When do we call it a Lie?

Keeping with the tax theme that I started in the last post, it seems that what we were told about the new Health Insurance Mandates being a penalty, not a tax, is really not true. At least, in the eyes of the law, there is no difference.

The line I find most interesting in this NYT article is:
'When Mr. Stephanopoulos said the penalty appeared to fit the dictionary definition of a tax, Mr. Obama replied, “I absolutely reject that notion.” '

Now the administrations department of justice is saying:
'...the requirement for people to carry insurance or pay the penalty is “a valid exercise” of Congress’s power to impose taxes.'

What goes through your mind when I say that "the president is lying?" Is that too strong of a word?

Lying is way to common in Washington and amongst our leaders, why do many people seem to be OK with it? After lies are discovered, are we really so naive that we will assume that person is telling the truth in everything else they say. Very disturbing. There are plenty of guilty parties beyond our current president, but he has the most readily available example.

Instead of calling it what it is, a lie, we say things like the administration is "changing its stance."

Changing Stance, Administration Now Defends Insurance Mandate as a Tax