Posted on 07/06/2012 5:22:25 AM PDT by xzins
Republicans are seizing on the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold ‘Obamacare’ under Congress’s taxing power to accuse Democrats of raising taxes on the middle class. But they’re finding it difficult to square that with the fact that their presidential nominee enacted the same concept as governor of Massachusetts.
Although Mitt Romney has vowed to repeal ‘Obamacare’, his 2006 law includes the same core elements, including the mandate to purchase insurance or pay a fine. In 2009, Romney wrote in a USA Today op-ed that he used “tax penalties” to achieve the objective of broadening coverage.
On Fox News Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attacked President Obama for sneaking a tax increase past the American public.
“The Supreme Court has now declared it a tax. They have unearthed the massive deception that was practiced by the president and the Democrats, constantly denying that it was a tax,” McConnell said. “The chief justice has made it clear — it’s a tax.”
But the GOP leader dodged several questions on whether ‘Romneycare’ is also a tax increase.
“Well I think Governor Romney will have to speak for himself about what was done in Massachusetts,” McConnell said. “I can tell you that every single Democratic senator voted for this tax increase.”
On CBS’ Face The Nation, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) also ducked questions about whether Romney has a credibility problem because of his mandate.
“This is an issue that was in Massachusetts — that’s one state,” he said. “That’s why we have 50 different states. They’re laboratories of democracy. Governor Romney understands that Obamacare will bankrupt our country and ruin the best health care delivery system in the world. … This is far more than any state has ever comprehended or tried to do.”
The Congressional Budget Office projects that the tax penalty will hit 4 million people in 2016, or just over 1 percent of the population.
White House chief of staff Jack Lew, also appearing on Fox News Sunday, repeatedly denied that the penalty for noncompliance with the individual mandate is a tax hike, even though it’s enforced via the tax code and was upheld on Congress’s taxing powers.
“It was set up and it was not called a tax,” he said. “But there are powers that Congress has and you can justify a law in multiple ways.” Obama’s top aide added that “When he was governor of Massachusetts, Governor Romney put a plan in place that has many of the features that the Affordable Care Act makes available on a national basis.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the mandate “a penalty on free-riders.”
“Mitt Romney is in a total pickle here. He prescribed this. This was his bill,” Schumer said on CBS’ Face The Nation. “Are [Republicans] going to say that Mitt Romney had the biggest tax increase in Massachusetts? Forget about it.”
Romney, for his part, responded to the Supreme Court ruling by saying, “If we want to get rid of Obamacare, we’re going to have to replace President Obama.”
So RomneyCare being a pain in the butt for Romney is this author’s fault?
I suppose Rick Santorum was on the author’s payroll when Santorum was saying exactly this same thing?
wow, Romney loves to take federal tax payers money.
$400 mill here, and $600 mil to save the Olympics single handily.
So, does that mean you’re OK with states abusing your rights?
I don’t think so.
We conservatives fight abuses to our rights wherever we see them.
So, why didn’t Romney defend himself with all that stuff last week?
Simple answer: It’s way too complicated to get into a 30 second commercial or a 5 second soundbite.
Santorum was right. RomneyCare has ruined Republican’s chances to hit ObamaCare with anywhere near the force they could if someone other than Romney were the nominee.
Romney might well pull this out due to the terrible jobs market, but it’s sad that the republicans have lost the ObamaCare issue.
PROBLEM: “ - - - But they’re finding it difficult to square that with the fact that their presidential nominee enacted the same concept as governor of Massachusetts.”
SOLUTION: DUMP Romney in Tampa with an ABSTAIN delegate vote on the First Ballot.
That's my choice just like it's everyone else choice.
If a state wants to try and create a Utopia with a bunch of deadbeats living off the state, go for it. When it fails, which it will, don't go running to the other states to cover their ass.
They created the problem, they can fix it.
That's my choice just like it's everyone else choice.
If a state wants to try and create a Utopia with a bunch of deadbeats living off the state, go for it. When it fails, which it will, don't go running to the other states to cover their ass.
They created the problem, they can fix it.
GET OVER IT! The time for that debate was in the primaries! My candidate lost. We have ONE CANDIDATE NOW, and it’s NOT OBAMA!
“ROMNEY CARE” is OVER! It’s HISTORY. The point was made in the primaries, and YOU (and others) continue to beat that DEAD HORSE and does no good to our side.
OUR FOCUS SHOULD BE ON “REPEAL OBAMACARE” - not harping back and continue debating the primary!
Amen, Graewoulf. Dump Romney and Add a real conservative.
It won’t happen, though. The GOP-E loves Romney more than they love winning.
While I agree with the rest of your post, IMR, I just don't buy this part. NO state has the authority to deny our rights under the Constitution. States Rights does not mean the right to violate our rights.
Yes, and the constitution as amended grants Congress the authority to impose income taxes, and the income tax code is made up of tax provisions that financially both reward and punish individual, and corporate bahavior.
Which is why they originated this bill in the House as an income tax bill.
The people that live in the state can fix it. If they can't, move.
Sooner or later an authoritarian state will collapse when enough people that live in the state are sick of it.
only a few peole live in Mass. and those Mass. voters have the ability to repeal it.
ALL of us live in Obamatax land. the only way we can repeal it is to vote out every single democrat.
Romney or no Romney I believe congressional Republicans are too cowardly to really do anything if they had the power to do so.
It's like Obama taxing the rich before his re-election, he always calls for it, then always gets foiled(even when he has 60 in the Senate) , then blames the Republicans for the deficit, then says he never raised taxes anyway playing both sides.
Republicans play the same both sides game. Look at the Ryan plan and the Debt limit extension, always foiled, always give in. "Just give me more seats and this time I will deliver" . You just have to watch closely.
If I were president I would push to eliminate all taxes imposed on manufactured products and dump the tax on the consumer at the point of sale as a sales tax.
People wouldn’t be paying any more than they are now but it would be a great ball peen hammer to the forehead when they see what they pay in taxes if they weren’t paying them in the form of higher manufacturers prices.
The CEO at the company (about 2,000 employees total) where my wife works says it does. There were enough problems running a business, including competing against 3rd world wages, before Obamacare.
Ideal issue for the opposition party, except that the nominee is Romney.
I have long believed a consumption tax would be much better for this country than the current production (income) tax. But the income tax via the 16th amendment is impossible to get rid of after 105 years of loopholes and special treatment and social engineering (obama-care) being added to it.
We will never rid ourselves of corn ethanol either.
Sorry, ngat, but the logic you’re using is not holding up. Income tax is levied on something you’ve done (make income) and not on something you’ve NOT done (not made income).
If you have ZERO income tax, then your tax is zero.
If you have zero health insurance, then your tax first year is nearly $700 and that increases up to 6 or 7 thousand.
If you have zero broccoli, then your tax is $500 for NOT having broccoli.
I WILL REPEAL OBAMACARE WHEN I’M ELECTED.
- - - - -
Thing is, he won’t (and can’t) and anyone who thinks this is anything but a campaign lie is stupid.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.