Interesting development coming on the heels of GWB speechwriter David Frum speaking out against Fox news/talkradio, which caused him to be fired from a conservative think tank. Could this be a trend where conservatives "refuse to drink the Kool-aid" ? We'll see.

...but after I saw Coburn at the health summit he gained some respect from me. Good for him. Coburn realizes that if the GOP continue down the path of extremism, that they will continue to loose elections.

If you don't buy insurance you are fined. Do you think they will just let you not pay the fine?

Don;t pay the fine, you go to jail.

The lady who spoke up saw right.

Defend Fox News or defend a Conservative Senator!  He must be so conflicted!

-- Modified on 4/7/2010 10:19:48 AM

...I'll let you in on a little secret. NO ONE is going to go to jail for not buying health insurance. Even if they send you a fine, the bill puts ZERO ENFORCEMENT for paying that fine. The reality is that paying that fine is entirely voluntary, whether the person given that fine is aware of it or not.

It's to increase the size of the pool by bringing in healthy citizens, usually young, into the system to help subsidize the overall cost. If you don't have a mandate, then you defeat a key objective of HCR. Taxing the rich only brings in so much revenue.

Will anyone go to jail? NO! But you do know the IRS will be primary enforcement agency. If you don't purchase insurance, and have a refund due, then they will reduce your refund accordingly. If you don't pay/owe federal taxes, then the IRS has the ability to garnish wages. Many people will get subsidies, but not enough to cover the cost of insurance. Hence, the govt, via the IRS, targeting the same people this bill was written for.

We need to wait to see if the various state lawsuits against the mandate using Article X as their argument will win.

-- Modified on 4/7/2010 4:56:40 PM

The fine likely will be applied to taxes owed. A person won't go to jail unless they refuse to pay taxes.