The latest National Review has a nice take on President Obama?s contention that an individual health-insurance mandate is not a tax:
Let?s see: The mandate forces people to part with some of their money. They get back a benefit, insurance, but that benefit must be worth less to them than the money, since they did not make the transaction voluntarily. The mandate will be enforced through what the Senate Finance Committee calls an ?excise tax? on people who do not buy insurance. (Maybe Obama would call it a ?fine.?) It will narrow the options of millions of people to two: They wull have to buy the insurance their employer offers them, or else pay the penalty. There are taxes that are much less onerous.
