What They Are Saying About The ObamaCare Decision

Though Obama Tried To Convince Americans Otherwise, ObamaCare Is A Tax Increase On The Middle Class

OBAMACARE IS JUST ANOTHER WAY OBAMA’S POLICIES KILL JOBS

CNBC’s Jim Cramer: “I Think The Market Is Taking It Overall Right In That This Is Just Another Reason Why You Should Not Hire And Another Reason Why You Should Fire.” CRAMER: “At the same time, I think this is just a terrible decision people for the possibility of more employment for this year. Look, this is not a great thing for small business and I think that the market is afraid that small business will lay off people and I think that the market is taking it overall right in that this is just another reason why you should not hire and another reason why you should fire.” (CNBC’s “Squawk On The Street,” 6/28/12)

OBAMA’S BROKEN PROMISE NOT TO RAISE TAXES ON THE MIDDLE CLASS IS A POLITICAL LIABILITY

CNN’s John Bash: “President Obama Made A Pledge That He Was Not Going To Raise Taxes On Middle Class Americans, But If This Is A Tax, At Least Constitutionally Speaking, He In A Sense Has Raised Taxes On Middle Class Americans.” CNN’S WOLF BLITZER: “Your understanding, John, and I believe I’m right when I say this, the Obama administration, they may have flipped on this, but they never really argued, at least publicly during the debate leading up to the health care reform law, that this was a tax, the penalty on the mandate. They always said that it wasn’t necessarily a new tax. Is that your understanding?” JOHN BASH: “It is, Wolf. You know, one of the early versions of the health care law had a provision that called it a tax. I can’t remember if that was in the House or the Senate, but that was discarded along the way. And of course, President Obama made a pledge that he was not going to raise taxes on middle class Americans, but if this is a tax, at least constitutionally speaking, he in a sense has raised taxes on middle class Americans, at least those who elect not to purchase health insurance.” (CNN’s “Newsroom,” 6/28/12)

Senior White House Official Speaking On Condition Of Anonymity: “I’m Sure They’ll Nail Us On Taxes And I’m Sure It Will Work.” (Ron Fournier, “Roberts Labels Obama A Tax Raiser,”National Journal’s 2012 Decoded, 6/28/12)

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Tom Fitzgerald: “SCOTUS fallout: ruling that individual mandate is a tax could help Rs blast POTUS for raising taxes amidst recession. ‪#healthcare” (Tom Fitzgerald, Twitter Feed, 6/28/12)

NBC’s Savannah Guthrie: “Essentially What The Supreme Court Has Said Is ObamaCare Raised Taxes. And That’s Going To Make Things A Little Bit More Difficult For The Obama Administration Going Forward.” “It is an interesting legal argument. It’s a legal argument that saved the day for the Obama administration. It will be a complicated political argument for them, because now essentially what the Supreme Court has said is ObamaCare raised taxes. And That’s going to make things a little bit more difficult for the Obama administration going forward.” (NBC, 6/28/12)

WHICH WILL PRESENT DANGER FOR HIS REELECTION

Politico: “But Obama And Company Remain Saddled With A Law Of Dubious Popularity And An Electorate Resentful Of Anything That Distracts From A Single-Minded Focus On Job Creation.” (Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman, “Supreme Court Health Care Ruling Shakes Up 2012 Race,” Politico, 6/28/12)

Democrat Consultant Joe Trippi: “No Doubt About It – This Ruling Helps Romney.” “‘No doubt about it – this ruling helps Romney,’ said Joe Trippi, a Democratic consultant who ran Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign. ‘The Republican base now knows the only path to throwing out Obama’s health care reform is to elect Romney. Partisan Democrats are breathing a sigh of relief – GOP partisans are breathing fire. In a close election, Romney benefits from that energized GOP base.'” (Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman, “Supreme Court Health Care Ruling Shakes Up 2012 Race,” Politico, 6/28/12)

