I wonder if President Obama still thinks the Individual Mandate provisions of the Health Care Reform bill aren’t a tax:
Americans who fail to pay the penalty for not buying insurance would face legal action from the Internal Revenue Service, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
The remarks Thursday from the committee’s chief of staff, Thomas Barthold, seems to further weaken President Barack Obama’s contention last week that the individual mandate penalty, which could go as high as $1,900, is not a tax increase.
Under questioning from Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), Barthold said the IRS would “take you to court and undertake normal collection proceedings.”
Ensign pursued the line of questioning because he said a lot of Americans don’t believe the Constitution allows the government to mandate the purchase of insurance.
Sen. Ensign has apparently received a handwritten confirmation ( a copy of the note can be found here) from Mr. Barthold saying in part that:
Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty, Barthold wrote on JCT letterhead. He signed it “Sincerely, Thomas A. Barthold.”
And you thought the public option was the worst part of health care reform…
I cringe every time I hear someone describe the President or a member of Congress as fascist… But I really don’t know what else to call a government that would even consider enacting a law that could send an otherwise law abiding citizen to jail for not buying health insurance!
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