This ruling officially turns ObamaCare into the largest tax hike in American history and sets a dangerous precedent of virtually unlimited federal power.
The surprising fact that Chief Justice Roberts, an appointee of President George W. Bush, sided with liberal activist judges to uphold one of the most blatant unconstitutional laws of our lifetime is an absolute disgrace. Justices Antonin Scalia Anthony Kennedy, Samuel Alito, and Clarence Thomas joined Thomas joined together in dissent arguing that “the act before us is invalid in its entirety.”
Those who respect the original intent of our Founding Fathers cannot constitutionally justify any part of ObamaCare.
“The Affordable Care Act's requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness.”
Following Chief Justice Robert’s logic, the federal government may not be able to force us to eat vegetables but it can force us to buy broccoli if they call it a “tax.” President Obama could sign a law requiring all Americans purchase Chevy Volts and the Supreme Court would foolishly rule it constitutional.
A long line of campaign promises that Obama made on the campaign trail have been broken. He repeatedly swore repeatedly swore that the individual mandate was not a tax. And remember this Obama pledge? “If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see any of your taxes increased one single dime. I repeat: not a single dime.” Yeah, right.
Not only is the individual mandate a penalty tax, but it disproportionally hurts the poor and middle-class. At least 75 percent of the mandate tax will fall on Americans who make less than $120,000 annually, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Twenty-one percent of the tax hike will fall on people who earn just above the poverty level of $11,800 per individual, or $24,000 for a family of four.
The individual and employer health insurance mandate will cost an estimated $65 billion between 2014 and 2019. That’s a whole lot of dimes.
ObamaCare amounts to $1.7 trillion in taxes over the next decade. These taxes range from excise taxes on medical device manufacturers to hospital insurance taxes. Unless the law is repealed, it will be illegal for any American to not carry health insurance starting in 2014. Never before have American citizens been punished through taxation for refusal to buy a product simply because they exist.
The alarming ramifications of this mandate tax should scare the daylights out of every freedom-loving American. This Supreme Court ruling makes the IRS the enforcement arm of ObamaCare. Too bad if you don’t want to buy health insurance, an IRS agent might come knocking on your door. You have the false choice of buying health insurance or paying a hefty tax—but “it’s for your own good!”
President Obama has even refused to rule out jail time for people who don’t buy health insurance and refuse to pay the penalty tax in previous interviews. And this guy won a Nobel Peace Prize?
The Founding Fathers would be outraged that the federal government has the power to impose harmful taxes on citizens for not purchasing a private company’s product. Thomas Jefferson declared that states were “duty bound to resist” any federal law that violated the Constitution. Perhaps the states are really our best hope in stopping all unconstitutional federal actions.
Now that the Supreme Court has upheld ObamaCare, it’s more urgent than ever to abolish ObamaCare in its entirety. Full steam ahead—nothing but complete repeal of this monstrous law is acceptable. No exceptions, no excuses.