<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/author/scottystarnes/> All the Federal Judges who have ruled on the ObamaCare law agree: Health care penalty is not a tax<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/all-the-federal-judges-who-have-ruled-on-the-obamacare-law-agree-health-care-penalty-is-not-a-tax/> *Scotty Starnes <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/author/scottystarnes/>*| February 28, 2011 at 4:00 PM | Tags: George Stephanopoulos<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=george-stephanopoulos>, Obamacare <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=obamacare>, penalty<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=penalty>, President Obama <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=president-obama>, tax <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=tax>, unconstitutional<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=unconstitutional>| Categories: Political Issues <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?category_name=political-issues>| URL: http://wp.me/pvnFC-4Ai
This is the reason for Obama's flip-flop. Just today, Obama came out in support of allowing states to opt-out of his health care mandate. When you have left-leaning judges ruling that Obama's health care law is a penalty and not a tax, you know things are going bad in Obamaland. The Hill's<http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/146331-judges-agreement-on-healthcare-penalties-not-being-a-tax-is-crucial-point>Health Care Blog reports: Federal judges who have ruled on the constitutionality of healthcare reform have split along but party lines, but they all agree on one thing: *The law’s fine for failing to obtain health coverage is a penalty, not a tax.* The three federal judges who have upheld the law so far are all President Clinton appointees, while the two judges who struck it down are Republican picks, so the fact that there is common agreement on the point could be significant. Outside legal circles, the distinction may seem like a semantic argument, but the distinction between a penalty and a tax became a sticking point during the reform law debate. *The Constitution grants the federal government wide latitude to impose taxes — but not penalties — for the population’s general welfare.* The Supreme Court is expected to take up the healthcare law in the near future, and the question of whether the so-called individual mandate to buy coverage is constitutional will loom large. If the court finds that the mandate is not within the power of the legislative branch, they could strike it down, potentially crippling the entire law. Beginning in 2014, *the healthcare law requires individuals to have coverage or pay a fine*. The starting fine for an individual without health insurance will be as little as $95, but by 2016, the penalty jumps to $695, or 2.5 percent of taxable income, whichever is greater. In September 2009, when the law was still being crafted, *President Obama vigorously denied that the mandate to buy insurance — and its corresponding penalties — constituted a tax increase*. That would have violated his campaign pledge not to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year. *“For us to say that you've got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase,” *Obama told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos during a contentious exchange. watch?v=AAmtNCtdWeo Continue reading>>><http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/146331-judges-agreement-on-healthcare-penalties-not-being-a-tax-is-crucial-point> Add a comment to this post<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/all-the-federal-judges-who-have-ruled-on-the-obamacare-law-agree-health-care-penalty-is-not-a-tax/#respond> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/scottystarnes.wordpress.com/17626/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/scottystarnes.wordpress.com/17626/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/scottystarnes.wordpress.com/17626/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/scottystarnes.wordpress.com/17626/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/scottystarnes.wordpress.com/17626/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/scottystarnes.wordpress.com/17626/> <http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/scottystarnes.wordpress.com/17626/> [image: WordPress] WordPress.com <http://wordpress.com/> | Thanks for flying with WordPress! Manage Subscriptions<http://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=5d39acfd19218362d540a3fc3dc3315d&email=baconlard%40gmail.com>| Unsubscribe<http://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=5d39acfd19218362d540a3fc3dc3315d&email=baconlard%40gmail.com&b=u0K2S7Q%265HJDCUDhj_3%3DxmmL-P1vd1H%26dMzWkPfQi>| Reach out to your own subscribers with WordPress.com.<http://wordpress.com/signup/?ref=email> *Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser:* http://subscribe.wordpress.com -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
