The problems with the new federal health care law keep mounting as people learn more about it.
As we reported last week, a provision to raise money to pay for it requires businesses, non-profits and government agencies to file IRS forms for transactions of $600 or more, a tremendous financial burden on everybody. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office reports that the accounting cost to the IRS will negate the increase in tax collections that are suppose to help pay for health care.
One after another, local businesses have been learning that their health care costs are increasing and coverage for their workers decreasing. There are many cases in which jobs will be cut to pay for the federal requirements.
One escape from the throes of this bad legislation is to sue the federal government on the grounds that it's unconstitutional. Never before has the government required its citizens to purchase a specific product.
If elected state attorney general, Republican challenger Mike DeWine says he will immediately join other states in such a lawsuit against the federal government. That's the main reason we endorse DeWine over incumbent Democrat Richard Cordray.
Also in the race is Constitution Party candidate Robert Owens and Libertarian Marc Allan Feldman.
Cordray said he and DeWine have a ''philosophical'' difference regarding the health care law and that joining the suit would waste taxpayer money. We strongly disagree.
DeWine has a long history of political service. He was a state senator in 1981, served in the U.S. House from 1983 to 1991, was Ohio's lieutenant governor under George Voinovich and then a U.S. senator from 1995 to 2007.
Cordray rose from Franklin County treasurer to state treasurer in 2007. He then won a special election in 2008 to take over the office that became scandal-ridden under the shenanigans of Marc Dann.
Cordray's record as attorney general has been impressive. He established a review process before his staff can file lawsuits against businesses, he reduced the time it takes the state crime labs to process evidence for local law enforcement and he improved the department's budget. We are convinced that DeWine, by bringing in out-of-state experts, can further quicken the evidence processing, and by accepting a performance audit can make the department even more efficient with taxpayer dollars.
It's reassuring that DeWine is adamant about Ohio's five public pension funds becoming more transparent. In an effort to examine how taxpayer dollars are being spent, many Ohio newspapers have asked to see public retirees' benefits information. In an effort to protect personal information, the newspapers agreed to accept only the data and not the names. The pension funds, which receive their legal advice from Cordray, refused.
DeWine unequivocally says the records should be public.
That's another reason we endorse him.
