Cynthia Lummis

Washington, Aug 6 -

Over the August district work period, I am meeting with the doctors and staff of hospitals all over Wyoming about how they are preparing for the impact of Obamacare. As experts continue to unveil more of the bill’s repercussions, it’s becoming clearer why this 3,000-page bill that affects every American was drafted behind closed doors.

Central to Obamacare is the requirement forcing all U.S. citizens to buy health insurance. In other words, the Obamacare “individual mandate,” which goes into effect in 2014, makes it illegal for Americans to not have government-approved health insurance. Those who refuse to purchase the insurance will pay a tax each year. President Obama originally sold the individual mandate as a “shared responsibility” which he assured Americans was “absolutely not a tax increase.” 

Despite the President’s insistence, a report compiled by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office states that an estimated $4 billion will be generated annually from citizens who fail to comply with the health insurance mandate. 

At the helm of enforcing this new mandate will be an estimated 16,500 new employees at -- you guessed it -- the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. government agency responsible for tax collection and tax law enforcement. 

These new IRS employees, along with ten billion taxpayer dollars, will go into the IRS’s Obamacare compliance checks. The agency’s new powers will go towards making certain that each American taxpayer is carrying out what President Obama called Americans’ “shared responsibility.” If the amount of coverage is deemed unacceptable by the IRS, a “fine” will be issued.

The claim that the individual mandate is not a tax so obviously contradicts reality that George Orwell may be turning over in his grave.

Sure enough, Orwell isn’t the only one flipping over. Just recently, the Obama Administration did a complete one-eighty themselves in attempting to argue the individual mandate’s lawfulness in court.

The administration filed a motion in June to dismiss a lawsuit brought forth by nearly half the states in our country which challenges the constitutionality of Obamacare. In order for the mandate to stand up in court, the Justice Department plans to invoke Congress’ constitutional authority to collect taxes. How convenient.

President Obama’s Justice Department isn’t alone in disagreeing with the President’s interpretation of what a tax is. This week, the citizens of Missouri overwhelmingly voted to reject the Obamacare mandate. On Tuesday, 71% of Missouri voters voted for Proposition C, a state law that would prohibit the state from forcing Missouri citizens to pay a fine or penalty for not purchasing government-approved health insurance.

Americans want the facts. We deserve better than Washington’s empty promises and schemes to pass legislation that will fundamentally change a very personal aspect of each of our lives and those of our families.