Comment Re:Surprise move? (Score 1) 1505
The problem with you arguing that it is a tax, and is thus allowed under the Constitution, is that the president insisted at first that it was not a tax (See http://technorati.com/politics/article/health-care-mandate-thats-not-a/ [Unfortunately, it's a two-pager article].):
Let's go back to last September [2009], shall we? In an ABC News interview, George Stephanopoulos very pointedly asked the president how forcing Americans to purchase a particular service and imposing penalties if they don't is not a tax. To Obama's credit, he did a bang up job trying to get around the question, even going as far as accusing Stephanopoulos of "making up" language that brands the health care mandate as a tax, even after the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of "tax" was provided to him. The president fired back by stating, "My critics say everything is a tax increase," and when once again asked if he rejected the notion that the mandate was a tax increase, he said, "I absolutely reject that notion."
On the next page, the article notes that it wasn't until legal challenges were filed against the bill, stating the mandate was unconstitutional, that the administration said it was a tax:
Robert Pear, in a July 16 New York Times article, reported that the DOJ "says the requirement for people to carry insurance or pay the penalty is 'a valid exercise' of Congress’s power to impose taxes." Essentially, this whole fiasco, that wasn't tax, is now a tax because the Commerce Clause in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, says it is...even though it wasn't a tax...but it is...until it isn't again. The DOJ also contends that because the IRS will be collecting any penalties and that they will be required to be reported "as an addition to income tax liability," this also makes it a tax, and therefore "no one can challenge it in court before paying it and seeking a refund." This is where it almost seems like the administration is simply trying to play a game of "Gotcha" when it comes to the debate of "tax or not a tax."
Danger, Will Robinson! The president's either lied to the public or clueless when it comes to the English language. I could assume incompetence over malice, but since everyone says he's a great public speaker, I'm inclined to go with the malice explanation.