It time to put an end to the GOP talking point repeated here on DU again and again.

[rgbecker]

143. So now we buy into the GOP talking point that the tax system is a system of penalties.

I'm penalized with the wretched income tax if I earn income. The government clearly says "earn income, dare you, then pay the penalty. You must be punished for such an assault on slothfulness. We'd draw and quarter if only the democrats would allow."

I suggest the tax code is legitimately used as method to modify behavior of the citizens but is not usually considered a penalizing method. In fact, most legal penalties are aimed at stopping the aberrant behavior: Incarceration of the thief, death to the killer, revocation of license for the driving while intoxicated. True, many have a fine that could be levied to keep the jails from filling up, but these are collected by the courts, not the IRS.

In the case of ACA we have no courts involved and nothing whatsoever is done to get the offender an insurance policy. To say he must "Buy" health insurance but then leaving out the actual transaction certainly can't be construed into somehow creating commerce.