Obama Solicitor General: People Can Avoid the Individual Mandate by Choosing to Earn Less Money
**Written by Doug Powers
Don’t like the individual mandate in Obamacare and can’t get a waiver? No problem — just be poor.
Philip Klein at the Washington Examiner:
President Obama’s solicitor general, defending the national health care law on Wednesday, told a federal appeals court that Americans who didn’t like the individual mandate could always avoid it by choosing to earn less money.
Neal Kumar Katyal, the acting solicitor general, made the argument under questioning before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, which was considering an appeal by the Thomas More Law Center. (Listen to oral arguments here.) The three-judge panel, which was comprised of two Republican-appointed judges and a Democratic-appointed judge, expressed more skepticism about the government’s defense of the health care law than the Fourth Circuit panel that heard the Virginia-based Obamacare challenge last month in Richmond. The Fourth Circuit panel was made up entirely of Democrats, and two of the judges were appointed by Obama himself.
Having to earn less money to avoid being forced to purchase a product a little like having to buy freedom and pay for it with freedom.
Here’s the exchange:
“They’re in the business,” [Judge] Sutton pushed back. “They’re told if you’re going to be in the business, this is what you have to do. In response to that law, they could have said, ‘We now exit the business.’ Individuals don’t have that option.”
Kaytal responded by noting that the there’s a provision in the health care law that allows people to avoid the mandate.
“If we’re going to play that game, I think that game can be played here as well, because after all, the minimum coverage provision only kicks in after people have earned a minimum amount of income,” Kaytal said. “So it’s a penalty on earning a certain amount of income and self insuring. It’s not just on self insuring on its own. So I guess one could say, just as the restaurant owner could depart the market in Heart of Atlanta Hotel, someone doesn’t need to earn that much income. I think both are kind of fanciful and I think get at…”
Sutton interjected, “That wasn’t in a single speech given in Congress about this…the idea that the solution if you don’t like it is make a little less money.”
Of course Obamacare proponents in Congress didn’t address that in any of their pitches for the law, Judge — that would have required reading it and ruining the terrific surprise of finding out what’s in it.
Klein has much more here if you dare.
(h/t Weasel Zippers)
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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I’m going to make as much money as I can, and I won’t buy any health insurance until I decide I have enough largess to afford that luxury.
That’s already a “choice” being forced upon us, especially with a plummeting value of the dollar.
If this doesn’t pretty well sum up how this bunch of marxists think, I don’t know what does. After all, as Dear Leader said, at some point, you’ve made enough money.
Arrogance pervades this administration.
“at some point”. And comrade Obummer will be delighted to determine that “point” for you.
FIFY
Punish the successful. It’s the new American way.
And by the way, if everyone heeds this bonehead’s advice, who is going to pay for all of this “free” health care???
That a public servant could say anything remotely like that in this country says a lot.
This has gone way too far. I swore an oath 40 years ago that I would not let this happen. That I was vilified by these same people for my service is not germane.
The oath still counts.
I know what needs to be done. I wonder if they do?
I love honesty.
/Facepalm
Brilliant ! I’ll go tell my boss right now to lower my pay.
Honesty. At last.
Plan B
I just took a big pay cut at my job. I feel soooo much better about it now. The company was just looking out for me.
Um, can I just make money on my own and then BUY health insurance? You know, like I do now?
You Effing Bastards!!!
Wow Imagine that, he was about to lower my pay anyway. I’ve got the best, smartest, most caring boss in the world. He’s really looking out for me.
I thought Congress exempted themselves from the provisions of the healthcare law. So, if you earn below a certain threshold you can avoid it and if you have enough power to legislate your protection from it, you can avoid it, but if you are a woking joe, you’re S.C.R.E.W.E.D.
Is that what they mean when they say ‘A government for the people, by the people?’.
No. But it didn’t hurt to ask. And Effing Bastards is being far too kind to pond scum such as this.
‘Cause you know…there is a point when you’ve made enough money.
That type of filter screen is useful when judging activities such as gay marriage, welfare, food stamps, stealing etc.
Since Barry took office, my pay hasn’t gone down, but my worth has.
The true value of the dollar continues to plummet.
Show of hands !
Who thinks this story dovetails nicely with yesterday’s story about 70,000+ federal employees that make more than their governors?
