Rep. Allen West says Mitt Romney may need some new advisers if his campaign continues to refer to the mandate in Obamacare as a penalty rather than a tax.
The Florida Republican told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Monday the mandate “is a tax” because it forces people to buy health insurance or be penalized by the IRS if they fail to do so. Most Republicans agree with that view.
But Van Susteren noted that a Romney surrogate has been calling it an “unconstitutional penalty” rather than an outright tax, which she suggested seems to indicate a disagreement over message between the Republican presidential nominee and GOP leaders on Capitol Hill.
“I think that the governor probably needs to look at who he has within his circle of advisers and . . . get them to provide the right type of counsel and advice,” Allen said, adding Romney should also “take the opportunity” to speak with individual Americans and doctors to get a better understanding of how they view the mandate and “the ramifications of the Affordable Care Act.”
“It’s nothing more than a tax law,” Allen added. “It is nothing that is going to do anything for healthcare in the United States of America.”
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