The GOP talking points are officially out, and you can guess what they are:

[TrollBuster9090]

TAXES
and
DECEPTION

Well, okay, you could have GUESSED the first one. Whenever somebody mentions the word 'taxes' the Republican spin doctors' ears perk up like cocker spaniels. And that's what happened the nanosecond the SCOTUS ruled that the ACA is struck down as a 'mandate' but stands as a 'tax.'

So, all the chatter about Obama the Dictator forcing people to buy things has stopped. So has all the chatter about the quality of healthcare getting worse, or premiums going up, or 'rationing' and 'death panels,' and suddenly the right wing noise machine is abuzz with talk about "Obama's big TAX INCREASE" and the fact that he "DECEIVED" everybody by saying it WASN'T a tax.

And frankly, the proper way to have done this would have been to charge everybody 2% of their income (no cap like the payroll tax) and then give everybody Medicare. But the word 'TAX' is a dirty word which we dare not speak, so they had to do it this way. Call it a penalty for not buying your own insurance. In fact, what the law really does is say "we'll charge everybody who can afford it a tax, and buy them some PRIVATE insurance. But you have the option to opt out and buy your own." But they couldn't say that, because the word taxes shall not be spoken! So instead they said "everybody must buy insurance, but you can opt out of that, and we'll charge you a tax...er...a PENALTY, and use the penalty money to buy you some insurance." So, all Roberts really did was translate the ACA back into english for us.

But it doesn't help. Here we are back at 'TAXES' with the words "DECEPTION about taxes" thrown in.

So, what shall we use as the COUNTER TALKING POINT?

My favorite is: "Okay, it's a tax, but it's only a tax that's charged to people who were FREELOADING BEFORE. If you've already got insurance you're not effected, and your premiums will actually GO DOWN because you'll no longer have to subsidize the FREELOADERS."


Take a look here. First words out of McConnell's mouth: "This law is a tax...blah blah...DECEPTION."

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A few minutes later, The Great Gasbag parrots the same talking points: "Tax...deception. Tax...deception."

A few minutes later FAUX NEWS is headlining it as "Court Ruling Allows Obama's $813 million Tax Increase To Proceed"

http://nation.foxnews.com/obamacare/2012/06/28/court-ruling-lets-813-billion-higher-taxes-proceed


It's actually quite impressive how fast the Right Wing Echo Chamber can distribute and coordinate its talking points! Damn, I wish WE had those kinds of organizational skills!

[FLyellowdog]

1. We have our own counter-talking points.

They know not of which they speak...

"The mandate, requiring every American to purchase health insurance, appeared in a 1989 published proposal by Stuart M. Butler of the conservative Heritage Foundation called "Assuring Affordable Health Care for All Americans," which included a provision to "mandate all households to obtain adequate insurance."

The Heritage Foundation "substantially revised" its proposal four years later, according to a 1994 analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. But the idea of an individual health insurance mandate later appeared in two bills introduced by Republican lawmakers in 1993, according to the non-partisan research group ProCon.org. Among the supporters of the bills were senators Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who today oppose the mandate under current law."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/28/individual-health-care-insurance-mandate-has-long-checkered-past/#ixzz1z9NMpRLw

[amerciti001]

2. These Clowns are running amok...

Now, that the SCOTUS has spoken, their worst daymare( oppose to their worst "nightmare&quot , has come to light in broad "daylight". They now have their real talking point to move -forward- on and that's "Its A New TAX!!". And worst of all, It's a deception "Tax", imposed without them being able to filibuster it to death. That's the worst aspect of it.

[SunSeeker]

3. But it's not much of a tax.

It amounts to about $90--and there is no mechanism for enforcement.

Lawrence O'Donnell did a great explanation of that last night. The tax is only on those (it will affect about 1 % of the population) that can afford to but won't buy health insurance. The normal IRS enforcement remedies of liens and wage garnishments were explicitly made unavailable by the ACA. Apparently all the gov't can do is take the $90 out of any tax refund if you have a tax refund coming to you.

[amerciti001]

4. A "Tax" just the same...

As far as these Clowns Republicans are concerned, it's a tax to be paid, so it'll be a tax increase...