August 11, 2026

The “individual mandate” is a “tax.” Voters are not noticeably relieved.

A colleague pointed this interesting point out to me as we have been reviewing the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) decision today:

The government devoted 21 lines of its brief to argue that § 5000A was a tax, and it’s longest statement on the issue at oral arguments was 50 words.

And yet, that’s the crux of what is keeping the individual mandate alive.  I doubt voters feel much better that the individual mandate is really a tax (or, as it’s called in the ACA, a “shared responsibility payment.”)

About Daniel Burton

Daniel Burton lives in Salt Lake County, Utah, where he practices law by day and everything else by night. You can follow him on his blog PubliusOnline.com where he muses on politics, the law, books and ideas. He is active on social media, Republican politics, and has been named to PoliticIt’s list of the “Top-50 Utah Political Opinion Leaders” on Twitter. You can reach him directly at dan.burton@gmail.com