In light of the Supreme Court’s 5–4 ruling today upholding the Affordable Care Act as constitutional under Congress’ power of taxation, Congressional Republicans moved quickly to spin this loss as a “massive tax increase.”
But if these Republicans believe that individual mandates constitutes a tax increase, they must therefore believe that Mitt Romney raised taxes in Massachusetts when he signed RomneyCare into law. Here are just some of the scores of House and Senate Republicans who apparently believe Romney is a tax raiser:
- Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY): The Supreme Court has spoken. This law is a tax. The bill was sold to the American people on a deception
- House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH): House Republicans remain committed to #FullRepeal of the president’s health care law and all its tax hikes, fees and mandates
- House Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA): #ObamaCareInThreeWords → Huge Tax Increase. ← #FullRepeal #ObamaTax
- Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL): Check out this interview with President Obama from 2009 when he “absolutely” rejects the idea that the healthcare…
- Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS): Flashback: White House sold #Obamacare as “NOT A TAX” in 2009http://1.usa.gov/LDAWsH #hcr #tcot
- Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL): We must now face 2 realities: 1 the Pres #healthcare plan is a new tax & now the law of the land & 2 that #FullRepeal has to be top priority
- Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS): Health care law still jeopardizes access to quality care for many in KS & stifles job growth via higher taxes & costly regs. #FullRepeal
- Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH): By imposing coercive tax on Americans, hc law is an unprecedented fed overreach into personal lives. Will continue to fight to repeal it.
- Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV): #ObamaCare has now been affirmed as a colossal #TaxIncrease on middle class Nevadans & @Berkley4Senate voted for it.
- Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX): Ways & Means: Supreme Court’s Health Law Decision Leaves in Place 21 Tax Hikes Costing Taxpayers More Than $675 Billion
- Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR): #obamacare = massive tax increase on American families #AR3#Arkansas #healthcare
- Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS): The Court has affirmed that Obamacare is a new, additional tax.
- Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC): We’ll redouble our efforts for #FullRepeal. My statement on the President’s tax increase package here –
- Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ): The Court’s decision agrees President Obama’s healthcare law IS a tax increase on #SouthJersey people. #FullRepeal
- Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO): Deeply disappointed that the individual mandate was re-branded as a tax & allowed to stand. We need a #fullrepeal
- Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL): The regulations, taxes and unaffordable price tags scattered throughout this law make it much more difficult for small businesses to hire new employees and expand their business.
- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC): The President said this wasn’t a “tax” and the Supreme Court bailed him out by re-interpreting his argument as a “tax” rather than as a mandate and an expansion of the commerce clause. Federalism is gone.
- Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC): During the entire congressional debate over Obamcare, Democrats vehemently denied this was a tax on the American people.
- Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS): SCOTUS confirms: #Obamacare huge tax. #repealandreplace#fullrepeal
- Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO): Every American needs to watch Obama circa 2009 insist this law is not a tax…
- Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ): If it walks like a tax, talks like a tax, & quacks like a tax, the Supreme Court will tell us it’s a tax. And so it did
- Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI): Pres. Obama & Democrats are responsible for one of the largest tax increases on Americans in history. #Obamacare
- Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA): #SCOTUS decision doesn’t change the fact that #Obamacare is terrible policy that will impose new taxes and cost our country jobs#FullRepeal
- Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-MS): President Obama and Democrats mislead the American people when they swore the individual mandate was not a tax #FullRepeal
- Sen. John Thune (R-SD): Broken Promise: “I will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.”-Candidate Obama #ObamacareTaxhttp://bit.ly/LTpk36
- Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH): Obamacare is declared a massive tax increase. I look forward to standing with Ohioans and repealing it. My statement:http://bit.ly/LRHMHH
- Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC): #ObamaCareInThreeWords → Tax Tax Tax.
- Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT): Congress made this mess, now Congress must fix it. Our economy can’t sustain the law’s massive tax increase.
- Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA): “This mandate is a tax on the American people, plain and simple.” My statement on #ObamaCare decision: http://goo.gl/MXXNp #FullRepeal
- Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL): This ruling imposes a NEW tax on struggling American families, now more than ever we must #RepealObamaCare
- Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL): Sad day for individual freedom, but big day for bigger government and higher taxes. http://1.usa.gov/LG2X4P #FullRepeal
- Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX): A tax! I’m sorry @BarackObama, I don’t support raising the taxes of the lower and middle classes! #FullRepeal of #ObamaCare
- Rep. Bob Turner (R-NY): Today’s #SCOTUS ruling is a shame 4 Americans, small businesses, and all in need of care. http://bit.ly/LRC3Sc #ObamaTax #FullRepeal
- Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH): While SCOTUS deemed the law constitutional as a tax on Americans, it is still flawed policy that is unaffordable & needs repealed & replaced
- Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA): It’s a Tax
- Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC): We were told it was not a tax hike, but it is an unprecedented and enormous tax on the middle class
- Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL): Regardless of what Obama says, #Obamacare is a tax.
- Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA): As defined by #SCOTUS, #Obamacare is another tax on the American people. Just another reason for a #FullRepeal.
- Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA): Supreme Court rules Congress can tax; Congress can also repeal taxhttp://tinyurl.com/c88muth #fullrepeal #healthcare #repeal #taxes
- Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK): Disappointed with #SCOTUS ruling on #Obamacare. Obama and Dems have levied a massive tax on middle & lower class.
- Rep. John Runyan (R-NJ): My constituents simply cannot afford the $500 billion in new tax increases
- Sen. Dan Coates (R-IN): Right now we have something with a big tax and the American people who rejected that in 2010 are going to have a chance to break the tie in 2012.
Politico also reports that former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) of American Action Network, a Romney adviser; Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips; and Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist joined the parade calling ObamaCare a tax increase.
Update:
Here’s Mitt Romney, in 2006, explaining that the state would use tax penalties to ensure everyone has health insurance. Watch the video: