Mitt Romney Flip Flops and Panders So Much Now That It is Taken For Granted – Says He Agrees with Dissenting Opinion that Mandate Requirement is Not a Tax But That He Agrees with Majority Opinion That It is a Tax

A Lifetime Achievement Award for Craveness?

One of the minor issues to come out of the Supreme Court case on the health care bill was whether or not the penalty for not having health insurance was a tax.  The ruling opinion said that it was allowed under the Congress’s taxing authority, primarily in order to rule favorably on the law.  The minority opinion said it was not a tax.

Mitt Romney is in a quandary.  The health care legislation he championed in Massachusetts has the same provision.  By agreeing that it was a tax, he has to admit he raised taxes while Governor, something he adamantly says he did not (he raised fees and charges instead).  But by not calling it a tax he runs afoul the Republican mantra which says it is a tax.

So how does a principled person with integrity get through this divide?  We don’t know, we only know how Mr. Romney handles it.

July 4, 2012, 1:01 PM1 Comment

Romney, in Shift, Says Health Care Mandate Is a Tax

By GERRY MULLANY

Here it is, see if anyone can figure it out.

Mitt Romney said on Wednesday that the individual mandate in President Obama’s health care law was “a tax,” just days after his campaign said the candidate had rejected that characterization.

In an interview with Jan Crawford of CBS News, Mr. Romney said: “While I agreed with the dissent, that’s taken over by the fact that the majority of the court said it’s a tax, and therefore it is a tax. They have spoken.”

Okay, that seems clear.  But then there is this

“The governor disagreed with the ruling of the court,” Mr. Fehrnstrom said Monday on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown.” “He agreed with the dissent written by Justice Scalia, which very clearly stated that the mandate was not a tax.”

Uh, now we are confused.  But here’s what we think is the true explanation.  Mr. Romney believes that the penalty he supported is not a tax, even though it is the same penalty that is in the Obama health care legislation which is a tax because the majority opinion, with which he disagrees says it is a tax and the minority opinion with which he agrees says it is not a tax so therefore his program did not have a tax but Mr. Obama’s does have one.

Yep, that clears things up, doesn't it.

Saving anything and everything to be President, has anyone ever done that better than Mitt Romney?