The mandate is a sin (of omission) tax

When you put together these various statements from leaders of both parties, you get a fairly consistent definition of “taxes” as they’re commonly understood and loathed. They’re broad-based and unavoidable. They don’t reward responsibility, and they arguably punish it, by confiscating the fruit of your labor. But not all taxes fit this definition. Some taxes—sin taxes—defy it…

Sin taxes are vastly more popular than regular taxes. Look at Gallup’s data. Only 3 percent of Americans think federal income taxes are too low, and only 5 percent want them to be increased. Those numbers haven’t budged in decades. But in 2005, the most recent year in which Gallup asked about cigarette taxes, 25 percent of Americans said such taxes were too low (another 35 percent said they were “about right”), and 53 percent said cigarette taxes should be “raised by substantial amounts in order to help state and local governments pay for the health costs related to smoking.” The public rejected anti-smoking mandates: 83 percent said smoking shouldn’t be outlawed in the United States, and 60 percent said it shouldn’t be banned in all public places. But 64 percent said “it would be justified … to set higher health insurance rates for people who smoke.”