**** UPDATE ****

The Federal Government's  Motion to Dismiss the Virginia lawsuit against the Obama Healthcare legislation was denied by U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson.

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Dear Friends,

In a decision released this morning (August 2, 2010), Virginia survived the federal government's motion to dismiss.  This is the first of many hurdles we will be facing - but this is a huge victory nonetheless.

As you all know - how this case turns out will have huge ramifications for the cause of liberty and even Federalism itself.  While we are still reviewing the 32 page ruling, I would still like to point your attention to one of the concluding paragraphs in the judge's ruling:

While this case raises a host of complex constitutional issues, all seem to distill to the single question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate- and tax- a citizen's decision not to participate in interstate commerce. Neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor any circuit of appeals has squarely addressed this issue.  No reported case from any federal appellate court has extended the Commerce Clause or Tax Clause to include the regulation of a person's decision not to purchase a product, notwithstanding its effect on interstate commerce.  Given the presence of some authority arguably supporting the theory underlying each side's position, this court cannot conclude at this stage that the complaint fails to state a cause of action.

The secretary's motion to dismiss will therefore be denied.  Resolution of the controlling issues in this case must await a hearing on the merits.

For those of you who are interested, you can read the entire ruling by clicking here.

We'll be releasing a more thorough analysis on the ruling in the coming days - but as an early supporter of our efforts, I wanted to keep you apprised of the situation.