If not, the government can apparently tax you into buying some.
Of course if you’ve been following the news, or even just the posts on this site, you know the Supreme Court today upheld the individual mandate of Obamacare under Congress’ power to tax, but not under the Constitution’s commerce clause.
While the news is welcome that the commerce clause has its limits, it’s very disturbing to find out that Justice Roberts believes the government can tax you into buying a product it wants you to. Never mind Obama’s promise that the Affordable Care Act’s mandate was not a tax.
While there’s lots more analysis to come, and please read Jayde’s post below for more detail and Mitt’s statement, I’m simultaneously discouraged at the Court’s ruling the government can force me to buy a product, yet encouraged to know that we can still fix the immediate problem of the Affordable Care Act’s mandate by electing Mitt and a GOP majority in the Senate. If it wasn’t your goal before, get on board, donate to the campaign and get yourself involved. See Nate’s post above this one. If you don’t, after 2012, if you can’t answer the question correctly, it may cost you.
Got broccoli?
Paul Johnson is an attorney for venture capitalists and their portfolio companies by day, husband and father of three teenage boys by night. He’s an avid supporter of Mitt Romney for president and, as a graduate of Brigham Young University, a BYU football and basketball fan. Paul also enjoys competing in triathlons. Because he’s in the “Clydesdale” (over 200 lb.) class, he has even had podium finishes from time to time. Paul also has the distinction of being a big enough U2 fan to be willing to travel to Dublin to see them in their native environment.
What those of us over 65 should realize is that the cuts will come from the Health Advantage Plans that many of us has chosen. Obama borrowed the $500 billion from those plans and we will see cuts in our enrollments in 2013. Obama has been dishonest about his intent to force us back into a plan that the Government will cut. AARP should wake up and disvow this tax on seniors.
Someone please make an add juxtaposing Obama’s promise that this is not a Tax, that he would enact no tax increases on the middle class, and that this has now been properly relabeled the largest tax increase in history.
Sadly Paul, Congress has been taxing us into buying things for a long time through social engineering deductions and tax credits. Renters pay a higher tax because they don’t buy a house on credit, etc. The broccoli deduction is just around the corner. Justice Roberts did not create this power, the 16th amendment did. Roberts’ error was that he called the AHC’s penalty a tax, which it isn’t. As the dissent observed, he rewrote the statute.