A U.S. judge ruled on Monday that the state of Virginia could proceed with its challenge to President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law, a setback that will force the White House to defend its reforms in the middle of a tough congressional election campaign.
In the opening salvo of the legal fight, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson refused to dismiss the state's lawsuit, which argued the requirement that its residents must have health insurance is unconstitutional and conflicts with state law.
More here http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67130B20100802
Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents.
Commonwealth - Today, commonwealth also means a political unit having local autonomy but voluntarily united with the U.S.
Understanding why these states chose the commonwealth moniker and continue to stick to it so proudly is a lot easier once you consider the history of those states. The original meaning of the word commonwealth was a nation or body governed by the people, not some king or tyrant. In fact, the time in British history during which Cromwell and Parliament ruled instead of a king is known as the Commonwealth Period. So when it came time for the American colonies to throw off the yokes of oppression and tea taxes and the excessive use of the letter u in words like colour, the three hotbeds of revolution—Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—were most eager to signal the difference in government. Perhaps remembering the Commonwealth Period, they declared themselves commonwealths. So what about Kentucky? Kentucky had once been merely a giant western county of Virginia (before that, it was called Transylvania). When it started doing its own thing in 1790, Kentucky kept the commonwealth status. Not to mention the whiskey.
From http://www.mentalfloss.com/difference/state-vs-commonwealth/
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