I agree completely.
ALL of the discussion leading up to the decision centered on the Commerce Clause. NO ONE was discussing the tax/penalty distinction. No one. Reminds me of the joke, If you call a 3 legged stool a chair, how many legs does a chair have? 4. Calling a stool a chair does not make it a chair.
I heard a version of that attributed to Abraham Lincoln (perhaps apocryphally).
Lincoln to colleague: “If you call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?
Colleague: “Ummm, five.”
Lincoln: “No, four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”
For certain personal reasons, this is one of my favorite anecdotes.