Mitt Romney’s campaign attacked President Obama and the Supreme Court ruling in Obamacare this morning, arguing that the ruling expands congressional power by allowing the federal government to levy taxes in order to compel behavior.
“Under this taxing authority now, you can tax inactivity to compel behavior, you can tax inactivity, what’s to stop this administration — we know the First Lady is very keen on us eating healthy — why not tax people for not eating tofu?”Gov. Bobby Jindal,, R-La., asked reporters on a conference call this morning. “This administration, they’ve put taxpayers as partial owners of GM, why not tax people for not going out and buying Chevy Volts? The reality is, this is a huge expansion of the federal government’s power.”
President Obama’s spokesmen in the White House and the campaign deny that the mandate is a tax, despite the Supreme Court ruling upholding the law under Congress’s taxing power.
“It is simply a fallacy to say this is a broad-based tax,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said today.
Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., argued that the White House is effectively declaring Obamacare unconstitutional. “If it’s not a tax, then it’s not constitutional under the rest of the court’s opinion,” Pawlenty observed on the call.
