He had one of two words: tax or penalty. When faced with that decision, Mitt Romney went with the option that contradicted previous statements made by his staff; the Republican presidential nominee finally waded into the penalty vs. tax debate, saying he believes the health care mandate is a tax.
"Now the Supreme Court has spoken and while I agreed with the dissent, that's taken over by the fact that the majority of the court said it's a tax," Romney said yesterday in an interview with CBS News. "Therefore it is a tax. They have spoken. There's no way around that. You can try and say you wish they’d decided a different way, but they didn't. They concluded it’s a tax. That's what it is."
On Monday, however, Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told NBC's Chuck Todd they considered the mandate to be more of a penalty.
Romney, at least, joined the chorus of Republican leaders, claiming Obamacare raises taxes on middle-class Americans. He's arguably gotten himself into a a bit of a pickle: remember that whole health care mandate thing that he championed in Massachusetts? Yeah, it was a tax.
An op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal — which of note is owned by the conservative mogul behind Fox News, Rupert Murdoch — tore into Team Romney's mixed messaging on the health care ruling and for referring to it as a penalty in the first place.
"In a stroke, the Romney campaign contradicted Republicans throughout the country who had used the Chief Justice's opinion to declare accurately that Mr. Obama had raised taxes on the middle class." The scathing piece states Romney's "campaign looks confused in addition to being politically dumb.This latest mistake is of a piece with the campaign's insular staff and strategy that are slowly squandering an historic opportunity."
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Governor Romney's campaign has been running around for 2 days DEMANDING it WAS'T a tax (while his little minions in the GOP were prancing around DEMANDING it was).
Is anyone surprised that Governor Romney has ZERO convictions on ANYTHING?
They call him 'etch a sketch' but to me he is more like a mixture of silly putty and weather-vane..Totally goofy and any which way the wind blows.
I mean at what point does even his most ardent supporters say 'this is just getting pathetic, the whole darn camaign'?
Anything to get the Christian guy out of office.
When is Mitt going to finally release his Birth Certificate. I think he was born outside of the United States.
I think it is hilarious. Mr. Etcha -Sketch cannot keep his story straight. Even the Republicans are shaking their heads over him. And the fool wants to get rid of Justice Roberts. I mean really! Just because he sided with Mittens and said it was a tax before Mittens said it was a penalty, before he said it was a tax...........damn, I am confused! Can't wait to see him in the debates. And as far as the BC, he said once that the parents had to be legal citizens of the child, before the child grows up to run for president. That would, uh, leave him out! And no man who outsources American jobs and keeps his money all over seas, should be our president! But, I hear him now, "Overseas banks are people too"! He is a nut! And what is sad, those that vote for him, could not shine his shoes, as they are not smart enough!
He should have Palin as his running mate. I cannot understand either one, and they would have everyone so damn confused, Obama might accidently vote for him!
Only thing he can call it is a tax now. The Supreme Court says its a tax so he knows its legaly a tax. Calling it anything else now would be flat our liying. Obama tried ro pass it off as a penalty himself but he cant now are he he would be flat liying.
If you folks got the leftist media crap out of your ears, you might have heard Romney say that he agreed with the minority decision that the taxing power of the federal govenment should not have been broadened by the court to apply to coercive penalties assesed to individuals, and employers to further the goal of purchases of health insurance. That he agreed with the majority that found that the ObamaCare provisons were unconstitutional under the Commerce clause, which would not therefore suffice, (as the federal government's solicitor general and Congress and the President all argued should provide the power of the federal government to penalize individuals and employers who do not purchase health insurance). And that he recognizes the legality of the Supreme Court decision that the "penalties" should now be considered a tax, as the bote broke that way 5 to 4. And that the "Act" still remains bad law, conceived and sold to the people on false and tenuous arguments, and should be repealed therefore!.
And, when others are trying to get their head around the fact that with cooperation with the Democrat legislators in Massachusetts, the Medical sector and the Insurance sector in that state, he developed an intrastate program of health insurance that did have mandates and penalties UNDER THE STATE'S POLICING POWER (something that the federal government does not have as a power, as that is limited by our constitution to the states), he had no problem defining such, and expaining such clearly and cogently.
Just get the liberal media crap out of your ears and listen to what the man says, read his writings (as in the 59 point plan to turn our economies woes around), and then make a judgement on substance. For once in your sorry liberal lives!