The Honorable Chief Justice just called it what it is. Not a penalty enforced, by the way, by the IRS, but a TAX enforced by the IRS.
The Democrats tried to avoid this when they wrote the bill by striking out the ‘tax’ reference and putting in ‘fee’ in it’s place. Roberts just did not let them get away with it.
So, yes, if the Congress wants to tax the people to provide socialized medicine, they can, since they are elected by the people to make tax laws. Roberts is right because that taxing authority is Constitutional. Don’t like it? Vote them out!
Not really. It should require a constitutional amendment to make it legal.
You have no idea what you are talking about.
Roberts, and the rest of the liberals on the court, are wrong.
Thomas, Scalia and the others are correct.
For the first time in the history of our nation the Supreme Court has ruled a penalty a tax.
If you are going to post on this subject don’t you think you should, at the least, read a synopsys of the opinion and the dissent?
Is it? The Constitution grants Congress only four areas in which taxes can be levied: excise, impost, direct and income. Nowhere does it allow taxation for a negative action. This tax is nothing less than a tax on liberty.
“Roberts is right”
Roberts is scum who WROTE law from the bench. He is wrong legally and otherwise.
Don't make excuses for the twit Roberts. He is an enemy of the people and of all who love freedom.
“Roberts is right because that taxing authority is Constitutional”
And so is the condition of all revenue bills originating in the House. This tax bill originated in the Senate violating the Constitution.
Except that the Constitution prohibits the federal government from imposing a direct tax on citizens, other than an income tax. This "mandate tax" is not tied to income in any way, and thus is illegal, or would be, if our "Living Constitution" (Orwellian Newspeak for "Dying Constitution") hadn't replaced the one that was the only legal Supreme Law of the Land.