[hinckley buzzard]

NIce try but no cigar. If you can get away with calling a penalty a tax, and justify it in the name of "limiting" government, then you can do anything you want. No, there's no rescue coming from the Court. They're done.

Besides, if Roberts had such a clever strategem up his sleeve, why not tip off his conservative colleagues? Instead he alienated his allies on the court for nothing, when all he really had to do was the right thing and vote it down. Why go through risky gyrations to achieve the same end?

The whole thing makes no sense unless he caved. For god knows what reason.

[gusopol3]

If you can get away with calling a penalty a tax

We've called it a tax for years here, before it was enacted and since. It is to be collected by the IRS, for gosh sake. Virelli argued it was a tax. Now you agree with Obama it isn't a tax ? BTW, the Massachusetts penalty under Romneycare is specifically called a "tax penalty" :

http://www.massresources.org/health-reform.html

So a big difference between Romneycare and Obamacare is that the Romneycare penalty was called and passed as a tax, whereas Obamacare tax was "taxation with misrepresentation."