“We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what’s in it.” Pelosi Communist-Calif.
Actually, there does not seem to be any mechanism in the law to allow them to collect this 3.5% fee; the law has an appropriation for the federal version of the exchanges, but it was underfunded because they didn’t think they’d have to set any up.
Obama knows the house won’t pass a bill funding it, and so he’s using what appears to be an extra-legal funding mechanism.