Punish the successful. It’s the new American way.
Oh hell Ya, screw school, who needs an education or a skill for that matter.
Now if you achievers and skilled folk would just stop achieving and making something out of yourselves then companies would not have to pay you that high wage. Shucks – lets just all kick back, get on welfare, gather up them food stamps and live in the hood en-mass. Zippy would love it.
Exactly. That’s Dear Leader’s game plan. Fewer working Joes, more government dependent drones. Thus, more voters for them.
Personally, I don’t think it’s a very good plan. I’m not likely to vote for the people that put me in the poorhouse. But sadly, a lot of drones do.
Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me ! !
I need a drink….you just cant make this stuff up. Is this the idiot who replaced Kegan?
Soooo…..if I make less money, I wont have to pay the individual mandate but I still get free healthcare? Really? Well hell, sign me up.
This is what socialism/communism leads to. Everyone has nothing equally. Except for the elites that know what’s best for us.
You may notice Castro isn’t living too bad, ditto the Peoples Republic committee members, ditto Kim Jong Il and friends, ditto Hugo Chavez, ditto all the former soviet politburo members etc etc.
When no one is allowed to succeed in the name of fairness, they all suffer equally.
I have already helped myself to the Individual Mandate ™ that I Earn Less Money. Yes, thanks to the economy, I haven’t gotten a raise in 2 years. mmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmm. Barack Insane Obama.
Moi!!
I wish you would stop quoting Obama speeches.
ROFL Today’s Blue Ribbon !
great. I’ll take a cold one, too, please.
So if I choose to make less money, then will Obamacare cover me being cryogenically frozen until he’s out of office?
I’ve got a better idea; get rid of that unconstitutional mandate, repeal bhocare and fire this administration.
In other words, rather than waiting for the government to reduce your standard of living to Third World serf status, you can always beat the rush and take yourself there.
For those not well-enough connected to get a waiver, this is essentially the same as telling someone on the 100th floor of one of the World Trade Center towers that he can wait for the tower to collapse, or jump. Choose.
You stole my comment before I could make it. GMTA.
And yeah, I have one of those super duper caring bosses, too. Imma get started on that Thank You note right now…
Yes. But only your head like Ted Williams.(The baseball player, not the golden voiced future ObamaCare recipient.)
um, does anyone know any ‘successful’ person that would choose to earn less?
I didn’t think so.
Well, except from some dementia praecox sufferer like Stephen King.
LOLOL
hey–didn’t he (the former homeless/addict)sink like a rock from view?
Let them earn less? When it comes to out-of-touch arrogance, Marie Antoinette couldn’t have come close to these monsters.
They did, as well as their staff.
Imagine what the founding fathers would do to these tryants today.
He sure did. I suspect he will resurface as the voice of ObamaCare when Andy Griffith checks out.
Gahndi and tha Dali Lama were/are arguably successful in their chosen field. Kinda fruity though.
Cat Stevens aka Yusef Islam, who is also kinda fruity comes to mind.
- Winston Churchill
We are becoming poor because our home values have plummetted since Obamao become president.
On June 2nd, 2011 at 4:43 pm, Hangfire said:
Like you, my hourly rate is the same but its actual worth when I get it is distinctly diminished thanks to the Obummer’s administration. And now a another round of money printing to shrink it even more. Fire up the tar kettle!
On June 2nd, 2011 at 4:45 pm, Darthnoob said:
If it counts, I have both hands in the air.
Just another example of the left being useful idiots.
Obama: “I Do Think At A Certain Point You’ve Made Enough Money”
Work less to keep more. Sounds like the guy that quit working and lives on other peoples couches so he doesn’t have to pay child support. Funny thing human nature is.
Obama Solicitor General: People Can Avoid the Individual Mandate by Choosing to Earn Less Money
And this is exactly why Mrs. BlackFlag and I chose to Go Galt during this Administration. We’re living off pure cash and our land. No investments, no salaries, nothing. I refuse to contribute a dime. It’s our own Economic Embargo just like the the Feds love to do to the poor people of other nations.
You’ll get no income from us, whatsoever. Period.
Haven’t heard that old psych term for many years but it does describe Comrade King. He’s certifiably Schizophrenic.
