Ohio GOP, Tea Partyers Fight Healthcare Provision

Ohio Republicans and tea party groups have teamed up to try to stop a key provision of President Barack Obama’s federal healthcare law with a constitutional amendment. They’re working to putting an amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot that would allow voters to choose whether to opt out of the individual mandate in the healthcare law, the Dayton Daily News reported Wednesday.
 
Chris Littleton, leader of the Ohio Liberty Council, the umbrella group for about 70 tea parties across the state, said the amendment is directed not only at the federal law but also at any state or federal effort to compel Ohioans to participate in a health care plan.

“It’s one of the largest invasions of liberty we’ve seen in my lifetime,” Littleton said of the federal law.

Tea party groups began working on the issue last year and have gathered about 305,000 signatures of the 385,245 needed by the July 6 deadline. The goal is to submit more than 500,000 signatures to compensate for any that might be rejected, Littleton said.

“Absolutely, we will have it on the ballot this year,” he said.