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A comment on Affordable Care. Parent comment

Re:Affordable Care by Silfen on Friday January 13, 2017 @04:15PM (#13394769)
I don't think the issue is purely semantic. The government provides a financial incentive to buy houses. I can decide whether I want to be $x richer and have a mortgage to pay. I can similarly decide if I want to be $y richer and have a health insurance plan.

I don't mean this as a rhetorical question, so I apologize if it comes across as snide, but from the point of view of economics, what is the difference? I'm trying to understand why one kind of tax incentive is objectionable and not the other.

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Re:Affordable Care by MicroBerto on Saturday January 14, 2017 @01:06PM (#13399638)
There is a huge difference between a fine and not receiving an incentive.

If I have $1000 in my pocket right now, I will still have $1000 in my pocket if I choose not to go after an incentive.

But if I have $1000 in my pocket right now, I will not have $1000 in my pocket even if I choose not to buy any health insurance.

In my eyes, being punished for peacefully doing absolutely nothing is as anti-American as it comes. That's another argument, but my point is that the analogy is off the mark.

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