What scares me more than any book Stephen King ever wrote is his, and other liberal’s, support and fawning over Obowmao. How there can still be an argument that his is not a rabid marxist is unbelievable. But there are quite a few people who still try to tell me he’s a great POTUS.
I do. Every day….its a beautiful vision having something to do with a length of rope, a knot and a tree limb.
On June 02, 2011 at 01:54 pm, passingruffian said:
Sums it up nicely
Have the sea levels dropped yet?
==
I don’t take advice
I don’t give advice
I advise you do the same
Is this guy on dope? Is he even a qualified lawyer or administrator? All America is joining together to drive these fools and malfeasents from the larger American community.
There is no place for people like this in the marketplace of liberty and free ideas. The doctrine of the Marxian Socialists has been demonstrated as completely absurd and toxic.
ObamaCare is so laughably absurd that the frauds who illegally imposed in on America will have it force-fed back to them in the form of a dry 2012 enema. Enjoy it you Democrats. It’ll be good for you.
FIFY
Any here getten the famous waivers that bho and sebilius gives out? You work, they take, you get the to see how bho and team deals with those paying taxes. It seems they want ALL American’s on food stamps, under the thumb of big bro. and bho will get his halo when he comes saves us! I saw 1984 in early 60′s and thought it was a si fi movie. I have read the book in the last few weeks and now if you read and see the movie, IT B us now! Oh well, I am an old gal and just hope you youngens getter together! Vote, get someone in to stop this or we will be 1984 in 2012!
L
You don’t have to pay if you’re dead too, but your children and grandchildren do…
In 60 years we went from the HUA and McCarthy hearings to people openly embracing Marxism.
Anyone who still thinks McCarthy was a bad man, or in the wrong, is part of the problem. We had a chance to root these b*s*ds out of our country, and we let them turn the tables on us, using their typical lying rhetoric.
They never quit, they never sleep, they never miss an opportunity to advance their agenda however microscopically. Now we’ve got a government popinjays like Weiner, so full of themselves, firmly believing in their superiority and their right to rule us. From Congress to the alphabet soup of federal agencies, the infection even spreading to State and local governments.
This is virtually the same as Madame Pompadour’s “If the people have no bread, let them eat cake”. The implication was that times were good, and any complaint against the government was mere unfounded rabble-rousing.
I don’t know of any solution to this that won’t take more than my lifetime. First, we need the schools back. We need to end that alphabet soup of regulatory agencies. We need the equivalent of the MSM to 25 hours a day promote individual autonomy, and denigrate socialism. We need real trials to put politicians and government bureaucrats behind real bars for the rest of their lives. A statement like this should automatically have cost this person his job, so that he wouldn’t have to face trial for malfeasance in office.
And then, maybe, in a generation, we might be able to save the republic.
Arrogance
pervadesdefines thisadministrationregime.FIFY
Well folks, gotta sign off now. I’m heading into class. I decided at age 50 to get a computer degree in order to increase my income as I head down the home stretch. After reading this article, man oh man do I feel stupid. Who knew that the goal was to decrease your income?
Sounds like this argument is all about Obamacare being a new ‘income tax’ — if you don’t earn XX bucks, you don’t pay the tax.
Didn’t Obamacare originate in the Senate? Hence, it can’t be a tax…!?
Neal Kumar Katyal, the acting solicitor general and one of many Clown Princes of the Sock Puppet regime. Neal, you are an imbecile. Your wages are now One Dollar per year. The remainder of your wages will be spent on the Sofa/Welfare slobs to share your wealth.
where in the constitution does it say, you are only covered by this, if you earn a fixed amount of money? again the libs get screwed by what the document says, not what they want it to mean.
I swore that oath myself 43 years ago and since then a sh!tpot full of domestic enemies have crawled out of the woodwork…
The time has come to take care of the cockroaches while they are out in the open. We know who they are and need to educate their constituents (if they are extricable from the govt teat)
Neal Kumar Katyal (channeling Earl Cross): All day long, I listen to people give me excuses why they can’t work… ‘My back hurts,’ ‘my legs ache,’ ‘I’m only four!’ The sooner he learns life isn’t handed to him on a silver platter, the better!
