Back during the Obamacare debate, President Obama vehemently insisted that the fees penalizing those who do not have health insurance were not a “tax increase.”
Today, the Supreme Court said that the individual mandate, and its fees for noncompliance, are constitutional, as long as they are properly understood as a “tax.” If they are called “fees,” then they are not; it appears Chief Justice John Roberts has surprised much of the legal and political world by siding with the four “liberal” justices on this one.
Today is an extraordinarily frustrating setback for opponents of Obamacare. But it is perhaps better that the law be repealed than struck down by the Supreme Court — a legislative mistake being corrected by legislative means. Of course, to fix this legislatively, January 2013 must see a Republican (or anti-Obamacare) House, a Republican Senate and President Romney.
When the Lewinsky scandal hit a critical moment, former President Bill Clinton reportedly told his advisers, “We’ll just have to win, then.”
If Obamacare is to be stopped . . . we’ll just have to win, then.
UPDATE: The Supreme Court just gave Mitt Romney a very, very useful line: “As President, I will repeal President Obama’s health care tax.”
ANOTHER UPDATE: In the comments I see the mis-perception that ending Obamacare will require 60 votes in the Senate. Simple majorities in the House and Senate pass a budgetary bill that eliminates the tax penalty for not having health insurance, or all the funding for the enforcement of Obamacare (recall there is no filibuster of a budget bill), or both. Or on day one, President Romney could issue 50 exemptions to all of the states.
Under President Romney, everyone in America could get the same deal that fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and hotels in Nancy Pelosi’s district have gotten.