Romney in shift, says mandate was a tax

[Hawaii Hiker]

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/romney-in-shift-says-health-care-mandate-is-a-tax/?hp

Geez, what a surprise, Mitt flips again....

[Wounded Bear]

1. Yep, this should be a Dem video ad...

&feature=player_detailpage

[Wild_Dog]

23. Quit talking about Romney and talk about Obama

It only helps Romney allowing those who are conflicted a chance to feel sorry for Romney.
We need to talk about our principles ignoring Romney as if he doesn't exist.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. Maybe they can call it a pax - a penaty/tax hybrid! reminds me of SNL....

Shimmer!

http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3476462617/

[cindyperry2010]

3. SO i wonder did he just admit

to having the biggest tax increase in his own state's history when he was governor?

[Bolo Boffin]

17. No, because, says Mitt, the SCOTUS said states can impose mandates and penalties, so

his mandate and penalty is not a tax. It's a mandate and a penalty.

But, said Mitt, Obama's mandate and penalty IS a tax because the SCOTUS said that it was.

Mitt went on to ask when a door is not a door, and then asked the interviewer to pull his finger.

[cindyperry2010]

21. all depends on what the

definition of is is isn't it?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

22. Kind of hard to argue that he wasn't

He's tangled himself up again. The way I see it is that if people don't buy health insurance, they are essentially just paying "dues" to help keep the system operating for everybody else.

[BootinUp]

4. According to the Quantum Theory of Romney

Credit goes to David Javerbaum Link to original Op-Ed NYT

Quantum Theory of Romney

Complementarity. In much the same way that light is both a particle and a wave, Mitt Romney is both a moderate and a conservative, depending on the situation (Fig. 1). It isnot that he is one or the other; it is not that he is one and then the other. He is both at the same time.

Probability. Mitt Romney’s political viewpoints can be expressed only in terms oflikelihood, not certainty. While some views are obviously far less likely than others, noview can be thought of as absolutely impossible. Thus, for instance, there is at any given moment a nonzero chance that Mitt Romney supports child slavery.

Uncertainty. Frustrating as it may be, the rules of quantum campaigning dictate that no human being can ever simultaneously know both what Mitt Romney’s current position is and where that position will be at some future date. This is known as the “principle uncertainty principle.”

Entanglement. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a proton, neutron or Mormon: the act of observing cannot be separated from the outcome of the observation. By asking Mitt Romney how he feels about an issue, you unavoidably affect how he feels about it. More precisely, Mitt Romney will feel every possible way about an issue until the moment he is asked about it, at which point the many feelings decohere into the single answer most likely to please the asker.

Therefore, this latest information is only valid at that one instant in time and under certain conditions.

[cindyperry2010]

10. oh my lord

[flamingdem]

5. Too late flipflopster nt

[SoutherDem]

6. Can't wait for the spin how this wasn't an other flip

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. Did SCOTUS actually call it a "tax"?

I thought that SCOTUS said that ACA could be constitutionally upheld under Congress' taxing authority not the commerce clause.

[Wounded Bear]

9. IIRC, they said that...

the penalty levied on those who refuse to get coverage on their own is effectively a tax. Thus it was deemed Constitutional.

Five SCJs ruled it not Constitutional under the Commerce Clause. One of those (Roberts) went around that by declaring the penalty a tax, and thus legal. He sided with the four who said it didn't violate the commerce Clause.

[NYC Liberal]

11. Roberts did say it was clearly not INTENDED to be a tax by Congress

but for the purpose of determining its constitutionality, it is.

[Bolo Boffin]

18. Right, so that the Anti-Injunction Act would not apply.

But since it could be construed as one, and the government's lawyer did argue as a back-up that it could be justified by Congress' taxing authority, Roberts took it.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

8. Romney in shift? The shift dress should become his official campaign attire

The candidate of, by, and for the shift.

[HopeHoops]

12. Was that a "flip" or a "flop"? I'm losing track.

[yellowcanine]

19. It is a flip flop because he also said when states do the same thing it is not a tax.

Or something like that. Whatever, it is wonderful that he keeps talking about it.

[Rosanna Lopez]

13. A new record?

Wow. Usually Mitt waits at least a week before changing his position. This time he only waited 2 days.

[thesquanderer]

14. And Istanbul is Constantinople (n/t)

[yellowcanine]

20. Wonderful metaphor.......lyrics of Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by the Four Lads

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

-Artists: The Four Lads
-peak Billboard position # 10 in 1953
-Words by Jimmy Kennedy and Music by Nat Simon

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul not Constantinople
Been a long time gone
Old Constantinople's still has Turkish delight
On a moonlight night

Evr'y gal in Constantinople
Is a Miss-stanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it, I can't say
(People just liked it better that way)

Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks'

Istanbul!!

Istanbul!!

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it, I can't say
(People just liked it better that way)

Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks'

'stanbul!!

Transcribed by Robin Hood

[Fozzledick]

15. Hold him upside down and shake him again.

[sofa king]

16. The Bush Coup was easier to understand.

Before they even stole it the first time, the Bush mantra was well established: never tell the truth. It didn't matter if the lies were inconsistent as long as whatever was actually going on was never revealed.

Romney, however, is a different sort of liar. I think he might actually be a religious man who fears retribution from God for his repeated dishonesty. So, it seems to me, Romney tries to sprinkle his bird-shot of lies with a few diamonds of truth. Only Mitt and his magic leprechaun know which of his statements are true, but truth does occasionally appear in his statements--to be later contradicted by whatever is expedient.

I think Romney believes that if he tells the truth about something once, he is free to lie about it a hundred times before and after the actual disclosure. In a way, that is refreshing, for it suggests to me that some vestige of a conscience--or its dogmatic religious analog--still lurks in his dark and narcissistic mind.

Not, unfortunately, enough for him to do the right thing, so his one-legged Jiminy Cricket actually serves a malicious purpose instead: Mitt knows what the right thing to do is, and seeks to tailor his untruths in such a way that they appeal to people who think they have morals, as well.