No commentary necessary
STEPHANOPOULOS: You were against the individual mandate…
OBAMA: Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: …during the campaign. Under this mandate, the government is forcing people to spend money, fining you if you don’t. How is that not a tax?
OBAMA: Well, hold on a second, George. Here — here’s what’s happening. You and I are both paying $900, on average — our families — in higher premiums because of uncompensated care. Now what I’ve said is that if you can’t afford health insurance, you certainly shouldn’t be punished for that. That’s just piling on. If, on the other hand, we’re giving tax credits, we’ve set up an exchange, you are now part of a big pool, we’ve driven down the costs, we’ve done everything we can and you actually can afford health insurance, but you’ve just decided, you know what, I want to take my chances. And then you get hit by a bus and you and I have to pay for the emergency room care, that’s…
STEPHANOPOULOS: That may be, but it’s still a tax increase.
OBAMA: No. That’s not true, George. The — for us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. What it’s saying is, is that we’re not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore than the fact that right now everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance. Nobody considers that a tax increase. People say to themselves, that is a fair way to make sure that if you hit my car, that I’m not covering all the costs.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But it may be fair, it may be good public policy…
OBAMA: No, but — but, George, you — you can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase. Any…
STEPHANOPOULOS: Here’s the…
OBAMA: What — what — if I — if I say that right now your premiums are going to be going up by 5 or 8 or 10 percent next year and you say well, that’s not a tax increase; but, on the other hand, if I say that I don’t want to have to pay for you not carrying coverage even after I give you tax credits that make it affordable, then…
STEPHANOPOULOS: I — I don’t think I’m making it up. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Tax — “a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.”
OBAMA: George, the fact that you looked up Merriam’s Dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you’re stretching a little bit right now. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone to the dictionary to check on the definition. I mean what…
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, no, but…
OBAMA: …what you’re saying is…
STEPHANOPOULOS: I wanted to check for myself. But your critics say it is a tax increase.
OBAMA: My critics say everything is a tax increase. My critics say that 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.
Fair Use Notice: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are makingsuch material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any suchcopyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest inreceiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that gobeyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
And now everyone knows Obama is a liar!! Roberts is a genius!
We already knew Obama was a liar.
The sooner this fool is out of the whitehouse, the better off everyone will be.
So what exactly happened today? Tax was NEVER mentioned in the law as far as the individual mandate was concerned.
So, Roberts rewrote the law, like that?
Now, if it is a tax (which Roberts indicated), how come the bill DIDN’T originate in the House of Representatives as is required of all taxation bills?
These are high school level civics concepts. Apparently they no longer apply?
So, we can conclude that the government can declare you are required to do something, call it a tax, send it up to USSC and Chief Justice Roberts (Earl Warren) will sign on to it.
@DaveB
Quote: “The sooner this fool is out of the whitehouse, the better off everyone will be.”
While I agree that Obama is a horrible President and I’d rather not have him in office, your last statement there (the one quoted) is just out-right silly. How will everyone be better off with Obama out of the White House? We will just have some other criminal in the White House to take his place, in this case Mitt Romney. Regardless of whether it’s Mitt Romney, Barrack Obama, George Bush, the Clintons (etc…), the same agenda will continue on track, just as has been the case over the last 50 or so years. It really makes no difference who the elites put into office, as the same criminal agenda goes forward either way. There has literally been no difference between Obama and Bush and sadly, there will be no difference between Romney and Obama. Sure, the issue might differ a teeny-tiny bit, but the premise will remain the same; corporate and special interests will benefit at the expense of the American people, American Constitution and the future generations to come.
Every 4-8 years, the American people go in this insane circle, where the elect one criminal to replace another. As long as we keep looking in only two directions, the insanity will continue. Replacing one criminal with another, is the fastest way to keep progressing our problems.
I’ve never gotten anything from the government that they didn’t charge me for – and then they only made that pittance available because they had to keep up some sort of facade.
The entire issue is actually really clear – If the government says I have to spend more of my money just to breathe the air, that is, by definition, a tax. Obama’s stupid retort “What if you get hit by a bus?” is so stupid. How many people get hit by a bus?
Here’s my reply – “Mr. Obama, if I get hit by a bus, just leave me on the ground there and let me bleed to death.” This guy is the leader of the “free” world? What a moron.
You want to see something REALLY INTRESTING ? Go to – youtube and type in Dinesh D’Souza and watch the trailer on the movie 2016 . Then just listen to an extreamly important speech. Beleve me ( or not ) you need to hear that speech. On youtube it should be about the third one down.