Look up in the sky its a bird, its a penalty ... no ... no ... its Obamatax!
After the initial shock of disbelief, most of us who treasure the Constitution and our Republic went into a period of depression. Not that the certification of another tax was a surprise; weve all come to expect that from this gang. No, it was the twisted logic of a supposed legal expert that was the shocker.
I believed that the imposition of a penalty for not engaging in commerce would and should be found unconstitutional. Taxation was never considered, at least not publicly. Obama and his cabal of czars was careful never to use that term. Obama denied that description at least seven times on television interviews. His appointed minions slithered around behind him, reinforcing the idea that if you did not buy the mandated insurance you would pay a fine/penalty for your flagrant disobedience. At least we wouldnt be sent to bed without supper! So for as long as this mandate has been discussed, the anointed one, his appointees, and the sycophants in the media have been lying to us!
And then, holey moley, Batman, the Supreme Court after two days of argument hears the word tax and then proceeds to craft an almost undecipherable decision that avoids ruling on the constitutionality of a penalty imposed for not buying a product. I had a picture of the Wicked Witch of the North sending her flying monkeys out to spread the word: Its not a penalty, its a tax; its a tax; its a tax, my pretties ha ha ha.
But wait, theres more! If you watch Princess Pelosi (House minority leader), Jacob Lew (Obama chief of staff), David Axelrod or any of the mouthpieces that prance through the Sunday talk shows, you soon realize that they seemed to have missed the courts decision. They still think the tax is a penalty; in fact; no matter how hard the interviewer tries they dont even seem to know how to say tax.
Now, I know thats not true. Under the Obamatax 2,700-page-and-growing bill, there are about 70+ new taxes. I say growing because there are 1,100 at the direction of the director phrases that allows the politically appointed director to make changes as necessary. In fact, 75 percent of the cost of the Obamatax will be borne by people earning less than $150,000 a year. What?
But that cant be. Obama promised no taxes for anyone earning less than $250,000 a year. Ha ha ha. Watch out, my pretties, here come those damned flying monkeys again: Penalties, not taxes ... penalties.
Aside from the convoluted majority opinion and the obvious refusal to rule on the constitutionality of Obamatax, Chief Justice Roberts expressed an opinion, a dicta. This has no weight; it is a personal statement. The ruling of constitutionality was based solely on the legislatures right to levy taxes. Taxes, not fines or penalties!
With the actions of one man, an existing bill (under challenge) was rewritten to allow it to pass a constitutional review. Oh, that may not be ethical after all it was challenged because it read penalty, but that would be unconstitutional. So all that Roberts had to do was rewrite the bill to read taxes not penalty. Simple huh? Ethical? Can it be challenged? No! No, because this was a ruling by the Supreme Court they decide what is allowed. The four dissenters went berserk and wrote a scathing dissent that spoke directly to Roberts revision. Alito, Kennedy, Scalia, and Thomas felt the bill should be overturned completely. So Roberts added some weasel words to prove he wasnt influenced by Obamas henchmen in the media and Obamas personal attack on the court.
What have we wrought?
We are but months away from a Socialist Utopia. Americans can now be taxed for not doing something. With the coming Taxmageddon of Obamatax, the ending of the Bush tax cuts in January 2013; the imminent implementation of the myriad taxes for medical devices, prescriptions, over-the-counter medications and others that are too numerous to count, it will be messy.
But after all, You have to pass the bill to see whats in it Princess Pelosi on the floor of the House.
Larry Tradlener lives down McElmo Canyon.