Obamacare In Emergency: Costs To NM Families

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IN 2009, OBAMA ARGUED OBAMACARE WAS “ABSOLUTELY NOT A TAX INCREASE”

In September 2009, Obama Disagreed That The Individual Mandate Was A Tax When Reminded That He Promised Not To Increase Taxes On The Middle Class  ABC NEWS’ GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: “Probably the most definitive promise you made in the campaign is that no one in the middle class would get a tax increase on your watch.” PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: “Right.” STEPHANOPOULOS: “Yet this week, Senator Rockefeller and several other Democrats say that this bill by Senator Baucus is a big middle class tax increase. Do you agree and does that mean you can’t sign it?” OBAMA: “Well, I don’t agree.” (ABC’s “This Week,” 9/20/09)

When ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos Pointed Out That The Individual Mandate Was A Tax, Obama Vehemently Disagreed: “Absolutely Not A Tax Increase.” STEPHANOPOULOS: “You were against the individual mandate…” OBAMA: “Yes.” STEPHANOPOULOS: “During the campaign. Under this mandate, the government is forcing people to spend money, fining you if you don’t. How is that not a tax?” STEPHANOPOULOS: “That may be, but it’s still a tax increase.”  OBAMA: “No. That’s not true, George. The — for us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. What it’s saying is, is that we’re not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore than the fact that right now everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance. Nobody considers that a tax increase. People say to themselves, that is a fair way to make sure that if you hit my car, that I’m not covering all the costs.” (ABC’s “This Week,” 9/20/09)

Obama Mocked ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos For Looking Up The Definition Of A Tax In The Dictionary.  STEPHANOPOULOS: “But it may be fair, it may be good public policy…” OBAMA: “No, but — but, George, you — you can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase. Any…” STEPHANOPOULOS: “Here’s the…” OBAMA: “What — what — if I — if I say that right now your premiums are going to be going up by 5 or 8 or 10 percent next year and you say well, that’s not a tax increase; but, on the other hand, if I say that I don’t want to have to pay for you not carrying coverage even after I give you tax credits that make it affordable, then…” STEPHANOPOULOS: “I — I don’t think I’m making it up. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Tax – ‘a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.’” OBAMA: “George, the fact that you looked up Merriam’s Dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you’re stretching a little bit right now. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone to the dictionary to check on the definition. I mean what…” STEPHANOPOULOS: “Well, no, but…” OBAMA: “What you’re saying is…” STEPHANOPOULOS: “I wanted to check for myself.” (ABC’s “This Week,” 9/20/09)