Wall St. Journal:  “Chairman Max Baucus’s bill includes the so-called individual mandate, along with what he calls a $1,900 ‘excise tax’ if you don’t buy health insurance. (It had been as much as $3,800 but Democrats reduced the amount last week to minimize the political sticker shock.) And, lo, it turns out that if you don’t pay that tax, the IRS could punish you with a $25,000 fine or up to a year in jail, or both.”

Tom Barthold, the chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, confirmed the fine and possible jail time despite President Obama’s statement to ABC interviewer George Stephanopoulos two weeks ago that his health care plan does not contain any tax increases.  After Stephanopoulos read the definition of “tax” from the dictionary, Obama said, “You can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase.”

Associated Press:  “These are anxious times for some small-business owners who face an Oct. 15 due date for their 2008 income-tax returns. These owners got extensions of the deadline for filing their returns back in April but aren’t ready to file. Or, they can’t pay the government the money they owe.  Some of them are just disorganized. Others might have a cash-flow crunch.  No matter what the problem is, if you’re one of these owners, you must submit your return by the deadline or face big penalties for late filing. And not filing your return will only prolong the agony.”