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http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/07/03/510236/gop-in-disarray-republican-party-chairman-claims-romney-thinks-the-mandate-is-a-tax/
GOP In Disarray: Republican Party Chairman Claims Romney Thinks The Mandate Is A Tax
By Igor Volsky on Jul 3, 2012 at 9:24 am
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus disagreed with his partys presumptive presidential nominee during an appearance on CNN Tuesday morning and said that the individual mandate at the heart of President Obamas and Mitt Romneys health care laws is, in fact, a tax. The Supreme Court has stated that Obamacare is a tax and so since they have ruled that its a tax, it is a tax, Priebus said, contradicting Romneys top adviser, who on Monday insisted that the governor believes that the mandate is a penalty.
Our position is the same as Mitt Romneys position, its a tax, thats the only way the Supreme Court came up with the decision it did, in order to make it constitutional, the chairman claimed:
PRIEBUS: Its a tax and the reason why its a tax is because the Supreme Court number one ruled it was a tax and number two, its what Barack Obamas lawyer argued before the Supreme Court.
Watch it @ link~
Since Romneys Massachusetts health reform law penalizes individuals who choose to go without insurance, the Romney campaign has said that the governor disagrees with the Supreme Courts majority decision and agrees with the dissent, which found the mandate unconstitutional under the commerce clause. The mandate provision has successfully expanded coverage in Massachusetts by encouraging healthier and younger people to obtain insurance (who then avoid paying the penalty).
Republicans in Congress, and even some top Romney surrogates, however, are still holding on to the tax talking point. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who may be on Romneys vice presidential short list, told Fox News Fox & Friends Tuesday morning that the mandate is both a penalty and a tax, something Romney himself has previously claimed.
yellowcanine
(35,693 posts)Even having the healthcare law upheld based on the commerce clause would not be this much fun.
Rosanna Lopez
(308 posts)This issue may cause some division in messaging between the RNC/Republican Congress & Team Romney, but that doesn't mean it's going to hurt them that much in the election.
Remember, as we discussed on another thread, because of the 2-party system, Romney is still guaranteed to receive a large chunk of the vote.
Ganja Ninja
(15,953 posts)They have their base all spun-up over healthcare and they don't have any argument they can make that won't stick to Romney. They picked the wrong fight and the wrong candidate, or is it the wrong candidate and the wrong fight?
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Being a tax and being a penalty are not mutually exclusive possibilities. One can have both penalty taxes (early IRA withdrawals) and tax penalties (failure to file on time), so it can be both, and in more than one way too.
emulatorloo
(44,063 posts)So that's why they are doing this dumb-ass shit. Making material for Karl Rove lie ads.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)emulatorloo
(44,063 posts)high density
(13,397 posts)I'm really not seeing why people are going to care about the language of tax versus penalty. This is the same crowd that doesn't even know what is in "Obamacare," but they hate it because the TV box said so.