Obama 2009: It’s not a tax
Supreme Court 2012: It’s a tax tho
There’s my summary of the ruling.
So here’s the summary of the SCOTUS decision in plain ol English:
“Individual mandate has been struck down as a commerce clause, BUT may survive as a Tax. Waiting for more.” – FoxNews Radio
Here’s the full ruling if you’re a nerd like me.
This takes me back to a long, long time ago, I can still remember. I sat down with then Congressman Ciro Rodriguez to chat about health care and all sorts of issues and this little debate arose. Excuse the audio and my terrible 2007 blonde highlights:
Transcript:
Rodriguez: You think it’s the Federal responsibility to provide for highways?
Morales: It’s interstate commerce [inaudible].
Rodriguez: The majority is federally funded.
Morales: That’s why. It’s interstate commerce.
Rodriguez: But that’s ok right? And health care isn’t?!
Morales: There’s a big difference between something that’s outlined in the Constitution and something that isn’t. Interstate Commerce is outlined in the Constitution.
Rodriguez: It is?
Morales: Mmhmm.
Rodriguez: It is?
Morales: Yeah.
Rodriguez: And interstate commerce–highways are part of that?
Morales: Yeah that’s why they’re called interstates.
Rodriguez: Ok.
BOOM. SCOTUS agrees with me. Hey it’s not all bad news today. Besides, this is great to know that after 4 years…I’m still right 
Of course the best news of the day was CNN’s Dewey/Truman handling of the ruling that confused everyone on Twitter. Read about it courtesy of AdAge.
