A Tax, Not A Tax

As the Sunday morning news talk shows got warmed up, the topic at hand this week was the SCOTUS ruling on Obamacare.

With that ruling, the justices, 7 to 2, called the mandate unconstitutional under the commerce clause, but by a 5-4 ruling stuck the mandate under the taxation power and ruled it constitutional. Systematically changing the law. 

The wording in HR3590, the bill that became law, was re-written from HR3200 to remove the word "tax penalty" and restated it as penalty, removing the word tax, so as not to appear to be raising taxes on anyone making under their $250K threshold.

Chief Justice Roberts was the deciding factor in Obamacare mandate and ruled it constitutional under the powers of congress to lay and collect taxes and the penalty IS a tax.

Now the Republicans are having at Obama for raising taxes on anyone making less then $250K, as he promised he would not do, during the run up to the 2008 election.

The left and Democrats are hailing Roberts as a hero that saved a law that takes control over a private sector of our economy (socialism). This is the same Justice Roberts who ruled in the Citizen United case that Unions and Corporation have a right to freedom of speech and with that ruling it infuriated the liberals-progressives. But now he's their hero and they are loving it. Go figure.

On Fox News today, the Whitehouse Chief of Staff, Jack Lew, continued to regurgitate the Obama Whitehouse that the "penalty" was not a tax, even though the supreme court ruled it as such.

Chris Wallace quickly dissented.

Mr Lew, Tax= A sum of money demanded by a government for its support or for specific facilities or services, levied upon incomes, property, sales, etc. and to demand a tax from a person, business, etc. to demand a tax in consideration of the possession or occurrence of (income, goods, sales, etc.), usually in proportion to the value of money involved.

The Whitehouse now thinks it can change the meaning of "Tax" But, that doesn't surprise this blogger!