[HiTech RedNeck]

Sounds like a Faustian bargain to me. Clobber the Commerce Clause on the nose and tell it to go no further, but at the same time open up the door for any cockamamie tax Uncle Sam can think of? A tax for not having insulated windows? A tax for drinking Big Gulps?

It could be hoped that when THIS is pushed back before the USSC, Roberts will then agree, this is a bad tax. Like it took more than one trip before campaign finance reform died.

[old republic]

You're absolutely right, that's the most terrifying part of this whole decision. We can now not only be taxed on what we do, but on what we don't do. Imagine a reverse sales tax. You're being taxed on what products you are not buying (which is what the Individual mandate is). Imagine how the government can control you, if it can punish you for refusing to do something that you do not want to do. Imagine being taxed, not for buying a Big Gulp, but for NOT buying a Big Gulp?

What if the government attempts to use this power to force people to do things against their health or conscience? If you don't behave the way the government wants in every sphere of life, you get taxed. If you don't support, if you don't buy cuban cigars, or don't support abortion, then you get taxed because some lobbyists in Congress have persuaded Congress to put a tax on these behaviors. Already under Obamacare we see a moral difficulty being presented to many Americans, since all Americans are being forced to buy insurance, and insurance companies are being required to provide abortions or Contraceptives to all of their customers by the government, this then forces all Americans to subsidize abortion under the HHS mandate which is a violation of many Americans moral and religious beliefs.