It's not a tax. Except when it is.
You saw this coming, right? On the Stephanopoulos show last year, Obama repeatedly insisted that the individual mandate is "absolutely" not a tax. The very suggestions that it is a tax was a fabrication cooked up by the President's enemies: "My critics say everything is a tax increase," he said, in full Nixonian splendor, "My critics say that I'm taking over every sector of the economy."
Now, in response to the lawsuit challenging Obamacare (the one filed by the state attorneys general), the Department of Justice argues that the individual mandate "imposes a tax on the choice of a method to finance the future costs of one's health care."
Right. So now it "absolutely" is a tax. The administration had to concede this to bring the individual mandate within Congress's taxing power. The Constitution empowers Congress to impose taxes for the "general welfare."
James Madison, who knew a thing or two about the Constitution, said that the General Welfare Clause did not represent a distinct, stand-alone power; rather it was just a shorthand way to describe Congress's narrow enumerated powers. But the administration may get away with it because ever since the New Deal, the General Welfare Clause has been converted into a blank check that allows Congress to do almost anything provided it can structure it as a "tax."
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Jun '10
Re: It's not a tax. Except when it is.
OK, so how much more disgusted can I get? I can only pray that my disgust is the most common sentiment in all of our once great country.