Olens, Bondi Team-up at RNC

“We did everything in our power to stop it, taking the fight all the way to the United States Supreme Court.”

Sharing the eight thirty block, Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi teamed up to break-down Obama’s healthcare plan last night at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. The two AGs have an invested interest in defeating the legislation, as they led the fight in Washington against it earlier this year. In March, Olens represented Georgia in its lawsuit against the federal government regarding The Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare), while Bondi too fought for her state in Washington. The June SCOTUS decision, however, was received with mixed feelings. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the law can only be upheld constitutionally if the result of not purchasing health insurance is defined as a tax, which the Obama administration repeatedly denied. As such, the attorneys general speech last night targeted Obama’s prized and poisoned legacy.

In the beginning of the speech, Olens reminded the audience that as attorney general his (and Bondi’s) job is to defend the Constitution for the American People and highlighted that the Constitution limits the powers of the federal government. He emphasized, however, that President Obama ignores these limitations, saying they get in his way. Alternating time at the microphone, Bondi said Obamacare is exhibit A for big government.

“We did everything in our power to stop it,”

Olens said,

“taking the fight all the way to the United States Supreme Court.”

He added they prevailed in their two main arguments, that the legislation violated the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, as Bondi stated, and that it is tax. If the Obama Administration and the Democrats had presented Obamacare for what it truly was, Olens said, it would never had passed, because the American People were in such bad financial shape that the last thing they needed was another tax. Olens said the health care lawsuit reminded us the Constitution limits the power of government and of the

“precious relationship between federalism and individual liberty.”

Although Bondi had the last word, Olens stood by her as she spoke, and they seemed to have one voice. She said it was time to make a new choice, to repeal Obamacare, time to remember that our rights are not a gift from government, but from God and time for the presidency of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Later in the evening, Paul Ryan officially accepted the nomination for vice presidential candidate and delivered a well-received speech, repeatedly interrupted with applause and ovations. The theme of Ryan’s speech was

“We can do this,”

meaning turn the country around economically, put citizens back to work, and create jobs for the millions of people who are unemployed and under-employed. He also said, though

“we don’t have much time.”

However, the country can recover given a Romney-Ryan Presidency, he asserted.

“Mitt has not only succeeded, but he has succeeded where others could not,”

he said,

“He turned around the Olympics at a time when a great institution was collapsing under the weight of bad management, overspending and corruption. Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? He was the Republican governor of a state where almost nine in 10 legislators are Democrats and yet he balanced the budget without raising taxes. Unemployment went down. Household incomes went up, and Massachusetts under Governor Mitt Romney saw its credit rating upgraded.”

Other highpoints of the evening included speeches by Condoleezza Rice and New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez.

Presumptive Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak tonight at 10:15 P.M.

.