If I were a Republican Congressman

I’d schedule a new vote in the House on the individual mandate, but replace the “penalty language” with language specifically acknowledging that the “penalty” is actually a tax. If the Democrats vote “aye,” they’ve acknowledged breaking the Obama pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class. If the Democrats–specifically those who already voted for the mandate–vote “nay”, what becomes of the tax argument in future litigation? Seems to me that Roberts was only able to argue that the mandate is a tax because no one [officially, by Congressional vote] specifically said it wasn’t. At least it would look very peculiar that the Court upheld the law on a theory that Congressional supporters of the law refuse to adopt. (And if they vote “nay” on the theory that the Senate won’t vote for repeal anyway, it looks bad for the president that he can’t get members of his own party to publicly support his “signature” piece of legislation).

Powered by WordPress. Designed by Woo Themes