An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Gee, Y’mean He LIED?
White House Admits Obamacare’s Individual Mandate is a Tax
The Foundry
Throughout his presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama promised the American people: “If you’re a family that’s making $250,000 a year or less, you will see no increase in your taxes.” After he became President, Barack Obama reiterated that pledge, promising the American people in his September 9th health care press conference: “The middle-class will realize greater security, not higher taxes.” But Obamacare does contain tax hikes. Tons of them. From taxes on tanning beds to taxes on employment and investments, Obamacare is a certified job-killing machine.
None of these taxes touches the lives of every American as closely as the individual mandate to purchase health insurance. For the first time in American history, Obamacare forces all Americans to purchase a product or face sanction from the Internal Revenue Service. This is clearly a tax, as pointed out by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos during a September 20th interview with the President himself. In an exchange that can only be described as “Clintonesque” Stephanopoulos pressed President Obama to admit his individual mandate was a tax. But President Obama refused to acknowledge reality and denied it. Stephanopoulos was forced to read the definition of “tax” straight from Merriam Webster’s Dictionary. But even then Obama refused to come clean: “George, the fact that you looked up Merriam’s Dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you’re stretching a little bit right now. … Nobody considers that a tax increase.” Well nobody but President Barack Obama’s Justice Department.
The New York Times confirmed Friday that in preparation for defending constitutionality of the Obamacare individual mandate in court, an Obama Justice Department legal brief argues that the penalty used to enforce the mandate is “a valid exercise” of Congress’s power to impose taxes. Mr. Obama’s own Justice Department further repudiates the President’s earlier statement by noting that the penalty is imposed and collected under the Internal Revenue Code, people must report it on their tax returns, and that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will cost Americans $4 billion a year. Yale Law School professor Jack Balkin told a meeting of progressive activists last month that President Obama “has not been honest with the American people about the nature of this bill. This bill is a tax.”
The fact that the Obama administration and their allies are now admitting the individual mandate is a tax betrays their very real fear that the Supreme Court could find Obamacare’s individual mandate unconstitutional. In the bill itself, Congress identified the Commerce Clause as the source of their authority to force all Americans to buy health insurance. But as our legal team has made eminently clear, the mandate does not purport to regulate or prohibit commerce of any kind. To the contrary, it purports to “regulate”—and penalize—inactivity. If the Supreme Court allows the Obamacare individual mandate to stand, then Congress could do anything it wanted. They could: require us to buy a new Chevy Impala each year to support the government-supported auto industry; require us to buy war bonds to pay for the Iraq and Afghan wars; or force us to eat our vegetables.
But even if the Obama administration is now admitting the individual mandate is a tax, that still does not make the law constitutional. Rather than operating as a tax on income, the mandate is a tax on the person and is, therefore, a capitation tax. Therefore the 16th Amendment’s grant of power to Congress to assess an income tax does not apply. The Constitution does allow Congress to assess a capitation tax, but that requires the tax be assessed evenly based op population. That is not how the Obamacare mandate works. It exempts and carves out far too many exceptions to past muster as a capitation tax. The Obamacare mandate is still unprecedented and unconstitutional.
But perhaps more importantly, what does the episode say about the integrity of the White House? The President went on national television and insisted in unequivocal terms that his individual mandate was not a tax. Now his administration is saying the exact opposite. At what point do the American people lose all faith in this President’s word?
My guess is that the SCOTUS will find that the mandate is unconstitutional.
“At what point do the American people lose all faith in this President’s word?”
How about, every time he opens his mouth and says something!!!!
At what point do the American people declare the office of President vacant? We should be very, very close to that point by now, I think.
AMEN! AMEN!! Every time he opens his mouth he puts his foot in it a little more!!
There is a movement to IMPEACH this criminal. How have the American People become so complacent that they think if they just go about their daily routine that everything will be fine? It won’t!
It won’t until (WE ALL) stand together and put a stop to the crazy shit that is coming out of D.C. The unfortunate thing is that the elitists BANKERS, BIG Pharma, and Huge Corporations get whatever the HELL they want! It’s all about power and money, money and power! I’m under the impression that just about every official in government today has been corrupted in some way. Every Dem and every Rep should be fired from office! Start all over with honest, honorable, decent human beings who really care about the welfare of “The People”.
I hate that Arizona has to fight to keep illegal immigrants from crossing their borders! Why does BHO get away with his unconstitutional decisions? MONEY, POWER!
Didn’t Franklin Roosevelt claim Social Security wasn’t a tax but his @sshole lawyers had to claim it was for the Supreme Court hemorrhoids to proclaim it constitutional?
I don’t typically wish ill on anyone….even a worthless piece of…. anyways…. but honestly, I wish he’d choke on that freakin’ foot!
It is a part of his make up from his youth in Hawaii/Indonesia/Malaysia or where in the hell is actually from. The Almighty is probably the only one who truly knows. But the low life first lady keeps the Kenya thing going on her own. Hmmmmmm.
The son of a bitch is a pathological liar. Period. Add to that being a Traitor. Yup. I said it. No problem. The Old Retired Petty Officer is allowed to nowadays. It is paid for.
It’s quite obvious this Clown in Chief was NOT raised with good ol’ fashioned American values. You, sir, actually served your country. I’m wondering which country D’Bama serves.