially over the past two centuries." He wrote that Congress generally has the constitutional authority to create rules regulating large areas of the national economy.

The White House argued the legislative branch was using a "quintessential" power - its constitutional ability to regulate interstate commerce, including the health care industry - when it passed the overhaul law. Administration officials said they are confident the ruling will not stand. The Justice Department can ask the full 11th Circuit to review the panel's ruling and will also likely appeal to the Supreme Court.

"Individuals who choose to go without health insurance are making an economic decision that affects all of us - when people without insurance obtain health care they cannot pay for, those with insurance and taxpayers are often left to pick up the tab," said White House adviser Stephanie Cutter.

The 11th Circuit's ruling, which sided with 26 states that had sued to stop the law from taking effect, is the latest contradictory judicial opinion on the health care debate. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati upheld the individual mandate in June, and an appeals court in Richmond has heard similar challenges to the law. Several lower court judges have also issued differing opinions on the debate.

Legal observers long expected the case would ultimately land in the Supreme Court, but experts said Friday's ruling could finally force the justices to take the case.

"There needs to be a pronouncement that's nationwide," said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law. "It would be almost impossible to implement it if we have splintered decisions from different geographic circuits. The Supreme Court may feel now it has to take it."

Perry to declare candidacy for president

DES MOINES, Iowa - Months behind other GOP candidates, Rick Perry has something most of them don't: Buzz. The Texas governor will enter the race today with splashy appearances in South Carolina and New Hampshire.

At the same time, he is putting together what looks a lot like a traditional presidential campaign. The path he hopes will lead to the Republican nomination starts here, in the leadoff caucus state of Iowa, with a message of jobs and values as he tries to set himself apart from GOP front-runner Mitt Romney.

The Texan's team is working to expand what it says is already a robust fundraising network and to hire veteran campaign operatives in early primary states. The campaign, as many before it, aims to march through early states, court a broad coalition of conservatives and stress an economic message backed by the candidate's home-state job growth.

"We cannot and must not endure four more years of rising unemployment, rising taxes, rising debt and rising energy dependence on nations that intend us harm," Perry is expected to say in Charleston, S.C., according to remarks prepared for delivery.

Speaking at a GOP fundraising dinner in Alabama Friday night, Perry didn't reveal his plans but sounded like a candidate, even asking listeners to send him text messages so he could get their phone numbers in his database.

"There is still a whole world of work to be done in Washington, D.C., and we need to send truly fiscal conservatives to Washington to get it done," he said.

Still, his hurdles on the way to the GOP nomination are high, given that Perry is later to the game than his rivals, some of whom have been campaigning and fundraising for months.

"We have a consensus that we can do it - and no one's 100 percent convinced it's going to work," Perry's longtime strategist, Dave Carney, said.

Perry is working quickly to assemble a network of operatives nationally and in key early-voting states Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He's attracting staff from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's imploded campaign as well as the aborted presidential bid of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.

Rob Johnson, who left Perry's office early this year to be Gingrich's campaign manager, is expected to be central to the Texan's presidential campaign and was headed to South Carolina on Friday.

And Perry's even started siphoning staff from current candidates. GOP fundraiser Gary Slayton in New Hampshire shifted from supporting former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to Perry this week, saying of the Texan, "He clearly sees the peril facing our beloved nation and has decided to answer the call."

- The Associated Press