Say Anything If The Obamacare Mandate Is A Penalty, Then Where Is Our Due Process? » Say Anything

Say Anything If The Obamacare Mandate Is A Penalty, Then Where Is Our Due Process? » Say Anything

If The Obamacare Mandate Is A Penalty, Then Where Is Our Due Process?

Written By:
Rob Port

Jul 11, 2012
12:26pm

The 5th amendment to the constitution states requires that no person “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling upholding the Obamacare mandate the Obama administration and other Democrats have argued that the mandate is not a tax, as the court ruled, but rather a penalty. According to White House spokesman Tim Carney, “it is simply a fallacy to say that this is a broad-based tax…this is clearly a penalty that affects less than 1 percent of the American population.”
But if the mandate is a penalty punishing us by depriving us of some property (money) because we do not have health insurance, then aren’t we to be afforded due process in the courts? That’s a question California Rep. Tom McClintock is asking:

“If the government fines you $250 for running a red light, or it taxes you $250 for running a red light, the effect is the same. What’s the difference? There are two critical differences.”
“First, as a fine – as a penalty – the burden of proof is on the government to prove that you ran that red light. As a tax, the burden of proof is on you to prove that you did not run it. Anyone who has ever undergone an IRS audit knows exactly what I mean. This decision fundamentally alters the most cherished principle of our justice system: the presumption of innocence.”
“There is a second, even more chilling difference between a penalty and a tax. Under our Constitution, no penalty can be assessed without due process – you cannot be punished until you have had your day in court. But to challenge a tax, you must pay first pay that tax before you can seek redress through the court. You are punished first, and then tried. “
“This is the madness of Lewis Carroll’s Red Queen brought to life: “Sentence first – verdict afterwards.”

Maybe it’s time for Democrats to admit that Obamacare represents a tax on people without health insurance.