Last week, Romney's top campaign adviser said the federal penalty for refusing to get health coverage was exactly that -- a fine, not a tax. This week, Romney said it is a tax because the Supreme Court opinion he opposes declared it a tax.Confused? So is the Romney campaign, apparently.The back-and-forth shows the tightrope Romney must walk on the health care reform issue now that he is the certain Republican presidential nominee.
There you have it. Romney disagrees with his chief adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, (and himself!) about whether the ACA mandate is a tax or a penalty. One has to be sympathetic to the poor adviser as he makes his way through the thicket of mind-changes by Mitt. How's a fellow to keep up?
The Wall Street Journal scolded Mitt, and he quickly stepped away from his adviser's characterization of the mandate as a penalty or a fine. So then, the anti-tax Romney imposed a tax on the people of Massachusetts when he was governor and signed the health care bill into law?
