Posted on 07/05/2012 2:44:20 PM PDT by tobyhill
Jacob J. Lew, the White House chief of staff, on Sunday defended President Obamas health care law but rejected the tax label that the Supreme Court, in a ruling that mostly upheld the law last week, used to describe the penalty payment required for those who choose not to buy health insurance.
The Supreme Court affirmed the so-called individual mandate to buy health insurance on the ground that it might be reasonably characterized as a tax. Since the ruling, Republican leaders have denounced the White House for raising the tax burden on Americans with the law, and they have called for its full repeal.
The mandate is a central piece of the health care law and is enforceable with a penalty assessed through the tax system.
But Mr. Lew repeatedly declined to call the mandate a tax. The law set it up as a penalty for the people who make the choice not to purchase health insurance, he said in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on the ABC program This Week. The court found it constitutional. Frankly, what you call it is not the issue.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Jack Lew is one smart, slimy, smarmy, disagreeable man.
‘How many legs does a calf have if we called its tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.’ - Abraham Lincoln
AND I find the constant denial to be very troubling.
For if the regime insists it is not a tax, then the law cannot stand and the regime perjured itself before the court...
We need to start calling these SOBs out on this redefining stuff. If it is not a tax...then it is unconstitutional.
You can't have it both ways!!! Please somebody ...
All congress has to do not fund it and/or lower the TAX to near nothing without repeal.
Interesting that now, we can be penalized and/or taxed for something that we don’t do.
The law itself says it’s a tax.
BOHICA.
having trouble adding a pic to my post, any suggestions????
You left out "lying POS" and "dirtbag".
I don't believe it does. They avoided that language at all costs.
Joke.jpg
If it is not a Tax, then we owe the IRS nothing. Do you want to ruin your main revenue generator for chump change ? You DC elitist really are stupid.
He can reject the label TAX until the earth stops turning - As a matter of LAW its a tax. End of debate.
Don’t have time to find it now, but I recall that from when it was being voted on and someone posted the quotes from the bill a few days ago here.
What’s funny about this is when the millions of lawsuits get filed against the IRS for HIPPA Violations or right to privacy violations.
Abraham Lincoln died before Bill Clinton was POTUS however, otherwise his quote may be different! /s
I have never added a pic to a post. I just put the address up where the picture is.
I would appreciate it if you could find it in your spare time. It seems my recollection and their firm denials tell me something different.
I have seen mandate, penalty, etc, ...not tax.
Thanks.
Transcript...@Supreme Court: The Health Care Law And The Individual Mandate
It's got this little number in it...
The legislative history is replete with members of Congress explaining that this law is constitutional as an exercise of the taxing power. It was attacked as a tax by its opponents. So I don't think this is a situation where you can say that Congress was avoiding any mention of the tax power.
It would be one thing if Congress explicitly disavowed an exercise of the tax power. But given that it hasn't done so, it seems to me that it's not only is it fair to read this as an exercise of the tax power, but this Court has got an obligation to construe it as an exercise of the tax power, if it can be upheld on that basis.
Sounds to me like Congress knew it was a tax during debate.
@It Was Always a Tax
In part...Mr. President, the bill before us is clearly an appropriate exercise of the commerce clause. We further believe Congress has power to enact this legislation pursuant to the taxing and spending powers.
Snip...House Democrats likewise argued that Obamacare is constitutionally justified as an exercise of Congresss power to levy taxes and spend money. Thus, Rep. George Miller of California said:
A really good article, IMO.
Be sure to read this...
I rather liked this towards the end...
Why should Obama and his crew give a damn about the Constitution? There’s nobody to hold them accountable for violating it, so Hussein will do as he damn well pleases. And if he’s re-elected, expect a much greater expansion of his dictatorship.
He didn’t call Chavez his “amigo” for nothing, folks.
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