The American Spectator is reporting that a Department of Justice memo calls the penalty for any U.S. citizen who doesn't buy health insurance under the new national health care law a "tax."
The memo was filed in court last week by the Department of Justice in response to a Florida lawsuit against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
That's significant because President Barack Obama criticized those who said it was a tax in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
"It looks hypocritical," said Patrick Wright, senior legal analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "They were willing to say one thing in public in order to pass it. Now they are going to defend it and they are saying something different."
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.