OMB director undercuts legal case for Obamacare

Testifying before Congress this morning, President Obama's acting budget director Jeffrey Zients directly undercut one of the administration's key legal defenses of its national health care law as it nears a hearing before the Supreme Court.

In a hearing of the House Budget Committee Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., pressed Zients on whether the penalty that the health care law imposes on individuals who do not purchase health insurance constitutes a tax. Eventually, Zients said it did not.

Good luck with that.

Cheap gotcha's are really all they have left.

Much like Mitt.

#2 | Posted by DARTHCHENEY
#3 | Posted by Corky

Transcripts OMB director Jeffrey Zients are most likely headed to SCOTUS if they aren't there already. You have not heard the last of this testimony.

#4 | Posted by paneocon at 2012-02-15 01:01 PM

Good luck with that.

More tax gifts from OMB director Jeffrey Zients

So what I see here is that Derpcheney and Corky don't care that Obama talks out of both sides of his mouth, lying to get what he wants... much like George Bush whom they vehemently despised.

So what I see here is Exp with a humongous stick up his ass, accusing the Pres of lying because of a subordinate's gaffe.

Nobody has any idea what the taxes and costs are going to be. Nobody possibly can. And every time Zero trots out one of his flunkies to explain it, naturally he's going to look like a retard.

#8 | Posted by Corky at 2012-02-15 01:59 PM | Reply | Flag:

How often do they make this gaffe? How can you make such a huge mistake like messing up the legal justification of the health care legislation on multiple occasions? Without correct it I might add.

It is more than a gaffe and that is why your comment is quite the laugh.

Keep striving for that "truth team" position.

#8 | Posted by Corky at 2012-02-15 01:59 PM | Reply | Flag:

Oh, sorry, the administration that the president chose is inept... not necessarily the president, is that what you are trying to say?

Did you feel the same way about Bush?

=It is more than a gaffe

God told him so.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone here of any philosophical persuasion in all these years so often call people "liars' as this poster does.

Not even Niceville.

#12 | Posted by Corky at 2012-02-15 02:18 PM | Reply | Flag:

If it is stated more than once, without correction, it is more than a gaffe, no?

When do you make the separation between gaffe and "lie"? Do you make the separation with Obama in office?

I remember you talking about lies quite a bit on these boards. Quite a bit more than I.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone here of any philosophical persuasion in all these years so often call people "liars' as this poster does.

Not even Niceville.

#12 | Posted by Corky at 2012-02-15 02:18 PM | Reply | Flag:

And I am sure you can muster how your statement might be a "gaffe" as Zatoichi tends to mention "lies" and liars much more than I.

Were you being obtuse, dishonest, other, in your post?

Did Zients state it more than once without correction?

Or are you just babbling again?

How often do they make this gaffe? How can you make such a huge mistake like messing up the legal justification of the health care legislation on multiple occasions?

They aren't mistaken about anything. They call it a tax when it's convenient to do so (i.e., in court). They call it a "fine" or "penalty" when it's convenient to do so (i.e. when trying to persuade the public that they haven't raised taxes).

It's about political convenience.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone here of any philosophical persuasion in all these years so often call people "liars' as this poster does.

Not even Niceville.

#12 | Posted by Corky

He's over-compensating for being embarrassingly insecure, paintfully awkward, and unsure of himself.

#15 | Posted by Corky at 2012-02-15 02:23 PM | Reply | Flag:

Zient's said it as you can see here.

He's only 13... or was it 25? I forget and it's hard to tell.

#15 | Posted by Corky at 2012-02-15 02:23 PM | Reply | Flag:

You must be so embarrassed for you party to keep making this "gaffe" when they supposedly understand the health care law enough to tell you why it is a good thing and not a bad thing.

How can people who understand the health care law forget that in the law the penalty is a TAX while they keep saying it is not?

Where is the Obama "truth team" on this?

They aren't mistaken about anything. They call it a tax when it's convenient to do so (i.e., in court). They call it a "fine" or "penalty" when it's convenient to do so (i.e. when trying to persuade the public that they haven't raised taxes).

It's about political convenience.

#16 | Posted by JOE

They'd better not call it a tax in front of the Supreme Court. Because all tax bills have to originate in the House of Representatives, and ZeroCare was a Senate bill. That alone makes it a violation of Article 1.

