If there was anyone who actually believed President Obama when he said he wouldn’t raise taxes on families making less than $250,000, the Supreme Court has set the record straight.
Whether you agree or not with the Supreme Court’s holding, failure to buy insurance under the Obamacare mandate will result in a tax, not a penalty.
But keep in mind that Obamacare would never have passed in Congress if the penalty had actually been called a tax and, more importantly, keep in mind what President Obama and others said at the time (courtesy of the WSJ):
President Obama on ABC News in 2009:
George Stephanopoulos: Your critics say [Obamacare] is a tax increase.
Obama: My critics say everything is a tax increase. My critics say I’m taking over every sector of the economy. You know that. Look, we can have a legitimate debate about whether or not we’re going to have an individual mandate or not, but —
Stephanopoulos: But you reject that it’s a tax increase?
Obama: I absolutely reject that notion.
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From the White House website, December 2009, “The Truth on Health Care Reform and Taxes:”
“As we move into the final stage of the historic push for health reform, opponents of reform are testing the age old adage that if you only say something enough times you can somehow make it true. Yesterday, we heard a new version of the old, tired refrain that the health reform bills in Congress would raise taxes on the middle class. So let’s set the record straight: First, the health insurance reform bill being considered int he Senate does not raise taxes on families making less than $250,000.
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Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius appearing before the House Ways and Means Committee, February 2102: “[The mandate] operates the same way a tax would operate, but it’s not per se a tax.”
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Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients appearing before House Budget Committee, February 2012:
Rep. Scott Garrett (R., N.J.): If I make under $250,000 and I do not buy health insurance as I’m required to under [Obamacare], is that a tax on me or is that not a tax on me? A moment ago you said there are no tax increases.
Zients: There aren’t.
Garrett: So that’s not a tax?
Zients: No.
We all remember what happened to President Bush the elder. Let’s keep that in mind when we head to the voting booths in November.
