Romney says mandate’s a tax, but also sides with justices who say it’s not (NPR)

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made some comments this week that some say reversed his campaign’s view that the health care reform law’s individual mandate is a tax, not a penalty. The distinction is important to Romney’s campaign because as governor of Massachusetts he signed into law a health care bill that included a mandate, which has been considered a penalty, not a tax. Basically, Romney is now saying that the law he signed isn’t a tax, but the law President Obama signed is. “Well, the Supreme Court has the final word,” Romney said. “And their final word is that Obamacare is a tax. So it’s a tax.” Romney said the mandate is a tax because the majority of justices on the Court say so, however, he didn’t specifically agree with them.