DAMN Obama can rock a conversation, neh? I hoped for change and I got it.
Most of it good, too, which for politics, is like knocking it out of the freaking park. :Den -- The analysis of concepts is for the understanding nothing more than what the magnifying glass is for sight. Moses Mendelssohn On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 8:15 PM, Jerry Barnes wrote: > > "That is exactly how the Justice Department is trying to characterize it.." > > > But, but, but, . . .President Obama said it wasn't a tax. > > Obama: Mandate is Not a > Tax<http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/09/obama-mandate-is-not-a-tax.html> > > 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 dont. 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: Heres 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 its a tax increase? > > OBAMA: I absolutely reject that notion. > > > > J > > - > > If you make less than a quarter of a million dollars a year, you will not > see a single dime of your taxes go up. If you make $200,000 a year or less, > your taxes will go down. - Barack Obam > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology-Michael-Dinowitz/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:324342 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
