Jackson Free Press

Here we go again.

Back in 2010, Gov. Haley Barbour ignored advice from Mississippi's Attorney General Jim Hood when the AG told him that suing the federal government over the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) was a waste of the state's time and money—plenty of other states already had it covered, Hood said, in essence.

As it turns out, Hood was ultimately correct. Adding Mississippi to the list of petitioners wasn't a game changer. It was, however, a symbolic act of solidarity against the Obama administration, much like the 13 times Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives passed bills to repeal the ACA, knowing that the U.S. Senate would never go along.

These are defiant acts that Gov. Phil Bryant means to follow. Back in July, Bryant joined with 10 others to sue over the ACA once again, this time focusing on allegations that the act would force citizens to disclose medical information to insurers, violating their right to medical privacy.

"As a sovereign people, we exist not to serve the government, but have instead created the government to serve us," the plaintiffs stated. "We therefore have empowered the courts to protect our constitutional rights, especially those few, special rights we deem fundamental. Because the individual mandate infringes upon our fundamental right to privacy, the individual mandate must be declared unconstitutional, else we must acknowledge that sovereign authority no longer resides in the people."

That's some high-fallutin' ideological language from the leaders of a state that scrapes the bottom of the barrel in nearly every prosperity, health and well-being marker ever devised. Mississippi is the poorest state in union, with median incomes hovering between $36,000 and $37,000 when the rest of the nation is closer to $50,000. We lead the nation in obesity and its numerous sidekicks, including high blood pressure, heart disease and more. We're at or near the top for teen pregnancy, smoking and infant mortality. High-school dropout rates in some Mississippi counties exceed one quarter of its students; in Amite County, the dropout rate is 44 percent. More than half a million Mississippians have no health insurance, and more people go to bed hungry than in any other state in the union.

Despite all the enormous hurdles the state faces, our leaders (many of whom, like Bryant, have health insurance at citizen expense) continue to waste energy and resources on fighting against a program that could actually make a difference to the people most in need in Mississippi.

U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett threw out the suit last week. The group was jumping the gun, because the individual mandate hasn't gone into effect, yet. He also stated that Bryant, because he gets coverage from the state, has no standing as a plaintiff.

Wouldn't our state—and our country—be better off if our leaders actually stood for those who need a voice instead of just against their political foes? It's time to set aside animosity and get to work.