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Obamacare 'penalty' vs. 'tax' debate continues

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    How are candidates responding?

  • Duration 4:25
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I said that I agreed with the dissent.

And the -- made it very clear that they felt it was unconstitutional.

But the -- loss it's in the minority.

And so now the Supreme Court has spoken.

And while I agreed with a dissent.

That's taken over by the fact that the majority of the court said its attacks and therefore it is attacks they have spoken there's no way around that.

You can try and say you wish that it decided a different way but they didn't.

They included it was attacks that's what it is and the American people know the President Obama has broken the -- -- -- Well that's governor Romney clarifying his position on the supreme court's health care decision.

Making it clear he believes the individual mandate is a new tax meaning the president broke his promise not to raise taxes on the middle class.

Byron York his chief political correspondent at the Washington examiner this is silly insisting Byron because one of his top can't campaign -- -- -- -- Had said earlier in the week that the new.

The new health care mandate is not -- tax.

Believe this puts the governor in the position of disagreeing with -- one of his own campaign it.

Well the the bottom line is the court's decision to.

Hold the obamacare mandate constitutional under the taxing power.

As opposed to say the commerce clause if -- the Romney campaign for a loop and when Eric first term came out earlier this week and said.

The governor believes it is a penalty not a tax.

He did not make -- gaffe he was not going off the reservation he was saying what the Romney campaign thought.

At the time but you're right.

At the same time Republicans in the in the party across Capitol Hill were coming out saying well.

If the Supreme Court says this it's -- tax that means President Obama raised taxes.

So you had this conflict between Romney in the rest of the Republican Party.

Had to be resolved -- it was resolved by Romney coming out you just saw it and saying.

-- Supreme Court it's -- its attacks its attacks well.

And and it puts both campaigns really in in a kind of a strange position president Obama's campaign has said.

We agree with the court ruling we just don't agree with the way they got there.

The Romney campaign is saying we don't agree with the court ruling but we agree with the rationale that -- attack.

-- boy you're right everybody's had to kind of twist themselves into a pretzel on this one.

This morning now we have the Obama campaign through the campaign spokesman and the president's White House spokesman.

Both saying -- President Obama.

Believes the mandate is a penalty that it is not attacks.

So but the president himself hasn't personally come out and spoken on this as Mitt Romney -- so now you have.

Romney cannot say and give the definitive word that yes he believes this is attacks now -- waiting for the president but his spokespeople say.

That they believe it's not attacks that it's a penalty.

Did seems like nobody's happy about this Supreme Court ruling except maybe and justice Chief Justice John Roberts I don't know.

Well you have to go to Malta the figure I think kind of he left the country -- certainly after this.

But this is -- kind of thing it's it's so big it's having repercussions it takes a while.

To -- again people are reading at that thinking does this make sense what does it mean for the campaign but I will tell you.

This is a manifestation -- manifestation of a continuing problem.

For Mitt Romney because what he passed in Massachusetts Romney care has many features like mandates penalties subsidies exchanges.

That -- it that it shares with obamacare and it's very difficult for Romney to to create a line and walk it in which he's.

Defense what he did as governor of Massachusetts but criticizes what President Obama has done with obamacare -- -- -- it isn't what the president says isn't that I mean that the so much.

Attention is being paid to whether or not.

Mitt Romney disagrees with is campaign aide Eric -- trim about whether this is a tax or not but but ultimately.

Isn't president Obama's position less tenable.

Absolutely but we first have to find out exactly what president Obama's position is we've heard his spokesman this morning and his campaign spokesman.

Say that he disagrees with the Supreme Court to the extent that he believes that this is a penalty not a -- I think it.

We're gonna have to hear from the president himself see what he says about it but that the president is going to be have to be held to the same kind of scrutiny.

On this that that governor Romney has -- -- Byron York from the Washington examiner Byron thanks.

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