Mandate? Penalty? Why did we choose those words?
If I do not borrow money from a bank to buy a home today, I pay more taxes. And this practice has not been seriously questioned for decades. The only related controversy that ever arises is when someone is pushing a flat tax policy, such as this past year when Cain was chanting “nine, nine, nine.” Then we heard people say, “but what about the tax break for home mortgage interest? What might its loss do to a sputtering housing market?”
I could see panic in Cain's eyes when he heard that question. He didn't know much. But he knew how much we all love this particular tax deduction (or mandate to borrow money for a home).
But examine the logical difference between this situation and the mandate that has Supreme Court judges imagining big spoonfuls of broccoli getting shoved in their faces.
With the Affordable Care Act, I must pay more taxes if I do not buy healthcare insurance.
Thanks to long existing tax policy, I must pay more taxes if I do not pay interest on a home mortgage.
Paying less when I choose to conform to one type of commerce is equal to paying more when I refuse another type of commerce. Logically these situations are identical and both policies are implemented by our federal government. We are quite used to one situation. Many are losing their minds over prospects of the other. We might even learn a majority of our Supreme Court has been duped.
The only real difference though is our terms.
With home mortgages, we chose terms like deduction and incentive, focusing on the positive of a tax break for those who buy a home. With ACA, we adopted right-winger invented, macho terms like mandate and penalty, focusing on the negative of paying more taxes when healthcare insurance is not purchased.
Issues of constitutionality should apply to practices, not just terminology. If our only difference here is terms, how can one practice be so accepted, even treasured, and another feared, potentially outlawed?
Please help me understand the distinction that goes beyond our bad choice of terms. I have been waiting to hear this argument made for weeks and instead have only heard strange, twisted nonsense muttered about broccoli.
I must be missing something.