LAUREL —
Last September, when Congress was debating nationalized healthcare legislation proposed by President Obama, conservative opponents challenged the idea by rightly declaring it to be a middle-class tax increase.
Conservatives were concerned, in part, about the bill’s individual mandate, which requires that all citizens and legal residents of the United States purchase qualifying healthcare coverage from a private insurance company or pay a penalty for noncompliance to the Internal Revenue Service.
In response, as part of the debate over the legislation, President Obama stubbornly and consistently maintained that the individual mandate to purchase insurance – enforced by monetary penalty – was not equivalent to a tax. He embarked a network television offensive to belabor his point, taking every opportunity to criticize Republicans who derided the mandate as such.
During a September 20, 2009, interview with George Stephanopoulos, the President was pressed to admit the mandate was, in reality, a significant tax increase on the middle-class; but in the face of hard-and-fast pressure, he disagreed.
Frustrated by the President’s verbal gymnastics, Stephanopoulos read the definition of “tax” straight from Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary as proof that such a government imposed expense is effectively a tax increase, but Obama danced around the issue, refusing to relinquish his obstinate position on the subject.
“For us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase,” he explained.
But, despite Obama’s absolute certainty during his Clintonesque performance last September, the administration is now suffering from a change of heart.
The Justice Department recently repudiated the President’s earlier denials by arguing in federal court that the mandate’s penalty is to be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code and that individuals must – contrary to earlier statements – report it on their income tax returns. Put another way, the President’s lawyers are now claiming the mandate is a regulation which accompanies a tax on the middle-class.
What has caused this tangled web of deceit?
In short, the reversal betrays concerns that the Supreme Court may find the healthcare act’s mandate unconstitutional.
Remember, in the healthcare bill itself, Congress specifically identified the Constitution’s Commerce Clause – not the federal taxing power – as the source of its power to force all Americans to buy health insurance. Nowhere in the bill did Congress cite its taxing power as a source of federal authority; instead, Congress argued exclusively that the power to impose the mandate originated from the government’s authority to regulate interstate commerce.
Though earlier versions of the bill referred to the mandate as an “excise tax,” later revisions removed the “tax” wording because it was too much of a political liability for the Democratic Party. So, with an understanding that the law would be eventually challenged in the United States Supreme Court, congressional drafters included ten different detailed findings to purportedly demonstrate that the individual mandate regulates commercial activity important to the economy.
But at least two Congressional departments voiced concern about Congress’s problematic approach.
Indicating that the Commerce Clause’s reach had never been stretched quite so far, the Congressional Budget Office found that the “mandate would be an unprecedented form of federal action.”
Likewise, when asked by the Senate Finance Committee to opine on whether the Constitution allows it to impose an individual requirement of this nature, the Congressional Research Service answered, “Whether such a requirement would be constitutional under the Commerce Clause is perhaps the most challenging question posed by such a proposal, as it is a novel issue whether Congress may use this clause to require an individual to purchase a good or a service.”
In light of their well-founded concerns surrounding the legal challenges brought against the President’s healthcare law, his able teams of Justice Department attorneys are now being asked to pull the largest and most blatantly apparent bait-and-switch scheme in American history.
Rather than continuing down the riskier path of depending upon the regulation of interstate commerce to justify their burdensome mandate, the Obama administration now expects – for the sake of defending the healthcare bill in federal court – to establish a broader, more expansive federal justification for the challenged and embattled mandate (e.g., the power to tax).
In sum, although most of the mainstream press have been indifferent to the administration’s classic bait-and-switch, the President did in fact sign a massive middle-class tax increase in direct violation of his pledge to never increase taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 per year.
And, consequently, as the administration’s tangled web of deceit continues to grow beyond a controllable realm, so do our feelings of discontent.
Facing domestic uncertainty, record tax increases and an unsustainable national debt, the people are reminded of difficult times ahead, while the administration is being cautioned by an uneasy republic: Male parta, male dilabuntur.
I look forward to hearing from you and I am honored to represent you in the Mississippi Senate. If I can ever help you in any way, please feel free to contact me at cmcdaniel@senate.ms.gov.
