Missouri GOP: Koster challenge to Kinder lawsuit is a waste of taxpayers' money

It did not take long for the Missouri Republican Party to respond to Attorney General Chris Koster's answer to Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder's challenge to the federal health care plan:

Several recent actions by Attorney General Chris Koster demonstrate his lack of commitment to protecting Missourians’ right to make their voices heard on the onerous federal health care bill, both at the ballot box in August and in the courts.


1) Koster is wasting taxpayer money in an attempt to save the federal health care bill from a constitutional challenged leveled by Lt. Governor Peter Kinder.

2) Koster’s defense of the legislature against a suit brought by opponents of Proposition C has been called into question by State Rep. John Diehl, who Koster failed to notify about several upcoming deadlines.

“Attorney General Chris Koster is using all the tools at his disposal to force Missourians to live under Nancy Pelosi’s and Harry Reid’s oppressive federal health care controls,” said Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party. “Serious questions regarding Koster’s commitment to defending Missourians’ right to make their voices heard have been raised by his sloppy actions and downright hostile attitude towards the legal actions meant to protect Missourians from the worst parts of the Pelosi-Reid health care bill.”

According to the Associated Press, Koster is attempting to prevent Lt. Governor Kinder from being part of a federal lawsuit in his official capacity. While Lt. Governor Kinder is raising private funds to pay for the lawsuit and to ensure that Missourians are not footing the bill, Koster is wasting taxpayer money by using his office to challenge Kinder’s standing. This is a clear attempt to discredit Kinder’s challenge and save the Pelosi-Reid bill.

In another legal action, Koster is charged with defending state officials including Representative John Diehl against opponents of the August 3rd vote on the Health Care Freedom Action. But Rep. Diehl has accused Koster of failing to properly notify him of upcoming deadlines and trial dates. According to a motion filed today, Diehl was not made aware of an expedited hearing scheduled for July 13 until he discovered it while on Missouri Case Net just days ago.

“Clearly, Chris Koster doesn’t want Missourians to have their day in court,” said Smith. “He will do anything to silence the voices of the overwhelming number of Missourians who oppose the health care mandates—even if it means looking incompetent or playing partisan politics with the law.”

Further complicating matters, the judge hearing the case is a longtime friend and former employee of Governor Nixon, both when he was Attorney General and in the Governor’s office.

“It is extremely disappointing that a few people are trying to do an end run around a supermajority of the legislature and around Missourians who want a voice in the future of their own health care at the polls on August 3,” said Sen. Jane Cunningham, one of the leaders of the Health Care Freedom Act in the State Senate.

Of course, the Missouri GOP could have known about Koster's response earlier if it had used the same source Associated Press used- The Turner Report.