O: no, it's not a tax, unless it needs to be a tax

Obama administration speaks with forked tongue  by Paul Mirengoff/Powerline
The anti-Obama ads for the 2012 campaign are beginning to write themselves. During the debate over Obamacare, the president insisted that the requirement to purchase health insurance, and the imposition of a penalty for not purchasing it, does not constitute a tax. Here he is doing so (see around 3:20 and 4:00) and, when challenged, suggesting that it's somehow unfair to apply the dictionary definition of "tax" (see around 5:00)!:



But now, in response to a lawsuit by various state attorneys general challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare, the Obama Justice Department has described the penalty on those who don't purchase health insurance as a tax. It employs that description to support the government's contention that it has the right to impose the penalty as part of its power to tax.

In this case, the power to tax is the power to destroy whatever may be left of Obama's credibility.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/06/026568.php