Even with Minnesota and Wisconsin’s Democratic Attorneys General opting to side with the feds rather than defend state sovereignty, the decision to fight ObamaCare in the courts over federal encroachment has become popular.  With the addition of five states today, the count has now reached 18 states that will demand action in court to stop the enforcement of the individual mandate, among other matters:

The joint lawsuit led by Florida and now grouping 18 states was filed on March 23. It claims the sweeping reform of the $2.5 trillion healthcare system violates state-government rights in the U.S. Constitution and will force massive new spending on hard-pressed state governments.

South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho, and South Dakota had previously joined Florida’s lawsuit.

“We welcome the partnership of Indiana, North Dakota, Mississippi, Nevada and Arizona as we continue fighting to protect the constitutional rights of American citizens and the sovereignty of our states,” Bill McCollum said.

Are there that many AGs looking for higher office? HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was asked about the lawsuits yesterday, and dismissed them as cheap political stunts:

As we see in Minnesota, the political hackery seems to be more on the other foot. Sebelius may well be right, at least in the notion that courts will be loath to reverse the bill, but it sounds a little more like bravado. At the very least, more than a third of the states see a fundamental interest in stopping Washington from encroaching on their sovereignty, which makes this a bit more than a campaign stunt — even if Sebelius could substantiate the notion that all 18 AGs (one of whom at least is a Democrat, Louisiana’s James Caldwell) are actually pursuing higher office at the moment.