"JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. ? Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a key provision of President Barack Obama's health care law, sending a clear message of discontent to [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Washington[/COLOR][/COLOR] and Democrats less than 100 days before the midterm elections."

"About 71 percent of Missouri voters backed a ballot measure, Proposition C, that would prohibit the government from requiring people to have health insurance or from penalizing them for not having it."


"Tuesday's vote was seen as largely symbolic because federal law generally trumps state law. But it was also seen as a sign of growing [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]voter [COLOR=#366388 ! important]disillusionment[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] with federal policies and a show of strength by conservatives and the tea party movement."

"The health care referendum was helped by a high Republican turnout. In Missouri's open primaries, voters do not have to register their party affiliation. But far more people picked Republican ballots than Democratic ones Tuesday."

"Legislatures in Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Louisiana[/COLOR][/COLOR] and Virginia have passed similar statutes without referring them to the ballot, and voters in Arizona and Oklahoma will vote on such measures as state constitutional amendments in November. Missouri was the first state to challenge aspects of the federal law in a referendum."

"Federal courts are expected to weigh in well before the insurance requirement takes effect about whether the federal health care overhaul is constitutional."

""I don't think people should be walking around sick," said Kathy Ward, a 57-year-old Columbia nurse, who voted against Missouri's law. "The fact remains, people have the right to have health care, and they should get it. It help makes a healthier society."

Mo. voters reject key provision of health care law - Yahoo! News