Arnold's Unhealthy Language

I have no problem with Governor Schwarzenegger's controversial health care plan. But I do object to his language.

Health care doesn't come cheap, and Schwarzenegger's plan would be funded by a 4 percent payroll . . . what's the word? Tax. It's a 4 percent payroll tax. Except that the Governor has spent the last few months doing verbal somersaults to avoid using the T word.

Sometimes Schwarzenegger calls the 4 percent thingy a levy, and sometimes it's an "in lieu fee." For a while it was reportedly a "coverage dividend." Earlier in the year, Arnold told the Sacramento Bee, "It is not a tax, just a loan." Splendid. Now how do I collect on my loan, and remind me: what interest rate am I getting?

Presumably, Schwarzenegger doesn't want to break his no-new-taxes pledge (and he also wants to avoid the California constitutional requirement of a tw0-thirds vote for new "taxes").

I don't live in California and I don't presume to say whether the plan ought to be adopted. On August 16, the Wall Street Journal called it bad policy; the next day, the CEO of Kaiser Permanente called it good policy. Both sources have an axe to grind, so let's call it a draw.

But let's speak the same language and call a tax hike a tax hike. Granted, historically, taxes have been known by many names, including toll, tribute, tallage, gabel, impost, duty, custom, excise, subsidy, and aid. Nowadays "tax" is the word that citizens understand. John Fund of WSJ.com rightly slammed the Governor for "linguistic tricks" on par with such gems as "revenue enhancements" and "solidarity payments."

Sometimes a tax is needed and sometimes it is not. Calling this tax by its rightful name will help clarify the debate.