This confuses me. Roberts said it’s a tax. The republicans are out yelling “This is a tax!” If it’s a tax does congress not have the authority to levy it? If it’s not a tax then the republicans are idiots.
Not so simple. Congress does not have the same plenary taxing authority of a parliament. At least the language of the constitution does not allow them to tax anything and everything. Calling what the acts calls a penalty a “tax,” is a novel use of the term. If the Court takes what Roberts as precedent,it has great expanded the taxing power.
One aspect about this brouhaha that intrigues me is that apparently the law never was explicit as to all the funding to be done. Perhaps if the Republicans had contested/objected to the law based on lack of clearly defined funding the SC would have had to do a different take than just assuming it has power to set taxes. Of course Roberts and cohearts would have gone the commerce route. As the Green Hornet used to say “who knows what evil lurks in the heart of man?.