Thursday must have almost seemed like an apocalyptic day in
the minds of conservatives and libertarians as the sweetheart conservative on
the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts, assisted in upholding President Obama’s
Affordable Care Act.[1]
What must have been just as shocking to Virginians is that on the same day
Virginia Attorney General and libertarian heart-throb Ken Cuccinelli also
passed a positive light on the recent health care reform ruling.[2]
A deeper look at Cuccinelli’s warm response tells a tale
that is different from what might appear at first blush.
While the court ruled that the Affordable Care Act was
constitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court found that Americans could be required
to purchase health care coverage under Congress’s taxing authority.
What this means, in effect, is that the individual
requirement to purchase health insurance is officially deemed a tax, a tax
along the lines of any others that Americans have to pay. Thus, no one is being
compelled to buy anything “against their will.”
But it’s arguable that a “true” libertarian would even
accept this viewpoint of the court ruling on the Affordable Care Act.[3]
After all, a tax is, on the whole, an unnecessary government overreach that
disallows individuals from freely choosing where their money will be spent.
Cuccinelli’s “warm” reception of the court ruling reveals
Cuccinelli’s true practical, political, stripes, not his supposed hardcore
libertarian streak.[4] A
tax is still a form of coercion, regardless of how one wants to word it.
Cuccinelli could see this side of the issue, but just like
the rest of Virginia’s conservatives, taxes are not the enemy but the friend of
strong conservative governance.
[1] http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/28/12457822-supreme-court-upholds-health-care-law?lite>1=43001
[2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/ken-cuccinelli-on-second-thought-likes-supreme-court-health-care-decision/2012/06/28/gJQA2kVX9V_blog.html
[3] http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2039711,00.html
[4] http://www.lp.org/issues/taxes
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