The Supreme Court ruled that the individual mandate portion of Obamacare is constitutional because it is a tax. That’s right, mandates are now taxes, which means, technically speaking, President Obama lied to the American people.
“First of all, is there any doubt in your mind there is no way Obamacare would have passed if they called it a tax at the beginning,” Stu asked. “If when they were proposing this, they said it was a tax, there would be no way it would have passed.”
Obama, who promised time and time again that he would NOT raise taxes on the middle class, has now effectively raised taxes on the middle class because the individual mandate was ruled a tax by the Supreme Court.
“Barack Obama's main promise in his campaign that he would not raise taxes on the middle class officially dies with that decision because now it is 100 percent enshrined in history that he has raised taxes on the middle class,” Stu continued.
Remember when the Obama administration was out in full force swearing that this mandate-with-a-penalty couldn’t be considered a tax? To refresh your memory, below are a few flashbacks…
When Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was questioned about whether or not the individual mandate could be considered a tax, she claimed, rather unconvincingly, that it is not a tax:
SEBELIUS: I think it operates, this thing, the way a tax would operate but it is not, per se, a tax.
When President Obama was asked by George Stephanopoulos whether or not he understood that the dictionary definition of a tax seems to apply to the provisions of the Obamacare mandate, the President cried foul:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Merriam Webster's dictionary a tax: a charge usually of money imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.
OBAMA: George, the fact that you've looked up Merriam's Dictionary, that the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you're stretching a little bit right now.
When Congressman Scott Garrett grilled White House budget director Jeff Zients over the tax-like qualities the individual mandate seemed to possess, Zients attempted to uphold the stance that the penalty incurred by middle class families for not purchasing insurance is not a tax:
GARRETT: You said there’s no tax increases on people who make under $250,000. If I make under $250,000 and I do not buy health insurance as I’m required to under the Affordable Healthcare Act , is that a tax on me or is that not a tax on me?
ZIENTS: Well, this is --
GARRETT: You've said there's no tax
ZIENTS: There's not.
GARRETT: So, that's not a tax?
ZIENTS: No.
Now that it has been ruled that the individual mandate IS in fact a tax, there is no longer any other way to spin it, and President Obama has officially raised taxes on the middle class.
“We can use this as a wake-up call or we can victimize. I am not a victim of Obama. Are you a victim, because I'm not a victim,” Glenn said. “He's made me stronger. He's like a virus. As long as you finish your antibiotics – we haven't finished our antibiotics. We've taken about half of our medicine. We have to finish the entire flight.”
“It will make us stronger,” he continued. “If you don't finish your medicine, it makes the virus stronger. Progressivism is a deadly virus, deadly to the Constitution. There's only going to be one standing, one winner. I know which one it is. Saddle up, boys. Saddle up.”
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