CODE RED: Promise Broken: Obama Administration Admits Healthcare Takeover Taxes Middle-Class Families
As They Defend Their Government Takeover of Healthcare in Court, Obama Administration Officials Have to Admit Healthcare Mandate Penalties are Taxes
Democrats Were Careful Not To Use The T-Word To Describe Healthcare Penalties So They Wouldn’t Break President Obama’s Election Promise Not To Raise Taxes On Middle-Class Families:
“During his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama promised not to raise taxes on families earning less than $250,000. That’s the same income bracket where a lot of people lack health insurance. So, as president, Obama and his aides studiously avoided using the ‘t-word’ as they worked to persuade Congress to pass the healthcare overhaul. Instead, they called it a ‘penalty.'” (Donna Smith, “‘Tax’ dodge boomerangs on Obama in healthcare case,” Reuters, 3/14/12)
But Now That The Healthcare Takeover Is Heading To Court, The Obama Administration Is Admitting These Would Be Taxes On Middle-Class Families:
“Now, however, the White House needs to defend the healthcare law in court and things are different… The administration is arguing the government can make people buy health insurance and charge them if they don’t through its powers to regulate interstate commerce and to tax. That argument raised some eyebrows and provided a ‘gotcha’ moment for Republican lawmakers when administration lawyers argued in briefs filed before the Supreme Court that the minimum coverage requirement provision operated like a tax.” (Donna Smith, “‘Tax’ dodge boomerangs on Obama in healthcare case,” Reuters, 3/14/12)
Promise Broken: Obama Administration Admits Healthcare Takeover Taxes Middle-Class Families http://ow.ly/9FIdp #codered