Health Care Reform Passes, Obama Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About
In a 5-4 decision today, the Supreme Court ruled that the infamous Obamacare health reform was not only constitutional, but would be considered a new tax on the American public.
Regardless of your opinions on the matter (“Fuck everything Obama does,” I assume), this ruling is a direct contrast to a 2009 interview Barack participated in when the reform bill was doing nothing more than sitting on capitol hill, hoping to be a law one day.
ABC News correspondent George Stephanopolous sat down with Obama and asked directly why he didn’t consider this motion a tax.
“For us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase….Nobody considers that a tax increase,” Obama said, not knowing that three years later the ultimate defenders of the Constitution, the Supreme Court, would deduce just that.
Chief Justice John Roberts, a remnant judge from the Bush era, crossed party lines to suggest that the reform was not an individual mandate, but an additional tax and should be treated as such. When one takes a step back and realizes that because of the law, anyone who doesn’t get health insurance would owe 1% of their income to the IRS, it sounds an awful lot like a new tax to anyone with a semblance of common sense.
In a predictable GOP “Obama is wrong” move, Mitt Romney’s immediate comment was that he would repeal the act on his first day of office.
Despite past promises and assurances, Obama has failed to be clear with the American public yet again. Whether you agree with Obamacare or not (my guess, most of you don’t), by imposing a new tax on the American people without giving them an appropriate description, Obama has either A) purposely misled us, or B) doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about. Either way, I’m more than a little concerned.
Fuck Obama and his shitty ideas.
12 years ago at 1:47 pmtaxing people unless they make a forced decision. Fantastic. Next we’re going to wear masks and get taxed on how much American oxygen we breathe. “Obama is quoted as saying, “that’s American oxygen, if you’re going to choose to breathe it, you need to pay the country that so graciously provides it with its trees and plants and junk”.
12 years ago at 1:56 pmHe’s also going to give 50% of our Freedom Oxygen to Africa because they deserve it too
12 years ago at 2:34 pm“You don’t HAVE to breathe the oxygen. We’re not forcing you to breathe it. We’re just making you pay it.”
12 years ago at 3:12 pmYUUUUPP
12 years ago at 2:19 pmI want to live with Mom.
12 years ago at 2:32 pmDave Hester was my old choir instructor
12 years ago at 4:51 pmThis was a legal, not a political, question. It was the Court (not the President) that ruled this act as being under the taxation power, as opposed to the commerce clause. It was affirmed because it passed the Court’s Rational Basis test (which it absolutely did).
Wait, I forgot what site I’m on. Health insurance until I’m 26. NF.
Forget I said anything.
12 years ago at 2:55 pmThe crux of the argument presented by the fed. government was that it really was a tax. The majority didn’t just make the argument for them. It’s not as if the President had no idea that this was a possible outcome.
12 years ago at 3:26 pmAlthough it was a legal decision as you say, a wrongheaded one in my opinion but one that I respect as the law nonetheless, I am curious as to what your reaction would have been had the decision gone the other way. I cannot help but remember all of the liberal pundits demonizing the Court in anticipation of a ruling against Obamacare, claiming that this is the most extremist right wing court since the 30’s. When they rule on your behalf the decision is a judicious one, when not, it is a clear case of judicial activism and political pandering. Don’t assume the readers of this site cannot spot hypocrisy just because we like to get drunk and share stories.
12 years ago at 3:45 pm^I haven’t taken the time to read the opinion yet (I read legal opinions daily, and refuse to do so when I’m on vacation), but if it had gone the other way, I’d probably have disagreed with the court. Not because I support Obamacare- I tend to not support it (though I won’t complain about the free coverage I get for the next 3 years). It’s just that the bill seems to pass (my EXTREMELY limited understanding of) the rational basis test, so to overturn it seems inappropriate. But I don’t buy for one second the judicial activism argument. I love reading Scalia, but even he does judicial activism. It’s a catch-all word that encompasses any decision that you don’t agree with.
12 years ago at 7:27 pmRe-read your last line; on closer examination, I think we think the same thing in terms of hypocrisy and “winners writing history”.
12 years ago at 7:28 pmI’m a constitutional expert and all of you are dumb.
12 years ago at 3:02 pmCan’t argue with that logic.
12 years ago at 3:13 pmHaving enough money to choose your political party without worrying about extra taxes. TFM. Worrying about other people getting healthcare and paying extra taxes. Total Bitch Move.
12 years ago at 3:45 pmNo. Fuck freeloaders
12 years ago at 3:51 pm^^ Coming from the guy who’s name is WealthManagement, I would have thought you knew anything about wealth management.
12 years ago at 7:16 pmhttp://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/06/28/chief-justice-roberts-does-right-thing-on-obamacare/
12 years ago at 4:08 pmThat dumb bitch obviously didn’t read the decision to write that garbage.
” Thankfully, conservative Chief Justice Roberts joined the majority decision and ruled that, whether he personally likes it or not, Congress has the power to mandate health insurance coverage.”
The opinion of the court was that the Government cannot force you to buy health insurance, but could “encourage” you to purchase it by levying a 1-2.5% tax on income for those who do not purchase it.
12 years ago at 7:24 pmLet’s look at the positives of this bill. Hopefully it will piss off more people and the swing states will go for Romney now.
12 years ago at 4:57 pm^
12 years ago at 6:55 am^Great name.
12 years ago at 6:56 amCalling it a penalty instead of a tax was a political move, obviously. The Court can disregard the name Congress gave the exaction and determine whether it falls under Congress’s taxing power by looking at the substance and application, which is what they did. The exaction was payable to the Treasury by “taxpayers” when they filed their tax returns. People who don’t pay taxes bc their income is so low according to the tax code also aren’t liable. The IRS enforces the exaction and the amount is determined by many of the same factors found in the tax code. It’s sketchy on Obama’s part, but clearly legal.
12 years ago at 8:51 pmI’m already tired of people bashing anyone who is upset about the SCOTUS decision today. People keep saying you don’t want affordable health care? You must be a racist or hate the poor. The real issue here is whether or not the mandate was unconstitutional under the Commerce clause. Chief Justice Roberts was the deciding vote, and the decision could have gone worse for those who favor limited government. I read the full report of the decision,and the wording stated that because you could still feasibly deny getting coverage and take a penalty tax instead that Congress wasn’t expressly forcing every citizen to create commerce, which is unconstitutional. The ramifications of this going into the future are still far reaching and make me nervous. Congress could now conceivably pass a law stating that for instance if you don’t buy an american built car then we will tax you for that, or more seriously tax you for simply owning multiple firearms. The only plus is that the government still can’t “force” you to buy something they can just make life difficult if you don’t.
12 years ago at 9:05 pmOut of curiousity, what are the penalties for not paying this “tax”… From everything I’ve read, there are almost no incentives to pay your fine
12 years ago at 6:24 amThe penalty is the IRS will be up your ass, and you don’t want to mess with the IRS.
12 years ago at 12:07 pm