Columns
Related Photos
-
Chris McDaniel Photo/File
Discontent grows along with web of deceit
- Columns
-
-
319 Days and counting!!
Break out the credit cards and the doughnuts! Charge up to your hearts desire and eat whatever you want, don’t worry about carrying around those extra forty pounds because according to a growing population of scientists, quacks, researchers, religious dudes and guru’s the world is going to end in 2012.
-
Boundaries
Just as each of us has a need for physical safety, we also have a need for emotional or psychological safety. Boundaries is the term we use to define what helps us feel safe and comfortable in relationships. We have all had the experience of feeling like another person was closer to us physically than was comfortable. So too it is important to define for yourself how close you want to be with others emotionally. Naturally, this varies with who the other person is.
-
Building is only one part of expansion at LRMA
On January 25, the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art held a ground-breaking ceremony for a $5 million project that includes a 5,425-square foot addition and substantial increases to the Museum’s endowment fund.
-
Is now the time to refinance?
Mortgages are cheaper than ever. Economists and real estate analysts who predicted lower interest rates were not disappointed; the earliest numbers from 2012 have reached an all-time low, leading a number of homeowners to consider their options.
-
Eyes on the U.S. Economy
What a great weekend! The weather was just right for getting outside and practicing your favorite hobby or just “piddlin” around. I even went over to Gardner Park and threw the pigskin with my buddies, Ben and Jasper. Mallorie’s folks made it over to Laurel Saturday afternoon and we fired up the grill. We dined on steaks, chops, red fish and all the fixin’s – thank you Mike!
-
Travel Technology
After leaving the Trapani Salt Flats on the western coast of Sicily on a late November afternoon, I maneuvered our vehicle down yet another remote, unmarked dirt road and passed dozens of vacant houses. No one was on the streets. It had been 10 minutes since we had seen another car. Sunlight was at a minimum. We had been warned several times about remote areas of Sicily.
-
Going Paperless — Priceless!
For months, a large retailer emailed me twice a day, begging me to switch from paper billing to online billing. If only I would go paperless, my hair would grow back rich and thick, my sciatica would go away, my plantar fasciitis would heal itself, my cats would stop shedding, and my chance of heavenly reward would rise. OK, fine. I’ll sign up, just please stop sending me your stupid emails.
-
Obama’s Racial Politics
There’s been a heap of criticism placed upon President Barack Obama’s domestic policies that have promoted government intrusion and prolonged our fiscal crisis and his foreign policies that have emboldened our enemies. Any criticism of Obama pales in comparison with what might be said about the American people who voted him in to the nation’s highest office.
-
Pain to Blessing
My sister, Janie, is having surgery soon. Mom is going out to Colorado to help her through the recuperation. Dad and I can help by sending Mom who is a pro at caring for her girls. Mom will be sure Janie has everything she needs and will help her do what she cannot do for herself. Janie is not looking forward to the pain of surgery, but she is looking forward to feeling better.
-
What really happened to the Gingrich case?
The Romney campaign has been hitting Newt Gingrich hard over the 1990s ethics case that resulted in the former speaker being reprimanded and paying a $300,000 penalty. Romney mentions it often, and his campaign made the ethics case the focus of the most widely viewed attack ad of the Florida primary.
- More Columns Headlines
-
Police: Father Planned Deadly Fire for Some Time
US, UK Pressure on Syria; More Homs Violence
Raw Video: Mass Killer Wants Medal, Freedom
Few Answers in Death of Sons of Missing Utah Mom
Court Strips Contador of Tour De France Title
Runaway Goat Leads Police on Wild Chase
And the Winner for Best Super Bowl Ad Is...
Raw Video: Deadly Helicopter Crash in Australia
Raw Video: Smoke, Purported Gunfire in Syria
Romney Latest Poll to Join Let-me-explain Club
Blast Kills Husband of Missing Utah Mom, 2 Boys
Obama: US, Israel Will Work Against Iran Nukes
NJ Museum Finds 19th Century Recording
Snow Causes Disruptions in Much of Europe
Clinton: Vetoed U.N. Syria Resolution 'travesty'
Romney Picks Up Decisive Win in Nevada Caucuses
Gingrich Renews Vow to Campaign Until Convention
Romney Rolls to Easy Win in Nevada GOP Caucuses
Raw Video: Missing Family Found Alive in Ore.
Police Clear Tents From Occupy Site in DC
