VIDEO--Obama Spokesman: Hey, We Never Referred to ‘Obamacare’ Mandate as a Tax During Trial (But Wait Until You See the Evidence)

The Blaze During an interview on CNN’s “Starting Point With Soledad O’Brien,” Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt claimed that the Obama administration never referred to the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate as a “tax” when it argued the bill’s constitutionality before the Supreme Court. “His spokesman … said it’s a penalty. The Supreme Court has said it’s a tax. What does he believe?”  O’Brien asked LaBolt. “That it’s a penalty,” LaBolt responded. “You saw our arguments before the Supreme Court –” “So then he disagrees with the Supreme Court decision that says it’s now a tax?” O’Brien pressed. “That’s right,” said LaBolt. “He said that it’s a penalty. You saw our arguments before the Court.” Yes, we did see the Obama administration’s arguments before the Court.

Actually, we’re glad LaBolt brings this up because, if we remember correctly, Solicitor General Don Verrilli argued that they could treat the mandate as a tax, therefore making it constitutional.  

“It never referred to it as a — it never referred to it as a tax,” LaBolt said. “It said that it was a penalty. And that’s under the section of the law that is the tax code, but it said very specifically that it’s a penalty.” Read More