Fox News’ Chris Wallace: The Decision Will “Energize The Conservative Base, The Plurality Of People In This Country That Don’t Like Obamacare.” “It seems to me, that Mitt Romney is going to be able to say, ‘Alright, look, the legal avenue is dead as a way to kill Obamacare, if you want to kill it, you’re going to have to elect me as President.’ I think that is going to energize the conservative base, the plurality of people in this country that don’t like Obamacare.” (Fox News’ “The Cost Of Freedom,” 6/28/12)

Ross Baker, Political Scientist At Rutgers: “The Constitutionality Of The Affordable Care Act Pales, Politically, Beside The Need . . . To Make Your Case For Reelection Tethered To A Program That Remains Widely Unpopular.” “But Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University, said Obama still may have trouble converting public opinion about the health-care law, even with the Supreme Court on his side. ‘The constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act pales, politically, beside the need . . . to make your case for reelection tethered to a program that remains widely unpopular,’ he said.” (Dan Balz, “A Victory For Obama In June, But What About November?” The Washington Post , 6/28/12)

NBC’s David Gregory: “Let’s Not Forget That The Healthcare Law Is Still On Balance Unpopular With The American People.” “One other point, Chris, and that is the politics of this. Let’s not forget that the healthcare law is still on balance unpopular with the American people. The President is going to talk in a matter in a matter of hours and not doubt herald this decision, but it’s really a huge political opportunity for him to readdress, to relitigate what he thinks are the major selling points of this law to what is still a skeptical American public. And that’s, uh, the task he has before him right now.” (MSNBC’s “Jansing & Co.,” 6/28/12)

The New York Times: “The Triumph For Mr. Obama Will Not Necessarily Be Enduring. The President Now Faces The Challenge Of Trying To Sell The Merits Of The Health Care Law Again In The Court Of Public Opinion.” “But the triumph for Mr. Obama will not necessarily be enduring. The president now faces the challenge of trying to sell the merits of the health care law again in the court of public opinion, even as Mr. Romney and Republicans can campaign on their promise to repeal the measure. It was telling that he used his address from the East Room two hours after the court’s ruling to explain the law and its benefits to Americans, something that even some of his supporters said he had failed to do effectively after the law’s passage more than two years ago.” (Jeff Zeleny, “Big Win For Obama Galvanizes G.O.P. Rivals,” The New York Times, 6/28/12)

• NYT: The Ruling Could “Provide New Political Power To Mr. Romney’s Pledge To Repeal The Law If He Wins The Election.” “The ruling has the potential to re-energize the Tea Party movement – largely born out of opposition to the health care law and the expansion of government – and provide new political power to Mr. Romney’s pledge to repeal the law if he wins the election.” (Jeff Zeleny, “Big Win For Obama Galvanizes G.O.P. Rivals,” The New York Times, 6/28/12)
• NYT: “The Ruling Could Also Give Liberals The False Assurance That The Presidential Election Is No Longer Steeped In Urgency.” (Jeff Zeleny, “Big Win For Obama Galvanizes G.O.P. Rivals,” The New York Times, 6/28/12)

DESPITE WHAT OBAMA TOLD THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IN SELLING OBAMACARE, HIS PLAN IS A TAX INCREASE

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “President Obama Gave An Interview To ABC News, To George Stephanopoulos At The Time, And Repeatedly In That Interview, He Denied That There Was Any Tax Increase In The Health Care Reform Legislation.” CNN’S WOLF BLITZER: “It’s fascinating, John. We just checked, back in 2009, when they were debating the tax provisions of the health care reform law, and you all remember, the president of the United States, President Obama gave an interview to ABC News, to George Stephanopoulos at the time, and repeatedly in that interview, he denied that there was any tax increase in the health care reform legislation. At one point he’s saying, you’ve got to take responsibility to get health insurance, but this is absolutely not a tax increase. At another point he says, my critics say everything is a tax increase, my critics say that I’m taking over every sector of the economy. He denied this was a tax increase, but ironically, John, now we see from the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice, John Roberts, that this is, in effect, a tax increase. As a result, the Obama health care reform law stands completely constitutional at this point. I think you’ll agree, John, that’s a fascinating twist as we’ve interpreted it right now.” (CNN’s “Outfront,” 6/28/12)

