The Understanding Project
  • Logic
  • About
  • Author
  • Books

Taxing Inactivity

7/4/2012

 
I have some points for us all to ponder to aid us in understanding why some people were against the health insurance mandate from the beginning and why relabeling it a “tax” doesn’t change the underlying issues people have with it.
If the government can tax us for not purchasing insurance to take care of our health, cannot it also tax us for not purchasing a firearm to take care of our safety? Republicans in South Dakota proposed a similar bill once. Cannot it tax you for not keeping our firearms on us in public at all times? What about while swimming?

I have heard of studies (disputed and inconclusive) that suggest that prayer helps one heal faster. If the government can tax us for not buying insurance, cannot it also tax us for not praying? For not praying to the “right” spirit(s)? For not hiring a priest? For not going to church?

I have heard that kiwi fruits are rich in vitamins. Can the government tax us for not buying kiwis? For not buying bananas? For not buying organic produce? Do any agricultural lobbyists read my blog?

If the government can tax us for not purchasing insurance to take care of our health, cannot it also tax us for not paying for college tuition to take care of our education? For not buying and reading newspapers? Could a tax like this be used as a way to bail out a suffering newspaper industry? After all, the government has bailed out other industries. For not subscribing to cable television to watch the news? Who decides what is propaganda and what is news? Is FOX really a “news organization”? Is MSNBC?

Some claim that a rapidly rising population brings down the standard of living. In the name of protecting our standard of living and helping the poor, might not the government institute a “baby tax”? What about a tax on not getting an abortion? What about a tax on not providing coverage for abortion services to one’s employees? Something similar is already in the works. What about a “one-child policy”? John Biden doesn’t seem to be too upset about China’s one-child policy. I’m not the type to assume that he is for it; he may simply have been trying to be nice, but since we can’t read his thoughts, shouldn’t we worry?

These are not straw man arguments. By declaring the Affordable Care Act constitutional, the Supreme Court has set a precedent that may be used to declare any future law of similar construction constitutional, taking away the protections the Supreme Court gives us by checking the other two branches, and leaving us only the ballot box as a means to secure our rights. No matter what one’s ideological bent, everyone agrees that doesn’t always work out well. If the House, Senate, and President were willing to pass the Affordable Care Act, might not a future House, Senate, and President be willing to pass these other laws? Finally, if the government can tax inactivity as well as activity, cannot they do anything they please?

Related Post: What’s Wrong With Obamacare?


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Hi, I'm Dan. I like chocolate, hiking, and politics.

    Archives

    November 2019
    April 2019
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    May 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    February 2012
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010

    Categories

    All
    Abortion
    Al Gore
    Anarchy
    Animals
    Ann Coulter
    Anti-Semitism
    Approval Rate
    Barack Obama
    Bias
    Bill Clinton
    Budget Deficit
    Bush Bashing
    Bush-Bashing
    Bush-bashing
    Capitalism
    Center
    Christmas
    Civility
    Code Words
    Coffee Parties
    Collectivism
    Compromise
    Conservative
    Constitution
    Court Rulings
    Culture
    Debate
    Democrats
    Dick Cheney
    Discrimination
    Donald Trump
    Drew Weston
    Economy
    Education
    Environment
    Eric Holder
    Euthanasia
    Experience
    Flag Burning
    France
    George W Bush
    Glenn Beck
    Global Warming
    Health Care
    Hillary Clinton
    Historical Narrative
    Holiday
    Homosexual
    Huffington Post
    Humor
    Hypocrisy
    Immigration
    Independent
    Insult
    Insurance
    Iraq
    Israel
    Jared Loughner
    Jimmy Buffet
    John Kerry
    John Mccain
    Jon Stewart
    Joseph Stark
    Journalism
    Judith Curry
    Julian Assange
    Koran
    Liberal
    Libya
    Marginalization
    Marketing
    Marriage
    Media
    Memes
    Mike Huckabee
    Military
    Mit Romney
    Monopoly
    National Debt
    Occupy Wall Street
    Osama Bin Laden
    Partisanship
    Political Spectrum
    Pragmatism
    Prejudice
    Privacy
    Psychology
    Rachel Maddow
    Racism
    Recession
    Religion
    Republicans
    Rights
    Rush Limbaugh
    Sarah Palin
    Sean Hannity
    Semantics
    Sex
    Sexism
    Socialism
    Sources
    State Rights
    State Secrets
    Stephen Colbert
    Suicide
    Taxes
    Tea Parties
    Term Limits
    Theory
    Tom Tancredo
    Torture
    Unions
    Van Jones
    Wikileaks

    RSS Feed

Please check out my books!

  • Logic
  • About
  • Author
  • Books