Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups






















« He Went There: Mark Oxner Runs Ad Against Alan Grayson, Tying Him To... Margaret Sanger and Eugenics | Main | Oprah Cancels Rosie O'Donnell's Show Due To Poor Ratings; Slashes 20% Of Force at OWN Network, Also Due To Poor Ratings:
Donald Trump Takes The High Road And Refuses All Comment »
March 26, 2012

Justices Seem to Signal They Will Not Punt On ObamaCare, But Will Rule On Its Constitutionality

An "obscure nineteenth century" statute, the Anti-Injunction Act, states that a tax-levying bill cannot be challenged until it actually begins levying taxes. As one lawyer puts it, it's a "pay now, litigate later" law. At least as far as taxes.

So there has been worry that the Supreme Court would seize upon this bill in order to punt a decision on ObamaCare until 2014.

But via FoxBusiness, the justices seemed skeptical of its relevance:

The US Supreme Court ended the first of three days of oral arguments on President Barack Obama's health care law Monday, with most justices signaling an obscure nineteenth century law will not stop them from ruling on its constitutionality later this summer.

I don't put a lot of stock in "signalling" like that, because justices sometimes beat up on the side who they are inclined to agree with -- testing the position they lean towards, seeing if it can stand up to scrutiny. Plus, it might look a lot different in the written briefs.

NPR has a transcript of the discussion, but it's very technical and not what most people think of when they think of Major Theme Constitutional Law. (This is code for "I have no idea about the doctrines they're referencing.")

Here's a snippet where Breyer, who actually sides with the argument on the first hurdle (jurisdiction), nevertheless wonders if the law's provisions about "taxes" apply to ObamaCare, since ObamaCare won't call them "taxes," but instead terms them "penalties."

Just a preview of what we'll be seeing much more of, with a Clown Nose On Clown Nose Off argument as to whether this is a "tax" or nor. It's a "tax" when Obama needs it to be a not a tax when he needs it not to be.


USTICE BREYER: I just don't want you to lose the second half of your argument. And we have spent all the time so far on jurisdiction. And I accept, pretty much, I'm probably leaning in your favor on jurisdiction, but where I see the problem is in the second part, because the second part says "restraining the assessment or collection of any tax."

Now, here, Congress has nowhere used the word "tax." What it says is penalty. Moreover, this is not in the Internal Revenue Code "but for purposes of collection."

And so why is this a tax? And I know you point to certain sentences that talk about taxes within the code —

MR. LONG: Right.

JUSTICE BREYER: — and this is not attached to a tax. It is attached to a health care requirement.

MR. LONG: Right.

JUSTICE BREYER: — so why does it fall within that word?

MR. LONG: Well, I mean, the first point is — our initial submission is you don't have to determine that this is a tax in order to find that the Anti-Injunction Act applies, because Congress very specifically said that it shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as a tax, even if it's a tax penalty and not a tax. So that's one —

JUSTICE BREYER: But that doesn't mean the AIA applies. I mean — and then they provide some exceptions, but it doesn't mean the AIA applies.

It says "in the same manner as." It is then attached to chapter 68, when that — it that references that as "being the manner of." Well, that it's being applied — or if it's being collected in the same manner as a tax doesn't automatically make it a tax, particularly since the reasons for the AIA are to prevent interference with revenue sources. And here, an advance attack on this does not interfere with the collection of revenues.

I mean, that's — you have read the arguments, as have I. But I would like to know what you say succinctly in response to those arguments.

MR. LONG: So specifically on the argument that it — it is actually a tax, even setting aside the point that it should be assessed and collected in the same manner as a tax.

The Anti-Injunction Act uses the term "tax"; it doesn't define it. Somewhat to my surprise, "tax" is not defined anywhere in the Internal Revenue Code. In about the time that Congress passed the Anti-Injunction Act, tax had a very broad definition. It's broad enough to include this exaction, which is codified in the Internal Revenue Code. It's part of the taxpayers' annual income tax return. The amount of the liability and whether you owe the liability is based in part on your income. It's assessed and collected by the IRS.

Thanks to joncelli.

digg this
posted by Ace at 02:03 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
San Franpsycho: "I saw a video where kids would put traffic cones a ..."

runner: "One of these days.... ..."

runner: "Iceland is still on My List. ..."

NaCly Dog: "Citizen Cake About 200 nuclear weapons. And g ..."

Ian S.: "[I]50 states is just about right. Canada as territ ..."

runner: "ts a bridge to Greenland. Duh. Posted by: Oldcat ..."

Oldcat: "For easy access to UK oil would need to occupy Sco ..."

Ben Had: "SanFranpsycho, would you be comfortable emailing ..."

Mad Max in VA: "Serious question: why is it that when a Democrat P ..."

San Franpsycho: "The scariest subway ride I ever had was after a pa ..."

Ian S.: "If Canada becomes a state, it should be renamed to ..."

Hadrian the Seventh: " Taiwan as the 51st state. They could put their l ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64