It's not a tax if Bush says it's not a tax

Even if it looks like a tax, it will only be a tax when the preznit says it will be a tax and he will never say the word tax so it won't ever be a tax even if it looks like one. Is that clear?

Q The President, in the State of the Union -- I mean, in the radio address, mentioned health care. He did it in the context of tax reform. So does that mean his proposal will be revenue-neutral?

MR. SNOW: Yes.

[snip]

Q Tony, you say that the health care plan is revenue-neutral, but he is proposing raising taxes on some Americans. And isn't that what he blasted Democrats for wanting to do all during the mid-term election campaign?

MR. SNOW: Take a look at the proposal. Once you've been fully briefed on the proposal, we'll be happy to talk about the characterizations.

Q Maybe you can explain this to me. If you tax company-provided health insurance as taxable income, even with the standard deduction, isn't that going to raise more than just 20 percent of people's taxes?

MR. SNOW: Again, there's the prospect that under the President's plan, more than 100 million people are going to pay less for health insurance, and millions more who are not presently insured will have access to it. So as we march through this, we feel pretty confident. And, frankly, we've taken a very conservative approach to the impacts of this.

[snip]

Q But, Tony, your early fact sheet says health insurance would be considered taxable income.

MR. SNOW: That is correct.

Q And that means some people who are over the line would be paying more taxes for their health insurance.

MR. SNOW: They might be -- some people would be paying more for health insurance.

Q And that's a raise in income tax.

MR. SNOW: Well, on the other hand, what you also have -- that's a static way of looking at a situation where you're going to have dynamic effects. So people will be able to make choices. You will have the opportunity to make choices about what you get in terms of health care. There will be market forces for people to provide, within certain barriers, programs that are tailored to individual needs. So, again, I would suggest taking a look at it. But, yes, some people would pay more.