Your health insurance penalty is finally labeled a tax

Its too late to call this progress. It should have been labeled a tax before the health care bill was passed. But its more honest then it was before. From the NY Times:

When Congress required most Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty, Democrats denied that they were creating a new tax. But in court, the Obama administration and its allies now defend the requirement as an exercise of the government’s “power to lay and collect taxes.”

What it comes down to is that the health care takeover is being challenged in court. Barack's administration can't defend taking money from the public unless they actually call it a tax.
Personally, I hope that when it goes to court, the plaintiffs will detail how the administration tried not to call it a tax, and how it was pitched to congress as something that was not a tax.