Obama Administration: Health Care Mandate is a Tax

[Rob Iola]

From that Conk rag, the New York Times:

When Congress required most Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty, Democrats denied that they were creating a new tax. But in court, the Obama administration and its allies now defend the requirement as an exercise of the government’s “power to lay and collect taxes.”
...
Jack M. Balkin, a professor at Yale Law School who supports the new law, said, “The tax argument is the strongest argument for upholding” the individual-coverage requirement.

Mr. Obama “has not been honest with the American people about the nature of this bill,” Mr. Balkin said last month at a meeting of the American Constitution Society, a progressive legal organization. “This bill is a tax. Because it’s a tax, it’s completely constitutional.”
...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/healt ... .html?_r=1

[danefan]

Not surprising. its a backup argument to the Commece Clause argument.

[youngterrier]

[danefan]

I don't really understand why this is even news. The provisions of the health care bill that deal with penalites and the like are all additions to the Tax Code.

[Rob Iola]

Then why were Obama et. al. so vocal in saying that it wasn't a tax?

[danefan]

Then why were Obama et. al. so vocal in saying that it wasn't a tax?

No clue, but I guess that the Administration was playing politics and the Tea Party members have effectively turned Tax into a 4-letter word (fine by me). I don't see how anyone with a brain didn't realize the "Penalty" in the bill was in fact a tax-based penalty.

1. Its in the Tax Code.
2. Its administerred by the IRS.

[HI54UNI]

Then why were Obama et. al. so vocal in saying that it wasn't a tax?

Because they are all lying politicians.

[Baldy]

I don't really understand why this is even news. The provisions of the health care bill that deal with penalites and the like are all additions to the Tax Code.

Last two minutes of the clip...Obama lies, freedom dies.

[youtube][/youtube]

[GannonFan]

Clearly it was and is and always has been a tax. However, just one more example of how badly the health care reform was packaged and sold to the public (although the public never really appeared to be sold on it anyway) - when you have George Stephanapolous grilling Obama that it is a tax and Obama goes to great lengths to claim that it's not a tax only to have the administration months later defend it as a tax is just one more example of the missteps that have plagued this administration.

[Rob Iola]

Clearly it was and is and always has been a tax. However, just one more example of how badly the health care reform was packaged and sold to the public (although the public never really appeared to be sold on it anyway) - when you have George Stephanapolous grilling Obama that it is a tax and Obama goes to great lengths to claim that it's not a tax only to have the administration months later defend it as a tax is just one more example of the missteps that have plagued this administration.

Exactly. The real political problem (among others) will present itself this fall when Dems running for reelection won't be able tout their votes for health care without the Conks pulling this clip and the follow-up Times article out in a series of very effective campaign ads...

[Pwns]

I don't really understand why this is even news. The provisions of the health care bill that deal with penalites and the like are all additions to the Tax Code.

The federal government calling a spade a spade is big news.

[native]

I don't really understand why this is even news. The provisions of the health care bill that deal with penalites and the like are all additions to the Tax Code.

The federal government calling a spade a spade is big news.

[Col Hogan]

Then why were Obama et. al. so vocal in saying that it wasn't a tax?

No clue, but I guess that the Administration was playing politics and the Tea Party members have effectively turned Tax into a 4-letter word (fine by me). I don't see how anyone with a brain didn't realize the "Penalty" in the bill was in fact a tax-based penalty.

1. Its in the Tax Code.
2. Its administerred by the IRS.

I've tried to find where the MSM told the people it's a tax...or any of the Democratic leadership in arguing for support called it a tax...

In fact...how would the average person know it was a tax if the legislation wasn't posted until the last minute...

Seems to be the classic example of bait and switch......but that's just my opinion...

[native]

No clue, but I guess that the Administration was playing politics and the Tea Party members have effectively turned Tax into a 4-letter word (fine by me). I don't see how anyone with a brain didn't realize the "Penalty" in the bill was in fact a tax-based penalty.

1. Its in the Tax Code.
2. Its administerred by the IRS.

I've tried to find where the MSM told the people it's a tax...or any of the Democratic leadership in arguing for support called it a tax...

In fact...how would the average person know it was a tax if the legislation wasn't posted until the last minute...

Seems to be the classic example of bait and switch......but that's just my opinion...

Obama's entire agenda is bait and switch!

The first "post-racial" candidate has turned out to be the most racist and divisive President since the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.

The "open and transparent" candidate has turned out to be the most secretive and brazenly manipulative President in history.

The prudent candidate has turned into the most profligate spender in history.

The "Recovery Act" has turned into a job-killer.

"Pay as you go" has turned into "pay to play."

"Financial Reform" is in reality financial strangulation...

And on and on and on and on...

[From the class of 09]

Instead of thinking of it as being lied to by our President I like to think that he’s just incompetent and naive so he really believed that it wasn’t a tax at the time. That way he would have an excuse.