• Fox News’ Megyn Kelly: In 2009, “On And On He [Obama] Went And Repeatedly Said This Is Not A Tax Increase.” “I want to make one other point. The taxing power. President Obama on ABC News, September 20th 2009. George Stephanopoulos: ‘This is a tax increase.’ About this law. President Obama: ‘No, that’s not true, George. For us to say you have to take responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. Nobody considers this a tax increase.’ And on and on he went and repeatedly said this is not a tax increase. When they went into court they said something very different and the Supreme Court accepted that legal argument.” (Fox News’ “The Cost Of Freedom,” 6/28/12)

CNN’s John King: “That’s A Great Irony. The Court Saying The Law Is Upheld Because It Is Exactly What The President Said It Was Not, In Terms Of A Tax.” (CNN’s “Outfront,” 6/28/12)

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: “The Court Decided Indeed It Is, Indeed, A Tax.” “This is so interesting and ironic in many ways because all through the fight for health care, the White House was insisting that this mandate was not a tax then they went into the courts and argued that it was and now it’s been upheld because the court decided indeed it is, indeed, a tax.” (ABC News, 6/28/12)

Obama’s Former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal: “What The Chief Justice Said Today Is Look, It Quacks Like A Tax, It Looks Like A Tax, It Functions Like A Tax, It Is A Tax.” “Well, I don’t think so, because the constitutional question is after all, is it function like a tax? And what the Chief Justice said today is look, it quacks like a tax, it looks like a tax, it functions like a tax, it is a tax. Every American knows that, because if you don’t pay the individual mandate, then on the 1040 tax bill, you have to check a box saying so. And so everyone knows that this really functions like a tax.” (CNN’s “Newsroom,” 6/28/12)

CNN’s Gloria Borger: “Politically Nobody Said This Was A Tax, But Legally, This Was The Argument.” CNN’S WOLF BLITZER: “Gloria Borger is here. She’s been reading through this decision.” CNN’s GLORIA BORGER: “What’s so interesting to me, Wolf, politically of course you never heard the Obama administration brag about the penalties on the mandate as a tax because politically, nobody wants to talk about a tax. But when you look at the argument that their attorney made, they, the federal government argued that the individual mandate’s, quote, practical operation is as a tax, because the financial penalty for failure to comply with the mandate is administered through the tax code. And that was the argument they made to the court. We’re all looking at the commerce clause, of course, but this is about — this has turned out to be about taxing power. So politically nobody said this was a tax, but legally, this was the argument -” BLITZER: “That the IRS would be providing the penalties to those that were required to purchase health insurance who didn’t after 2014, and as a result, the IRS would have to hire a lot more people to implement this.” BORGER: “Exactly.” BLITZER: “It was seen by the justices as a tax.” BORGER: “It’s going to be administered through the tax code. They say it reasonably relates to the raising of some amount of federal revenue. Therefore, it is a tax.” (CNN’s “Newsroom,” 6/28/12)

Fox News’ Jon Scott: “The President Has Called It Not A Tax. The Supreme Court Says It Is. That’s Going To Be The Semantic Battle Ahead.” (Fox News’ “The Cost Of Freedom,” 6/28/12)

CBS’s Scott Pelley: “If Anyone Decides Not To Buy Health Insurance, They Will Pay A Penalty On Their Income Tax Form In 2015.” “First of all, the individual mandate, the headline of the hour, is that the individual mandate has been upheld. That is the part of President Obama’s law, really the linchpin of the entire law, that requires almost all Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. That hasn’t gone into effect yet. That will become the law of the land in 2014, and if anyone decides not to buy health insurance, they will pay a penalty on their income tax form in 2015.” (CBS News, 6/28/12)

ABC’s Terry Moran: “What The Chief Justice Did Was Say The Government Can Tax You Differently, Impose A Penalty If You Don’t Have Health Insurance.” “That’s right. Actually one day the federal government was saying, no this is not a tax and the next, yes, it is a tax. The court didn’t like that but they fixed it. The government can tax you differently if you have solar panels on your roof or decide if you decide to engage in certain behaviors like smoking or other things. In this case, what the chief justice did was say the government can tax you differently, impose a penalty if you don’t have health insurance.” (ABC News, 6/28/12)