No… as a matter of fact, you can’t… that would mean making Obumbler and his czars irrelevant (much like what they’ve done to Congress)
Choose to earn less money? Hello! When Obama’s policies are putting people out of work and they’re unable to find new jobs, this is not a choice!
Marxist policies = mandatory poverty!
The mistake that the Obama administration has made is trying to argue that the the HC law is anything else but a tax on income. If people don’t want to have to buy health insurance then the ER’s and hospitals should not be mandated to provide emeergency health care.
Would it be fair to mandate that grocery stores provide food for free for those that can’t afford it? They would all go broke.
You’re still a good one
Well…if everyone chooses to make less money, how will we be able to afford all those expensive CFC bulbs and those new GM Volts. And if GM doesn’t sell those cars, how will they ever repay their loan back to the American people?
What’s that? They’re not supposed to pay back the loan? It’s just another shell game? Gee. who’da thunk?
No, see, like, you buy one bulb and it lasts, like 20,000 years n’stuff. You’ll save millions! Reeeally!
No, see GM builds all the Chevy Dolts, and nobody wants ‘em, see, so the Guv, like, buys ‘em all for the Guv workers that don’t already have limos, n’stuff. So GM makes so much from selling dufusmobiles to the Guv they can pay back all our money.
With our money. Or something. Now stop asking so many questions and trust your Dear Leader. Sheesh.
This just confirms it – they don’t want to lift all boats globally, they want to drag us down so emerging countries can can have their “turn”.
NO imagination or comprehension in this bunch, no wonder they think this way!!!
So now Going Galt is official.
Let’s do it.
{^_^}
There is some language from the Clinton years which has not been used as much recently — sustainability. They tell us about a sustainable economy but they do NOT tell us what kind of lifestyle belongs to that system. A sustainable lifestyle would be a minimal one. Worse than anti-capitalism, it would be one of poverty, should we be willing to reduce our carbon footprint.
It’s sort of like the Left has seduced its followers to accept life as it was in the USSR or is in Cuba — poor and with few prospects.
So much for Progress.
It is also unfortunately easy for us to be seduced by Rand’s hedonistic capitalism. Let’s be careful. Her objectivism in economics is dangerous. Rand was a Materialist like Marx, just not one who practiced his dangerous dialectic. Still, her work is not a safe place to reside.
…..
That statement was so full of stupidity that I can’t think of a rebutal short of face palming….
Whats sad is said issuer and his like control the fates of 300 million + people.
I’m ready for that dwindling place where the Bill of Rights exist.
Getting time to go John Galt!
Typical of all Obama’s intellectually impaired, incompetent Marxists. People had better wake up before these dolts have us buried so deep in the economic and social garbage pit that we’ll never be able to crawl out.
Silly me…what was I thinking? I guess I should go back to watching the soon-to-be federally mandated American Idol, Jersey Shore, or anything on MSNBC. With the circuses intact, all I need is the bread.
running for president
And this from the mouth of some (_*_) who will make 250k or more per year with the taxpayer paying for ALL his healthcare needs, including penile implants, while giving him a guaranteed pension the worker bees of the world can only dream of. Another Harvard Academician who hired his Harvard staff from China because they were cheaper, who pays them sub minimum wage pay because they are getting the great experience of Harvard also, and routinely criticises American business for moving it’s operations offshore to China. Out of the mouths of the smartest people on the planet come the DUMBEST IDEAS.
Nope. Not a mistake. Planned, coordinated and manipulated to make his presidency come to be.
Combine that with taxpayer subsidized poverty as viable career choice for the tens of millions of “takers” and you’ve got a winner! (Or is that weiner? Never can remember…)
It must have just killed our pResident Thinskin to have that bust on his mantle for all of about – 5 mins.
kwrxxx said:
Ever heard of food stamps??
The US Govt. has NO RIGHT MANDATING WE
BUY ANYTHING FROM THEM.
Who’s pushing who off the damn cliff?
Be poor huh?
Get my cell ready.
People can avoid the individual mandate by voting in conservatives in both houses and the presidency.
No other way, unless SCOTUS through some miracle manages to shut it down.
Obamacare is like an Advent calendar. Except every day you open a door or window, you find a new turd, instead of a piece of delicious candy.
I wonder if these people know how stupid they sound when they suggest that it would be a good idea for Americans to “choose to earn less money”.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com