[aruanan]

CZAR B.O. and everyone in his adminstration who presented their legal arguments to the court said that the penalty was NOT a TAX. Perhaps after you read this you might change your tune... THE ACT ALSO ESTABLISHES NEW TAX PENALTIES

When you fail to pay a tax to the IRS and they assess you a penalty, that penalty is not a tax.

[philman_36]

leprechaun9 - CZAR B.O. and everyone in his adminstration who presented their legal arguments to the court said that the penalty was NOT a TAX.

Me - Perhaps after you read this you might change your tune... THE ACT ALSO ESTABLISHES NEW TAX PENALTIES

aruanan - When you fail to pay a tax to the IRS and they assess you a penalty, that penalty is not a tax.
I know. Now think about what you just said. The ordering of the individual mandate was, in and of itself, actually the imposition of a tax after all and it was so from the start and the government knew it while lying to everybody about it!

The penalty isn't the tax, as you note, the individual mandate itself is the actual tax the penalty was imposed upon.
Failure to comply with the tax (the individual mandate) triggers the penalty.

[philman_36]

And once again I go to the decision...
@National Federation of Independent Business v. SebeliusThe Affordable Care Act’s requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax. Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness.

According to this decision the penalty itself is a tax as well.
Disagree all you want, it's right there in black and white.