September 24, 2009 3:30PM # Thursday Links --- SHARE - Obama can twist words all he wants, [but a government mandate to buy health insurance is still a tax](http://bit.ly/3TT1qf). “Think of it this way: If the government took money directly from you, then turned around and gave it to an insurance company, everyone would agree that you’ve been taxed.” Nobody considers it a tax? Even [his advisers call it a tax](https://www.cato.org/2009/09/21/nobody-considers-health-insurance-mandates-a-tax-really/). - More on the [health care mandate](http://bit.ly/1jBRfZ): “Compulsory health insurance could require nearly 100 million Americans to switch to a more expensive health plan and would therefore violate President Barack Obama’s pledge to let people keep their current health insurance.” - Why the U.S. [slapped a trade tariff on Chinese tires](http://bit.ly/1q2MCa): “President Obama’s decision was guided strictly by selfish, political considerations: He felt he owed American unions for their previous and continuing support, regardless of the economic and diplomatic fallout.” - Vital data on climate change [mysteriously disappear](http://bit.ly/E4zrk). - Podcast: “[Twenty Years Since the Fall of Communism](http://bit.ly/2xn5FQ)” featuring Czech President Václav Klaus. ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).