Late last week, Gov. Pawlenty seemed to be threatening to sue to block the federal health care program, or possibly assert Minnesota's right to opt out of it, on 10th Amendment states rights grounds. Then he clarified on his radio show that he had no lawsuit in mind, nor "secession," (we'll assume that word choice was a semi-humorous hyperbole.) The clarification of what Pawlenty wasn't advocating didn't really clarify what he was advocating. And in the first take-back, he introduced a new idea, that perhaps Obamacare represented an unconstitutional federal seizure of the rights of the private sector.

So I had made a mental note to call some of my ol' Con law experts this week to inquire whether anything in the current health care debate raised credible grounds for any kind of challenge under the 10 Amendment. But I guess I don't have to, because today, on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Pawlenty clarified further that he wasn't raising the 10th Amendment on literal legal grounds and wasn't suggesting any litigation by anyone. He meant it only as a political talking point to remind everyone that the powers not delegated to the federal government are retained by the states and the people.

Here's the exchange:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Governor Pawlenty, let me begin with you, because after the speech on Thursday night, the president says he's going to get this done. After the speech on Thursday night, you suggested perhaps invoking the Tenth Amendment, which reserves powers to the states, if indeed this does pass. What exactly are you saying? There is a movement to actually nullify health care if it passes?

PAWLENTY: Well, George, in the legal sense, I think the courts have addressed these Tenth Amendment issues, but more in the political sense, in the common sense arena, we need to have a clear understanding of what the federal government does well and what should be reserved to the states.

We have essentially Obamacare that's been deployed in two states in major ways. One is in Tennessee. We have a Democratic governor, Phil Bredesen, said hey, look, we tried this cost savings as a way to fund a major overhaul of health care; it didn't work. He's in the news this morning saying, you know, don't go down that path.

We have another state, Massachusetts, who tried essentially the same thing. They have the most expensive health care in the country. They have increasing waiting lines, and it's not working.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So just to be clear, are you suggesting that any parts of the plan as the president has laid it out are unconstitutional?

PAWLENTY: Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a legal issue. I was raising it as much as a practical matter, that there are some things that the federal government shouldn't do, doesn't do well, and should leave to the states.

Pawlenty was the only Republican on a panel, with two Dem Senators and Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius, and he represented his party's viewpoint on a number of other health care-related matters. The full transcript of the panel is here.