Posted on 03/27/2012 4:39:56 AM PDT by Makana
On the first day of health care reform arguments before the Supreme Court, two justices needled a top Obama lawyer for simultaneously calling the fine that will be paid under the law for not purchasing insurance a penalty and a tax.
The confusion arises because of the administrations argument that the power to enforce the individual mandate is rooted in Congress taxing power but that the mechanism itself is designed to be a penalty, not a revenue-generating policy.
The narrow but important distinction created a communication challenge for the lawyer representing the Obama administration.
U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli used the phrase tax penalty multiple times to describe the individual mandates backstop. He portrayed the fee as a penalty by design, but one that functions as a tax because its collected through the tax code.
(Excerpt) Read more at nation.foxnews.com ...
I thought pg 26, 28 contained some important points.
I got a speeding tax last month. Can I take it off my Tax return?
Here's tthe problem: The employer decides to pay the penalty...cheaper than the insurance. So where is the insurance for these folks coming from and what kind of coverage are they getting...OR, do they also pay a penalty tax? Is that double dipping??
Being laughed at by Supreme Court Justices. I would take that as a really bad sign.
The tax was eaten by Shrodinger's cat
Actually, it's not possible to even pay for the current government spending by taxation. I believe that the US government is now spending roughly the same amount as the GNP. If that's the case, then the only way the government can cover its spending would be to confiscate 100% of all the goods and services produced in the USA, leaving nothing for the people who actually did the work. Forget taking a a percentage, the government needs it all.
Mark
wow, they’re even more P.O.’ed at Barry over his dressing down at the SOTU speech than I thought they were.
The 2,000+ pages of Obamacare were crafted in secret and in haste so it could be shoved through Congress. I doubt anyone who voted for it ever read the whole thing let alone understood the whole concept. The law is byzantine and so complex few could ever totally understand it. Each of those 2,000 pages of the law will beget perhaps 10 pages of implementing regulations making the law almost incomprehensible to anyone.
Fast forward to now...he won't mention 0, 0Care and has even cut back his own business...he's let sales reps go.
actually, the nation ‘brings in’ about $12 trillion per year (GDP).
the federal government spends about $4 trillion per year.
annual taxation brings in about $2 trillion.
spending is just *way* out of control. we’re spending 100% more then ‘we’ (the govt) brings in.
...two justices needled a top Obama lawyer for simultaneously calling the fine that will be paid under the law for not purchasing insurance a "penalty" and a "tax."
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