GOP attorney general candidate would sue over health care law

AG nominee Chris Barden
Chris Barden, the GOP nominee for Attorney General, waited with his family before speaking at the Minnesota Republican Party State Convention Thursday, April 29, 2010, in Minneapolis.
MPR Photo/McKenna Ewen

Chris Barden, a Republican attorney general candidate, is renewing his pledge to oppose the federal overhaul of the nation's health care system.

Barden said if elected, he would quickly join a lawsuit brought by 14 other states challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

During a news conference Tuesday, Barden said the effort to nationalize health care is the most important consumer protection issue facing Minnesota. He said the new federal law will harm the state's existing health care system, as well as schools and roads.

"The costs are going to be so large ... the financial pressures for schools and roads and for other kinds of things are going to be quite dramatic and troublesome," he said.

Barden is challenging incumbent DFL Attorney General Lori Swanson, who's seeking her second term. Swanson decided earlier this year not to join the health care lawsuit against the federal government.

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