#15 | Posted by Corky at 2012-02-15 02:23 PM | Reply | Flag:

Also notice, if you read the information that the Headline is linked to, you can see Zients making this "gaffe" twice. No correction.

Tax on people under 200,000 (knowing that the health care reform is included in this budget) He said "No".

Asked about the Health Care reform penalty being a tax he said "No"

And of course if you look at the Health Care Reform legislation as to whether the penalty is a tax, the answer is "YES".

Those "gaffes"... Maybe the Health Care reform legislation made the "gaffe"... yeah... that's the ticket...

Looks like Corky, much like Zients, was full of "gaffes" in this thread.

Cheap gotcha's are really all they have left.
#3 | POSTED BY CORKY

So, lying to Congress,the SC and the public is "cheap gotcha"?

When does this budget balance?

Cheap gotcha's are really all they have left.

#3 | Posted by Corky

Yeah, but this cheap gotcha will find it's way to the Supreme Court.
Your Party is really on the scneid lately.

Did OMB director not get the mandate memo?

It's the kind of “oops” moments every high-ranking administration official dreads. You're testifying before Congress, you answer a question the wrong way, and - oops! - you just undermined the administration's defense of the health care law.

On Wednesday, acting Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients appeared to tell the House Budget Committee that the individual mandate isn't a tax. Which could be a bit of a problem, since the Obama administration is defending the mandate before the Supreme Court by arguing that it is a tax - for legal purposes, anyway.

So what's the truth? Is the health care mandate a tax - or not? And why do these people keep changing their story?” FreedomWorks's Dean Clancy asked in a blog post. "The administration's answer, it seems, is: It depends. If you're a judge, it's a tax. If you're a member of Congress, it's not. And that's our story. And we're sticking to it."

President Barack Obama has also said the penalty is not a tax - though that was before the lawsuit and long before there was a health care law to defend.

In a September 2009 interview, Obama told ABC news that "for us to say that you've got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase." He signed the health care reform bill into law in March 2010.

#27 | Posted by paneocon at 2012-02-15 07:09 PM | Reply | Flag:

See #18, at least 4 different democrats (Including the President) stating that the penalty is not a tax... while it is being justified in court by being considered a tax.

It made Corky leave the thread. He didn't feel like making another "gaffe".

It made Corky leave the thread. He didn't feel like making another "gaffe".
#28 | Posted by ExpsRedemption

Oh, jeezus, a thin-chested riightie yodeling about a fictional "triumph" he didn't attain nearly 20-hours ago.

Please, ExPressMyPointedNoggin, try growing up.

Ask your parents, when they open the basement door to toss down a bag of granola; I'm sure they'd be happy to give you some pointers, at least free up some space in their abode.

DERP, I have nothing real to say... let my verbose ramblings flow...

#29 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2012-02-16 09:33 AM | Reply | Flag: Gaffe

lol, he thinks he won some sort of game of "semantics gotcha" over whether something is called a tax or a fee.

They are definitly getting desperate there on the other side. what with Obama smiling so brightly at all his good poll numbers and all their poor ones.

Indies are running away from the GOP in droves, and they are concerned about admin gaffes and definitions?

Guess it will all be about distractions and deflections from here on out.

DERP, I have nothing real to say... let my verbose ramblings flow...
#30 | Posted by ExpsRedemption

Right, for once.

#30 | Posted by ExpsRedemption

Right, for once.

#32 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2012-02-16 10:13 AM | Reply | Flag:

You think #30 was right? Great. Here is #30:

DERP, I have nothing real to say... let my verbose ramblings flow...

#29 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2012-02-16 09:33 AM | Reply | Flag: Gaffe

#30 | Posted by ExpsRedemption at 2012-02-16 09:59 AM | Reply | Flag:

#31 | Posted by Corky at 2012-02-16 10:04 AM | Reply | Flag:

So the democrats are so inept that they (including the president) keep making gaffes about the major legal details of their paramount legislation?

Interesting.

Your #31 must have been another "gaffe". Get that contact from the "truth team" yet? If not... I am sure your invitation is in the mail...

HAHAHAHA...dipshit libs don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

HAHAHAHA...dipshit libs don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.
#35 | Posted by justanoversight

I think I understand why Barry plays so much golf now.

So... the democrats are still trying to pretend that what Zients, Obama, Schumer and others have said is just a "gaffe"?